COMING SATURDAY: Red McCombs collection of historic artifacts. After the siege in February and March of 1836, all of them died at the hands of their Mexican adversaries -- and then what happened? Groneman (1990), p. 11; Todish (1998), p. 76. It was only during the siege that the Texas Congress declared an independent Republic of Texas. Lindley (2003), p. 143; Groneman (1990), p. 25. The 1930s Alamo Cenotaph, a work by artist Pompeo Coppini titled "The Spirit of Sacrifice," includes sculpted images of flames and text referencing fire that burned their bodies. But a 1999 report by UTSA archaeologists said the Cenotaph's location is likely "the only place that can safely be eliminated from contention" as a site of a funeral pyre after the 1836 battle. William Travis never drew any line in the sand; this was a tale concocted by an amateur historian in the late 1800s. This day February 24, in 1836 the Alamo defenders called for help On February 24, 1836, in San Antonio, Texas, Colonel William Travis issues a call for help on behalf of the Texan troops . Dr. James Barnard, a Texan transported from Goliad to treat the Mexican wounded, recalled seeing remnants of a pyre about a hundred rods, or 550 yards, from the Alamo church. William Luther / San Antonio Express-News. . [4] Most Texian soldiers in Bxar left to join a planned invasion of Matamoros, Mexico. We want men and provisions. Lindley (2003), p. 143; Groneman (1990), p. 34. . The siege of the Alamo lasted for 13 days, from Feb. 23 to March 6, 1836, when the Mexican army surrounded and attacked the Alamo. Lindley (2003). This Monday, March 6, marks the anniversary of the fall of the Alamo outside of San Antonio, Texas, back in 1836. In the first place, the eyebrows, the nose and the cheekbones are all broken off, Danning notes, so what youre looking at is the overall shape of the cranial bowl and the thickness of the skull. Carrington (1993), pp. A natural leader, James Bowie played an important role in the Texas Revolution. The Alamo Cenotaph, also known as The Spirit of Sacrifice, is a monument in San Antonio, Texas, United States, commemorating the Battle of the Alamo of the Texas Revolution, which was fought at the adjacent Alamo Mission.The monument was erected in celebration of the centenary of the battle, and bears the names of those known to have fought there on the Texas side. Groneman (2001), p. 1; Lindley (2003), pp. Archaeologists have found three graves containing human remains inside the historic Alamo Mission in central San Antonio, Texas. POTUS landmarks, oddities. Terry Scott Bertling / San Antonio Express-News. Left as courier with Seguin on February 25, Entered March 1 or 4 Gonzales Mounted Ranger Company, Slave of Desauque, served as a combatant (Slaves identified by last names of their masters), On a scouting run when the Mexican troops arrived on February 23. In 2004, a bronze marker was erected by the Alamo Defenders Descendants Association at Odd Fellows Cemetery, near the northeast corner of Pine Street and Paso Hondo. 45; Jackson, Wheat (2005), p. 367. During the Texan Revolution, Seguin supported independence. They chose never to surrender nor retreat; these brave hearts, with flag still proudly waving, perished in the flames of immortality that their high sacrifice might lead to the founding of this Texas.[5]. He has been a reporter at the Express-News since 1985, covering a variety of issues, including public safety, criminal justice, flooding, transportation, military, water and the environment. Several are labeled as severely wounded, while defender James Nowlan is listed as dangerously wounded. Whether any of these men survived until the March 6, 1836, final assault is unknown. E ver since remains were discovered in 1936 by workmen who were making repairs to the alter at the San Fernando Cathedral, there have been skeptics as to their origin. Researchers are unclear whose remains they are or when they perished, and the Texas General Land Officethe present-day caretaker of the historic sitehas yet to approve DNA testing. In the collective memory of the Alamos last stand saga there is perhaps no image more poignant or powerful than that of the Texian dead being consumed on March 6, 1836, by massive funeral pyres. In a March 6, 1836, victory dispatch Santa Anna noted, More than 600 corpses of the foreigners were buried in the ditches and entrenchmentshis bloated estimate of Texian dead as absurd as his burial claim. The Battle of the Alamo (February 23 - March 6, 1836) was a crucial conflict of the Texas Revolution. S.A.