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The Alamo


Parliament

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Just now, F250 said:

Doesn't he also believe that he is a reincarnated soldier from the Battle of the Alamo?

 

Does he?  

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When I asked him, he said it was because of Fess Parker.  But that may be because we were in a room full of blue haired women of the Dallas Historical Society that may've keeled over and died if he'd said, well, pretty much anything else.

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https://www.thoughtco.com/facts-about-the-battle-of-the-alamo-2136256

Hollywood embellishes everything.  The truth is consistent with the history I was taught in 7th grade Texas History.  It's still a kick ass history of rebels fighting and dying for a cause they believed in.  They had the chance to haul ass and they chose to stay and fight knowing they likely would die.

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1 hour ago, HouTex said:

https://www.thoughtco.com/facts-about-the-battle-of-the-alamo-2136256

Hollywood embellishes everything.  The truth is consistent with the history I was taught in 7th grade Texas History.  It's still a kick ass history of rebels fighting and dying for a cause they believed in.  They had the chance to haul ass and they chose to stay and fight knowing they likely would die.

You are correct.

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Our Traces of Texas author recently posted an ugly truth about Ed Burleson and Houston not being friendly as Burleson sent a Chief’s scalp to Houston following a frontier excursion. I took interest in that post because I’m a direct descendant of Burleson and had read accounts of that story but never really thought of it critically. The TOT readership certainly took issue and demonize him while others simply viewed it as a different time and place. Some wanted to have Burleson’s name scrubbed from City/County/Street names. Then I realized the implication that thinking would have if held to all frontier Texas namesakes.

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9 hours ago, Chad Fuck said:

We all love our mothers, but some of us can recognize no one is without fault.  But just try and tell your friend their mother has faults. 

It’s Surly, we were all too busy banging our friends’ moms and/or dads to tell said friends about their faults.  

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9 hours ago, Chad Fuck said:

This is a great story.  Chad Jr. and I did a great Texas History road trip this summer and stopped by Austin's colony and there was an active dig going on.  I stood where Travis's law office was.  I highly recommend going out there.  They have a very informative history center there.  Well worth the visit.

Where exactly did you go? 

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17 hours ago, HouTex said:

https://www.thoughtco.com/facts-about-the-battle-of-the-alamo-2136256

Hollywood embellishes everything.  The truth is consistent with the history I was taught in 7th grade Texas History.  It's still a kick ass history of rebels fighting and dying for a cause they believed in.  They had the chance to haul ass and they chose to stay and fight knowing they likely would die.

No, no, no!  They "re-imagine" everything.

Gotta use the term they use to lie about shit.

Focus group outside shoulda toldya.

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Doesn't he also believe that he is a reincarnated soldier from the Battle of the Alamo?
 

Yes. IIRC, a fortune teller told him he was a reincarnated Texan fighter and that coincided with dreams he’d had since he was young. It freaked him out enough that he started doing research and that lead him to the Alamo.
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1 hour ago, Scooter Monzingo said:

Really. This is SOP on any land that has some historical relevance. 

And for those not into metal detecting but curious, follow this guy's channel - he does a lot of Ciivl War stuff, has a lot of how-to videos.  His current obsession is a lost fort from the French-Indian War (1750s era).  He's got videos that cover early 1800s and what you would expect to find.

https://www.youtube.com/user/aquachigger/videos

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On 6/17/2021 at 3:52 PM, High Plains Drifter said:

 

I assume you mean

 

th?id=OIP.3qifae5MoBvbS-JgOgp1UQHaHa%26p

 

One of those authors is a friend of mine. He is about as Texas as they come. He can trace his family back to before Texas' Independence on one side, and the to the Civil War on the other.

He's been getting death threats.

 

 

I’m friends with one of the authors, as well (not the same one as you, though). 

I just started reading the book and am enjoying it. 
 

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6 hours ago, CooterBrown said:


Yes. IIRC, a fortune teller told him he was a reincarnated Texan fighter and that coincided with dreams he’d had since he was young. It freaked him out enough that he started doing research and that lead him to the Alamo.

IIRC, he even bought one of the buildings on the west side of Alamo Plaza. Texas Monthly had a feature article about his obession with the old shrine.

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50 minutes ago, Chad Fuck said:

We went over Spring Break, but a lot of things we wanted to see were still closed.  So we had to modify our trip somewhat.  Started in Dallas.

