Reply #43: The Alamo defenders were a mixed bag. [View All]

[Bridget Burke]

Some were indeed imperialists who wanted to add another slave state to the union. Others had wandered from other states & countries to Texas looking for a Grand Adventure; they were unclear on the details. And there were some native-born Tejanos who just disliked Santa Ana.

Did the 13 days they held the old mission help Houston gather the forces that would eventually defeat Santa Ana? Or was Travis a grandstanding fool? Did Crockett and other Tenneseeans surrender--to be killed, anyway? (The diary of a Mexican officer said so, shocking those whose devotion to Crockett reveals heavy influence by the works of Walt Disney & John Wayne.)

Santa Ana made all the questions irrelevant. By the end of the day they were all Dead Heroes. So a legend began. A Japanese visitor was reminded of famous last stands in his own history & placed a monument on the Alamo grounds; from the inscription:

"You do not see Chang Hsun, Hsu Yuan, and Nan Chiyun (David Crockett, Bowie, and Bonham)
But their fame, like the blossom's fragrance, is still in the air.
The custom of the West does not necessarily condemn surrender.
Why? We have never heard of a commander destroyed,
But here in the state of Texas, we see one (Travis).
In spirit there is not a distinction between East and West.
You need not wonder, then, if I drink a toast to your memory!
I have brought a well-polished stone from Japan,
And commemorate your heroic deeds with this humble inscription."

http://wnbonham.home.att.net/japan.htm

History is complicated & the growth of legend out of history is interesting to witness. This is a bit hard to understand if you come from a state with a more placid story.

I'd be surprised if the upcoming movie is any good.