-area rancher catches the hearts of American Idol judges, 10 things to do this weekend in San Antonio, Boy, 11, shoots self in head with gun he found in apartment, Take a look inside this $3.5 million 'mystery' mansion, VIDEO: Hail goes through Alamodome roof, thousands without power, Reign of terror: Neighbors recall owners of killer pit bulls, New food truck park opens at The CO-OP SA, Viral TikTok video shows loose part on S.A. rodeo Ferris wheel. The Disposition of the Alamo Defenders' Ashes. Alamo, The [Ancient Order of Hibernians Texas ] (February 23, 1836 - March 6, 1836) Irish, Historic Military Garrison. Meet Our Business Members & Supporting Foundations, Proudly powered by Newspack by Automattic. Todish (1998), p. 76; Groneman (1990), pp. Walk among legends in Cavalry Courtyard where six additional beautiful sculpted bronze statues commemorate the historic past. Some researchers believe they were placed somewhere in what now is Alamo Plaza. The total number of Alamo defenders now stood at between 180 and 190. Scott Huddleston / San Antonio Express-News. You can help preserve the I magine if the U.S. were to open interior Alaska for colonization and, for . Please reload the page and try again. 4548; Lindley (2003), p. 87. Until March 4, Houston's authority did not extend to volunteers and local militias, which were the majority of the fighting force inside the Alamo. Copyright 1996-2023 Doug Kirby, Ken Smith, Mike Wilkins. Samuel H. Walker. About 3 oclock in the afternoon of the next day they commenced laying wood and dry branches upon which a file of dead bodies were placed, more wood was piled on them and another file brought, and in this manner all were arranged in layers. The 115names were supplied by couriers John Smith and Gerald Navan,[17] whom historian Thomas Ricks Lindley believed likely drew from their own memories, as well as from interviews with those who might have left or tried to enter. We respected it as a historical relicand as such its characteristics were not marred by us.. The Alamo installed thesestunning bronze sculptures of historical figures from the Texas Revolution in our Cavalry Courtyard. In 1835, colonists from the United States joined with Tejanos (Mexicans born . Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Emily West was a free woman of mixed race who became one of Texas' best-known legends. A muster roll of the final day of the battle does not exist, and therefore historians reconstruct the list of Defenders from available information. [18] In an 1860 statement for the Texas Almanac, former San Antonio alcalde (mayor) Francisco Antonio Ruiz set the number at 182. That belief was advanced by Archbishop Arthur J. Drossaerts, based on late recollections of Juan Seguin. Among those buried in the mission compound before or during the 13-day siege may be men who succumbed to wounds suffered during the December 1835 Siege of Bxar. Some were placed in a coffin and taken to San Fernando church, then carried in a procession through the town, back to the east side of the river, and buried. The discovery of various skeletons, skulls and bone fragments over the intervening 185 years indicate the disposal of the Texian dead wasnt as neat and tidy as history books generally portray. 94, 134. Explore their histories here. In his 1890 book San Antonio de Bxar: A Guide and History author William Corner recalled one specific discovery of remains that echoes the descriptions of Everett and Bernard. Left with Andrew Jackson Sowell left to buy supplies; namesake of, Gonzales Mounted Ranger Company dispatched with the Travis letter, Entered March 4 a.k.a. In time, as we know now, they put away their suitcases and brought out their guns. 5354; Lindley (2003), p. 144; Moore (2007), p. 100. A year later the Texans were in control of San Antonio, and the bones and ashes of the Alamo dead -- still in visible piles -- were shoveled into a large coffin and secretly buried under the altar of what is now the San Fernando Cathedral. This is too sad for comment.. He taught school, edited a newspaper, and