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By Mike Hernandez
Summer in South Texas allows for great opportunities to take short trips and explore! The weather begins to heat up and the rains become much more hit and miss. It’s a time for ice cold drinks, wearing shorts and short sleeved shirts. It’s the perfect time of year to check out some wonderful historical places. The good news is that they are just a short drive away, no matter where you are located in Texas. I’ve got some really cool places that I want to share with you!
I confess, I’m a real Texas history nerd. I’ve loved Texas history since I was a young boy. As a kid, I would look forward to history class and the more we learned about Texas the better. I think we’d all have to agree that Texas as a union and a state brings to mind The Alamo, the Cradle of Texas Liberty. I could spend this entire article just talking about it. But there are so many other places in south and east Texas that in their own way played a huge part in our states Independence.
Another important state historical site in Texas history is the Battle of Coleta Creek. If you remember your Texas history, Colonel James Walker Fannin and about 500 of his men initially were going to go to the Alamo to help the defenders. Tragically, conditions changed and they stayed in the Goliad area with plans to move to the city of Victoria. Within days they were surrounded by a large Mexican army led by Mexican General Urrea. The Texans fought with intensity and bravery but were largely outnumbered. Rather than allow his men to be killed by the Mexican army, Colonel Fannin agreed to surrender. He did so with the promise from the Mexican Generals that his men would surrender their weapons and would be taken to either a waiting ship or to the border of Louisiana. The Mexican army marched the men in separate groups the next day and at a pre- arranged signal the Mexicans turned and shot, point blank, killing the Texans. Men, boys, anglos and tejanos never had a chance. Colonel Fannin was also shot and killed inside the mission. Santa Anna had ordered the execution and a cry of “ Remember Goliad” joined the already memorable, “Remember The Alamo!” A monument now stands at the mission Presidio La Bahia close to where the massacre took place. It is open daily for visitors.
Another location that is a must visit is the San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site. It’s located in La Porte on the eastern outskirts of Houston. It’s where Sam Houston and fellow Texans surprised and defeated General Santa Ana’s Mexican Army. It took only 18 minutes of battle to defeat and capture Santa Anna. That literally changed Texas history. It was after this decisive victory that we became the Republic of Texas.
Today an impressive 570 foot tall monument commemorating the battle can be found there.. It’s topped by a 34- foot star which symbolizes the Lone Star State. And yes because everything is bigger in Texas, it’s actually 15 feet higher than the Washington Monument. There’s an incredible view from the observation deck. If all that’s not enough there is also the San Jacinto Museum of History that contains close to 45,000 artifacts dating back some 400 years.
Finally, I’d like to highlight Washington on the Brazos. It’s one of the most unlikely spots to be considered the “Birthplace of Texas” when you put it up against some of the more famous battles or the Alamo itself, but this small community of about 250 people located northeast of Brenham and
southeast of College Station is indeed where Texas became a Republic! It was here that on March 2, 1836, fifty nine delegates, the Father’s of Texas signed the Texas Declaration of Independence.
A replica of Independence Hall was built in 1971 to give us some insight of what the building might have looked like. Unfortunately most of the buildings were dismantled as the population declined or were lost completely in a wildfire in 1912. The Washington on the Brazos State Historic Site commemorates this very important part of the history of the Republic of Texas.
These are just a few of the 32 state historic sites that the Texas Historical Commission preserves and operates today. If you want to understand Texas history fully and want to walk in the footsteps of our Texas forefathers, possibly even stand on the same battlefields, it’s waiting for you. Remember you can visit many in just a days drive. Take the challenge and see how many Texas historical sites you can go visit and live the revolution.
Viva Texas!!