17 Mar - Stopped in Hico for late breakfast and to talk about Billy the Kid.  On to Burnet, for a brief stop at the airport to take pics with the tanks/airplanes (museum was closed).  Marble Falls Whataburger and finally rolled into Fredericksburg.

18 Mar - Up early and at the Museum of the Pacific War, because he's really into WWII right now, but generally for the vibe.  A lot of German family of ours passed through here on their way to the upper Brazos (Ballinger area).  After that, we had an ice cream, saw the Vierens Kirche, and Chad Jr. played with the local kids while I had to take a work call.  Then it was off to San Antonio and The Menger that evening.

19 Mar - The Alamo in the morning.  We had been before, but he had just finished reading a Nathan Hale book about Texas History so it was worth a second look while it was all still fresh in our heads.  We checked out the bar at the Menger and saw all the Teddy Roosevelt stuff in addition to seeing the Phil Collins (and other stuff).  That afternoon, we went to the DoSeum and hung out at the pool, because 8 year olds can only handle so much history.

20 Mar - Up for some early morning photos of the Alamo.  Nobody there.  On to Presidio La Bahia in Goliad.  We spent a while there as the weather was nice and we essentially had the place to ourselves. We saw the monument to the victims of the Goliad massacre as well as Zaragosa's birthplace since they are literally right next to the Presido.  I didn't realize that until I was planning the trip.  Popped over to the Mission, on the other side of the river from the Presidio.  It looked like a really nice park and I could've spent all weekend there.  They were having their rodeo that evening, but as much as I would've liked to have done that, we didn't know about it and hadn't budgeted time for it.  Can't do it all.  We then scooted over to the location of the Battle of Coleto Creek just outside of Fannin.  There's not much there, but there is a little museum with a map of where they went over the battle field with a metal detector and it shows where they found all sorts of musket balls and pieces.  That was very cool.  From there we went up to Gonzales and stopped at their little museum and saw the "Come and Take It" cannon.  It's a beautiful building with a lot of interesting history packed in a small place.  It's more the general history of the area.  It isn't just dedicated to the cannon.  From there, we powered through to Sealy for the night.

21 Mar - We slept in a little, as the previous day was a bit of a whip, and then we were off to San Felipe de Austin.  Can't recommend this one enough.  After that, we went to Washington-on-the-Brazos and checked out not just the Independence Hall, but hiked the short trail around where the city used to be, the living farm they have there which was great for Chad Jr., and we saw the museum of the Republic there as well.  Altogether that took up most of the afternoon.  Then we powered through back to Dallas.   

A bit of a whirlwind, but it was a bit from the hip as some of our other Spring Break plans had fallen through.  Overall, a success though.  Would recommend. 

 

Next time you are in SA check out the Buckhorn Museum & Saloon. Very old-fashioned history museum, complete with wax figures, including one of Comanches killing a White family in their cabin. (Like I said, it's an old-school museum.) When you buy your tickets, they ask you if you'd like a beer to take with you as you stroll the exhibits. 

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1 minute ago, MaybeACoordinator said:

Next time you are in SA check out the Buckhorn Museum & Saloon. Very old-fashioned history museum, complete with wax figures, including one of Comanches killing a White family in their cabin. (Like I said, it's an old-school museum.) When you buy your tickets, they ask you if you'd like a beer to take with you as you stroll the exhibits. 

Great recommendation and it was on the short list.  I went as a kid, but we just didn't have the time for it this go around.  I have lots of friends in SA, so we will check that box in the next year or two.  I still remember the two-headed calf and snake with some clarity.  And also the history of Lone Star Beer labels made a lasting impression as well for some reason.  

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1 hour ago, immortal13 said:

I got kicked out of the Alamo about 10 years ago

Was there with a girlfriend and kids for a little trip. We were circled up trying to look at some pictures on a digital camera and some little pencil necked dork Alamo "staffer" started ranting about no photography inside, ect. I tried to tell him we were not taking any, just looking at some we took outside. I tried being friendly to him at first, but he cut me off and continued being an asshole, so I walked up to him and got in his face just to scare him a little. Next thing I knew he was yelling for security. We were then asked to leave as we were walking out anyway. /csb

Edited by immortal13
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I almost forgot the best part.....when he first began to chastise me, I gave him a disapproving look and mouthed rhe words "knock it off, man...the kids" as I waved my hand under my chin. Well, he went and told the security that I made a "throat slash" gesture at him. The little prick deserved to get his ass kicked

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17 minutes ago, immortal13 said:

I almost forgot the best part.....when he first began to chastise me, I gave him a disapproving look and mouthed rhe words "knock it off, man...the kids" as I waved my hand under my chin. Well, he went and told the security that I made a "throat slash" gesture at him. The little prick deserved to get his ass kicked

Tin pot dictators man.  They had a whole crew of reenactors there who were younger, maybe college age or just out.  Not the typical gray hair pretending to be young Travis or something.  They were also great with the kids and had fun playing the characters.  They were sort of camping out back there, so they were giving period cooking/camping tips, etc.  Chad Jr. got to handle a musket and a Bowie knife.  I give it high marks.