passed the barall before turning 21 years-old. With Dennis Quaid, Billy Bob Thornton, Jason Patric, Patrick Wilson. Two days later, only a few skulls and limbs were left, and after being exposed for several more days, a small pit was dug in what is now the Ludlow front yard where the remains were buried. Historians Jack Jackson and John Wheat attributed that high figure to Santa Anna's playing to his political base. If thats not the version of history youre familiar with, youre not alone. Groneman (1990), p. 71; Moore (2007), p. 100. Were they among the remains unearthed by archaeologists in December 2019 and January 2020? More by Sarah Reveley. Nor is it at all clear that the Alamos defenders bought time for Sam Houston to raise the army that eventually defeated Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto the following month. On December 5, 1835, the Texians attacked San Antonio in what became known as the Battle of Bxar. Fragments of flesh, bones and charred wood and ashes revealed it in all of its terrible truth, recalled Pablo Diaz, who as a young man had been forced to gather wood that day. As far as we can tell, Fox and Ivey concluded, the skull is that of a participant in the Battle of the Alamo.. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate. (There had been one previous monument in Austin, but it was lost in a Capitol fire.) Magazines, Forget the Alamo: The Rise and Fall of an American Myth, Or create a free account to access more articles, We've Been Telling the Alamo Story Wrong for Nearly 200 Years. The lifeless bodies of David Crockett, James Bowie, William Barret Travis and the other Alamo defenders were stacked between layers of wood before being set ablaze. Lindley (2003), p. 148; Jackson, Wheat (2005), pp. Deep down in the debris, author William Corner wrote, were found two or three skeletons that had evidently been hastily covered with rubbish after the fall, for with them were found fur caps and buckskin trappings, undoubted relics of the ever memorable last stand. William Barret Travis accomplished much before his death at the Alamo in 1836. His correspondence shows conclusively that Stephen F. Austin, the so-called Father of Texas, spent years jousting with the Mexico City bureaucracy over the necessity of enslaved labor to the Texas economy. A 1999 report, Historical and Archaeological Investigations at the Site of Rivercenter Mall (Las Tiendas), by Anne Fox and Marcie Renner, included a chapter titled, Searching for the Funeral Pyre.. Last entry is 15 minutes prior to closing, The Alamo is the property of the State of Texas, and Arnold continued his support of the Texas Revolution as a member of Deaf Smith's spy company in the Battle of San Jacinto. It has been said that the sarcophagus in the entrance at the San Fernando Cathedral contains the remains of defenders of the Alamo whose bodies were burned after the 1836 battle. Alamo, San Antonio, Texas For many years after 1845the year that Texas was annexed by the United Statesthe Alamo was used by the U.S. Army for quartering troops and storing supplies. According to Esparza, Tejanos discussed the matter with Bowie who advised them to take the amnesty. 88, 109, 321; Lord (1961), p. 96. HistoryNet.com is brought to you by HistoryNet LLC, the worlds largest publisher of history magazines. Matovina (1995), pp. Strange and amusing destinations in the US and Canada are our specialty. Although there had been previous plans for Alamo monuments, starting in the late 1800s, the Alamo Cenotaph was the first such erected in San Antonio. But the way we view it doesand, as a state and a country, now is the time to teach the next generation our history, not our myths. Lindley's 2003 Alamo Traces: New Evidence and New Conclusions is the result of his 15-year study of the battle, and upended much of what was previously accepted as fact. Lindley (2003), p. 143; Groneman (1990), p. 111. If youre looking at the Alamo as a kind of state religion, this is the original sin, says San Antonio art historian Ruben Cordova. He left an equally important written account of what he observed at the Alamo in a 1906 manuscript titled A Narrative of Military Experience in Several Capacities., The church seemed to have been the last stronghold, Everett wrote, and amidst the debris of its stone roof, when subsequently cleared away, were found parts of skeletons, copper balls and other articles, mementos of the siege. The artist noted the reverence with which he and fellow soldiers regarded the Alamo. Whats the harm in Texans simply embracing a myth? 374, 377. The Cathedral is about a mile west of the Alamo, facing Main Plaza (the heart of the city), just west of the river, between W. Market and W. Commerce Sts. Deep down in the debris, Corner wrote, were found two or three skeletons that had evidently been hastily covered with rubbish after the fall, for with them were found fur caps and buckskin trappings, undoubted relics of the ever memorable last stand. He dates the discovery to the 184954 tenure of Major Edwin Burr Babbitt of the Quartermaster Corps, who oversaw the construction of a wooden roof on the chapel, as well as a second floor and the iconic hump atop the Alamo facade. One of the great mysteries of the Alamo one that lingers today as a critical issue in how the historic site is interpreted is the location of funeral pyres where bodies of some 200 men were burned after the morning battle on March 6, 1836. By most accounts, most or all of the corpses are believed to have been burned along the Alameda, a dirt road running along rows of cottonwood trees, where Commerce Street is now a major thoroughfare downtown. In 1911, San Antonio Express reporter Charles Merritt Barnes wrote of two pyres along Commerce Street, on a property known as the Ludlow House, and another about 250 yards southeast, at the old Post House or Springfield House. Jos Toribio Losoya by William Easley Jos Toribio Losoya was born in the Alamo barrio on April 11, 1808, only to pass away less than three decades later during the Battle of 1836 defending the Alamo. The doctor said the soldiers first fired the chapel interior, dominated by a large, wooden artillery platform extending from the great front doors to the top of the rear wall. Bryan Burrough and Jason Stanford are, with Chris Tomlinson, the authors of Forget the Alamo: The Rise and Fall of an American Myth, available now from Penguin Press. Meaning the Alamos defenders, far from being the valiant defenders who delayed Santa Anna, pretty much died for nothing. The odor was more sickening than that from the corpses in the river. Lindley (2003), p. 90; Groneman (1990), pp. Most Tejanos evacuated from the fortress about February 25, either as part of the amnesty, or as a part of Juan Segun's company of courier scouts on their last run. The date of March 6, 1836, is forever ensconced in the annals of history. Susannah Dickinson and her daughter, Angelina Dickinson, moved to Bxar with her husband, Almeron, in February 1836. Groneman (1990), p. 53; Lindley (2003), p. 144; Moore (2007), p. 100. On March 6, 1918, a woman named Adina De Zavala unveiled two marble tablets marking the location of the funeral pyres for the men who died at the Alamo. Ashes of the Alamo Dead Address: 115 Main Plaza, San Antonio, TX Directions: In the left vestibule of the San Fernando Cathedral, just inside the front door. He listed the survivors as five women, one Mexican soldier and one slave. and the bones and ashes of the Alamo dead still in visible piles were shoveled into a large coffin and secretly buried under the altar of what is now the San Fernando Cathedral. Lindley (2003), p. 144; Groneman (1990), p. 76. Few areas of the world have been as hotly contested as the India-Pakistan border. Dr. E.F. Mitchusson, Dispatched on a personal errand for Segun February 23, Assumed to be a courier, who left with John William Smith, Chief surgeon of the garrison, created a hospital in the fortress, Left February 25 to recruit reinforcements, The final courier sent to Washington-on-the-Brazos, unable to return, Left for Gonzales as a courier on February 23; relayed the Travis letter from Albert Martin to the provisional government at, Sent to Gonzales for reinforcements on February 23, Namesake of Taylor County, brother of Edward and James, entered March 1 or 4, Namesake of Taylor County, Texas, brother of George and Edward, entered March 1 or 4, Per historian Lindley, no first name on the muster rolls, Slave of William B. Travis, fought beside him in the battle; accompanied Susanna Dickinson to Gonzales. Mexican Colonel Juan Almonte, Santa Anna's