One of the things that wasn't there last time I went is they had a whole display of the artillery they'd dug up from around the area that was likely at the battle.  They also had a giant 18 pounder replica, which I assume was leftover from Bracketville and the movie set.  I mean, how many of those can there be?

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On 3/1/2020 at 10:15 PM, Parliament said:

I had the chance to tour the Alamo last week, and it really struck me.  A whole buncha men, both Texans and from far away faced certain death defending a fort from Santa Anna.  Sure it was strategically important, but I bet there was a way they coulda left it to Santa Anna in a tactical retreat, and still won the war.  Why didn't they do it?  Because it wasn't his, fuck you, that's why.

Reading the names of the men who defended the Alamo, and I realized just about every one of them has an important place in Texas named after him.  To Texas, the defense of the Alamo was the Guns of Fort Ticonderoga, the Crossing of the Delaware and the Battle of Thermopylae all in one.  It gave Texas the reputation it still has today.

Or am I wrong?

This seems like groundbreaking research, I'm going to subscribe to your whole history series 

Maybe you can touch on the Battle of the bulge, the attack on Pearl harbor, Gettysburg, St petersburg, and maybe the Battle at Lexington

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8 hours ago, washparkhorn said:

The Alamo is in the same sphere as the Battle of Thermopylae.

Santa Anna was the equivalent of a warlord (caudillo-class of asshats).

He loomed that region of the world.  F him.

Remember the Alamo!

 Antonio López de Santa Anna, siglo XIX, óleo sobre tela.png

 

Dude must've been a Grade A prick. Weren't there two other Mexican states that also seceded basically around the same time as Texas to become the Republic of the Rio Grande and the Republic of the Yucatan? I don't think that the former lasted too long, but the Yucatan was pretty much independent for quite a while and even offered up to the US to be annexed. That was nixed though as the North didn't want another potential slave state.

I may have some of the above details wrong though as I'm just working off my memory, but it's kind of wild to think about the alternative timeline that would've created by adding Yucatan as an additional US state.

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On 3/3/2020 at 11:03 AM, F250 said:

Exactly. The Comanches were the Vikings of North America and they didn't just run off the Apache, they terrorized them. The only Indian tribe that expanded their power after the arrival of the Europeans. The Spanish introducing horses to North America was like filling Bruce Banner with gamma rays when it came to the Comanche.

When you consider the Comanche were way more dominant and aggressive than the Apache plus the fact they were fighting a paramilitary force like the Texas Rangers, as opposed to the Apache vs the U.S. calvary, there should be more attention on this piece of history.

What amazes me was just how quickly the Comanche went from whipping boy to a dominant force. Utterly unmatched in history in my opinion.  

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On 6/17/2021 at 5:52 PM, High Plains Drifter said:

 

I assume you mean

 

th?id=OIP.3qifae5MoBvbS-JgOgp1UQHaHa%26p

 

One of those authors is a friend of mine. He is about as Texas as they come. He can trace his family back to before Texas' Independence on one side, and the to the Civil War on the other.

He's been getting death threats.

 

 

The title is pretty inflammatory (by design I’m sure) but from the interview they did on Texas Standard it sounds like a pretty honest take. While I have no doubt a big reason for Texas declaring independence when it did was Mexico making slavery illegal, I just don’t see a bunch of English speaking people would continuing as Mexican citizens, especially given the corruption and instability (and distance) of the Mexican government 

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Took my kids to the Alamo, must be about 15 years ago - and what they really remember is the shaved ice from the cart in the plaza. Of course it was 102°, and they were like 5,8 & 11 years old.

What would really have changed the outcome of the Alamo was if they could have floated the battleship Texas right up the Riverwalk, took the kids to see that too, and the San Jac monument. It was a mini-tour of Tejas history. Though they liked the boardwalk at Kemah better than anything around the ship channel.

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