aide-de-camp, recorded the Texian fatality toll as 250 in his March 6 journal entry. Ron J. Jackson Jr. is a regular Wild West contributor and the award-winning author of Joe, the Slave Who Became an Alamo Legend (co-authored by Lee Spencer White), Alamo Survivors (also co-authored by Lee Spencer White) and Alamo Legacy: Alamo Descendants Remember the Alamo. Below are 256 known combatants: 212 who died during the siege, 43 survivors, and one escapee who later died of his wounds. Trip Planning Caution: RoadsideAmerica.com offers maps, directions and attraction details as a convenience, providing all information as is. An hour later, all combatants inside the Alamo were dead. The fire consumed all but the exterior masonry walls, burying any Texian dead beneath a blanket of blackened debris. A chain-enclosed 10-foot-square area there marks the site where Biesenbach said defenders remains were buried, midway between the monuments of two Texas Rangers Capt. Groneman (1990), p. 22; Moore (2007), p. 100. The version most Americans know, the Heroic Anglo Narrative that has held sway for nearly 200 years, holds that American colonists revolted against Mexico because they were oppressed and fought for their freedom, a narrative that has been soundly rebutted by 30-plus years of academic scholarship. Built by Spanish missionaries during the eighteenth century, the Alamo was constructed as mission and fortress for converting Native Americans to Christianity. Between 1,800 and 6,000 Mexican soldiers besieged the fort, while . Five others had resided in the State before making their way to the Texas frontier. Instead, David Crockett became one of the best-known Alamo heroes. Which begs the question, What happened to the skeletal remains Everett mentioned? These were located on what was then known as the Alameda, or Cottonwood grove roadway. Only a thick chain and a recently erected historical marker delineates the plot from nearby civilian tombstones. In 1911, Barnes wrote an article for the Express-News that was more specific. On-route maps, 1,000s of photos, special research targets! Their ashes were not interred until almost a year later. Historical experts have said the remains are not likely Alamo defenders, but possibly fallen participants of the 1813 Battle of Rosillo. After accepting the formal surrender of Mexican forces at San Antonio, Seguin oversaw the burial ceremonies for the Alamo defenders' ashes. But the many myths surrounding Texas birth, especially those cloaking the fabled 1836 siege at the Alamo mission in San Antonio, remain cherished in the state. Give us assistance. And the battle of the Alamo was not fought to the last man, as many of the defenders of the Alamo escaped. Grease that had exuded from the bodies saturated the earth for several feet beyond the ashes and smoldering mesquite fagots. Subscribe to receive our weekly newsletter with top stories from master historians. Whether Corner was noting a separate discovery of skeletal remains by Babbitt or mistakenly referring to Everetts earlier find is unknown. Everetts renderings of the Alamo ruins support eyewitness accounts of the battle and its aftermath. Regardless, there will always be the terrible glory of sacrifice to remember in those flames. The current list is based on many primary and secondary sources. Todish (1998), p. 82; Moore (2007), p. 100. Lindley (2003), p. 144; Groneman (1990), p. 32; Moore (2007), p. 100. The defenders of the Alamo thus included both Anglo and Hispanic Texans who fought side by side under a banner that was the flag of Mexico with the numerals "1824" superimposed. Archbishop Arthur J. Drossaerts, who was consecrated bishop of San Antonio in 1918, had read a translated letter written by Seguin in 1889 that told of remains of the fallen being buried in the church, in front of the railing.. (signed) William Barret Travis, February 23, 1836" Letter to Gonzales alcalde Andrew Ponton. [15] Santa Anna reported to Mexico's Secretary of War Tornel that Texian fatalities exceeded 600. [Note 3] Others who had left intending to return were unable to re-enter. In March 2014 Amanda Danning, a noted forensic sculptor who performs facial reconstructions on historic skulls, received special permission to study the Alamo skull. Lindley (2003), p. 144; Groneman (1990), p. 8; Todish (1998), p. 76. Poyo (1996), p. 54, "Efficient in the Cause" (Stephen L. Harden). 500,000+ HD Backgrounds & The Alamo Background 100% Free to Use High Quality Backgrounds Personalise for all Screen & Devices. beauty and history of the Alamo by supporting us with your donations. Henry Woodson Strong scouted for famed Indian fighter Ranald S. Mackenzie. The March 28 issue of the Telegraph and Texas Register only gave the burial location as where "the principal heap of ashes" had been found. Kindling wood was distributed through the pile and about 5 oclock in the evening it was lighted., Dr. J.H. USAA wants some remote employees in the office three days Jury takes an hour to reach verdict over deal at Port S.A. Texas Vista owner has threatened hospital shutdown before. A follow-up email from the archaeologist, dated Jan. 23, 2020, revealed her team had unearthed a concentration of human bones during a separate exploratory dig inside the chapel. The deaths of these "Martyrs to Texas Independence" inspired greater resistance to Santa Anna's regime, and the cry "Remember the Alamo" became the rallying point of the Texas Revolution. This brings the total number of New York Alamo defenders to eleven. [3] When the Texian volunteer soldiers gained control of the fortress at the Siege of Bxar, compelling Cos to surrender on December 9, many saw his expulsion to the other side of the Rio Grande as the end of Mexican forces in Texas. Among the defenders that day was Davy Crockett, a former . The Alamo Defenders Descendants Association filed a lawsuit in state district court, demanding the remains be tested to determine whether the bones belong to members of the Alamo garrison. A chain-enclosed 10-foot-square area at Odd Fellows Cemetery on the near East Side is where August Biesenbach, San Antonio city clerk in the early 1900s, recalled Alamo defenders being buried decades earlier, midway between the monuments of two Texas Rangers Capt. 2023 TIME USA, LLC. In 1964 an Ohio woman took up the challenge that had led to Amelia Earharts disappearance. Groneman (1990), p. 33; Moore (2007), p. 100. The other pyre was in what is now the yard of Dr. Ferdinand Herff Sr.s old Post, or Springfield House. This article was published in the February 2021 issue ofWild West. You can help preserve the Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our, Digital Travis ignored multiple warnings of Santa Annas approach and was simply trapped in the Alamo when the Mexican army arrived. Wright in her article Where Lie the Bodies of the Alamo Heroes, published in the San Antonio Express onJuly 10, 1932. Whether William Travis ever drew his "line in the dust" doesn't . You have reached your limit of 4 free articles. He directed the Alcalde, Ruiz, to have built two immense wooden pyres. At first the battle was primarily a siege marked by artillery duels and small skirmishes. Angered and inspired, Texians vowed to remember. The Great Battle of 1836, more commonly known as The Alamo, was engaged on February 23, 1836. All rights reserved. It also became a symbol of fierce resistance for the people of Texas and a rallying cry during the Mexican-American War. Whoops! He reported finding their remains in at least two separate heaps. Texian leader Sam Houston, believing that San Antonio could not be defended against a determined effort by the regular Mexican army, called for the Texian forces to abandon the city. There are many people who were at the Alamo prior to that day who are not part of the Defenders list, including couriers sent out during the siege to inform the rest of Texas and the world of what was happening at the Alamo. Thus the true resting place of the Alamo dead may forever be shrouded in mystery. 9293; Groneman (2001), pp. This event is so significant in my mind that I always try to devote a column that honors the heroism of these men on or around the anniversary of the occasion. An Alamo master plan under development for the city, Texas General Land Office and nonprofit Alamo Endowment includes a proposal to repair the Cenotaph and relocate it, possibly to a pocket park along Market Street, on the south end of the pedestrian bridge, in proximity to the Ludlow and Springfield sites. It has yet to undergo DNA testing. The battle, in fact, should never have been fought. Try My Sights, Roadside America app for iPhone, iPad. Lindley (2003), p. 144; Groneman (1990), p. 111. It ended in a decisive victory for Mexican forces over Texan volunteers. Credits, Media/Business Inquiries Finally, there is a 1906 account from city clerk August Biesenbach, who told San Antonio Express reporter Charles Merritt Barnes that years after the battle some of the fragments of heads, skulls, arms and hands had been removed and buried at the Odd Fellows Cemetery, about a mile east of the Alamo. He wrote some dramatic letters during the ensuing siege, its true, but how anyone could attest to the defenders bravery is beyond us. There is no evidence Davy Crockett went down fighting, as John Wayne famously did in his 1960 movie The Alamo, a font of misinformation; there is ample testimony from Mexican soldiers that Crockett surrendered and was executed. The murky fate of the Texian dead grows murkier after human remains turn up inside the famed San Antonio mission chapel, https://www.historynet.com/skeletons-in-buckskin-at-the-alamo/, Jerrie Mock: Record-Breaking American Female Pilot, When 21 Sikh Soldiers Fought the Odds Against 10,000 Pashtun Warriors. Francisco Antonio Ruiz, the alcalde, later recalled in an account for the 1860 Texas Almanac that Gen. Antonio Lpez de Santa Anna assigned a company of dragoons to build a pyre. 4.Texians formed a square in the middle of the prairie and attempted to defend their position. [24] In lieu of service pay, the cash-poor Republic of Texas adopted the system of military land grants. For starters, not all of the defenders remains wound up in Santa Annas funeral pyresa fact generally unknown beyond a small circle of Alamo scholars and enthusiasts. [5], Garrison commander James C. Neill went home on family matters February 11, 1836, leaving James Bowie and William B. Travis as co-commanders over the predominantly volunteer force. His definitive cry, "Victory or Death," ensured that Texans remembered the Alamo. The northeast end of one of the pyres extended into the eastern portion of the front yard of what is now the Ludlow House. In 1889 he recalled having had the ashes buried within San Antonios San Fernando Cathedral, in front of the altar railings, but very near the altar steps. Jos Mara Rodriguez, who witnessed the storming of the Alamo as a child, later expressed doubt the ashes had been buried inside the sanctuary without the common knowledge of his fellow parishioners, though a marble sarcophagus just inside the entrance of the present-day cathedral supposedly holds those ashes. Amos (Ancient Greek: , possibly from "sandy") was a settlement of ancient Caria, located near the modern town of Turun, Turkey.. History. Youre a Mexican, and always will be. Some Tejanos were part of the Bexar military garrison, but others were part of Seguin's volunteer scout company and were in the Alamo on or before Feb 23. The shaft rises sixty feet from its base which is forty feet long and twelve feet wide. The Alamo: Directed by John Lee Hancock. One defender, Gregorio Esparza, was buried in the Campo Santo (cemetery) in the area of Milam Park. And while the hallowed grounds of the Alamo may continue to yield archaeological clues, the fates of many who died in its defense 185 years ago will assuredly remain a mystery. Invariably, visitors asked about the final resting place of the Alamo dead, and locals would motion toward a peach orchard a few hundred yards from the mission fort. St. Joseph Catholic Church on East Commerce Street has been identified as a site close to an Alamo funeral pyre. Segun became the first Tejano to serve in the new Republic's Senate. The odds were certainly not in their favor. There are many people who were at the Alamo prior to that day who are not part of the Defenders list, including couriers sent out during the siege to inform the rest of Texas and the world of what was happening at the Alamo. Lindley (2003), p. 144; Groneman (1990), p. 81. One, a marble plaque, had been placed through De Zavalas efforts at the Halff Building, then moved to its current location in 1995. Lindley (2003), p. 143; Groneman (1990), p. 80. Lindley (2003), pp. Now It's Time to Correct the Record. p. 236; Todish (1998), p. 85. For further reading he also recommends The Alamo Reader, edited by Todd Hansen, and Alamo Defenders, by Bill Groneman.