Pilgrimage to the Alamo

The annual Pilgrimage to the Alamo doesn’t draw as much media attention or Fiesta revelers and spectators as other Fiesta events. The Alamo Mission Chapter of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas’ annual pilgrimage to the Alamo is the only silent and somber event of the week long Fiesta, San Antonio celebration. The procession of Daughters and Sons of the Republic of Texas and other heritage, civic, school and military groups, step off from the Municipal Auditorium at 3:30 p.m. and slowly proceed to the Alamo, bearing memorial tributes to the Alamo heroes.  

Once a year, the chains are removed from the grassy area directly in front of the Alamo Chapel to allow laying of the wreaths as the procession reaches the Alamo. Names of the Alamo Defenders are read and a brief memorial service is held ending in Taps. It is a proper and fitting start to Fiesta honoring those 189 men who died defending the Alamo, which is why San Antonio, Texas celebrates Fiesta.

Defenders of the Alamo, click here – http://www.thealamo.org/battle/defenders.php

Remember the Alamo, Goliad and celebrate San Jacinto!

San Jacinto Day

Saturday, April 21^st is San Jacinto Day, commemorating the final battle of the Texas Revolution in 1836. The battle was fought in the grassy fields of the Buffalo Bayou near the confluence of the San Jacinto River. The Texan militia charged Santa Anna’s camp shouting “Remember the Alamo!” and “Remember Goliad!” previous battles that had been lost to the Mexican army. 

Caught by surprise, the Mexican army was defeated; Santa Anna escaped, but was captured the next day. General Sam Houston was shot in the leg, surviving to become a national hero and the first elected President of the Republic of Texas. 

Ground was broken for the San Jacinto Monument for the 100^th anniversary of the battle and dedicated three years later. The 570’ memorial column contains an inscription that reads in part: 

“The freedom of Texas from Mexico won here led to annexation of nearly a million square miles of territory, almost 1/3^rd of the American nation.” Had the battle not been won by the Texan’s, the map of the U.S. would not look anything like it does today. 

William B. Travis wrote in his famous letter during the siege of the Alamo “To the people of Texas and all Americans in the world. I am besieged by a thousand or more of the Mexicans. I have sustained continual bombardment for 24 hours. The enemy has demanded surrender at discretion, are to be put to the sword. I have answered with a cannon shot, and our flag still waves. I shall never surrender nor retreat.”

 

Remember the Alamo, Goliad and celebrate San Jacinto!

Over Yonder

“It’s right over yonder.” The person talking points towards a hill on the horizon. Will there be a sign when I get to yonder? I hope someday to find yonder. 

Yonder can be a noun, an adjective, or a pronoun. The word is not slang and however you use it, is proper. According to Merriam-Webster, the word has been around since the fourteenth century, from yond as in hither. Synonyms are: beyond, further, yon, and farther. 

One day my truck check engine light came on heading down the interstate. I started looking for the nearest dealer. At the next exit, a billboard indicated there was a Dodge dealer. I stopped at a convenience store, bought fuel and asked where the nearest Dodge dealer was. “It’s just down yonder, pointing down a hill. At the bottom of the hill there’s a highway, take a right toward the river, when you get to the river, if you didn’t see the Dodge dealer, you went the wrong way.” So I should turn left then? “No, you should turn right if you don’t see the Dodge house, it’s down yonder toward town.” The other way I asked? “It’s down yonder one way or the other,” the pleasant girl said. “I have seen it, I just don’t remember for sure whether it’s right or left but it’s just down yonder below the hill.” I fortunately found the dealer to the right. I now have a GPS which gets me to where I need to go, but does anyone have the zip code for Yonder? 

 

It Was Sad When That Great Ship Went Down

One hundred years ago in the icy waters of the North Atlantic, the RMS Titanic went down on her maiden voyage. Ernest Van “Pop” Stoneman recorded his first song in 1924 entitled It Was Sad When That Great Ship Went Down. The popular song was also known as the Titanic Song or The Sinking of the Titanic which sold over one million copies. In the 1920’s, very few had a Victrola to turn that vinyl record and most of the targeted market for country music had no electricity in their homes for a radio. One million copies was a lot of vinyl in those days.

According to his daughter, Patsy, early in his career he couldn’t afford a Montgomery Ward autoharp, so he made one from parts of an old piano. From 1924-1929, he recorded well over two hundred songs. Pop was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2008, forty years after his death. The patriarch is pictured below with his family. His children would carry on the tradition of Stoneman mountain music. The Stoneman name is still the longest continuously active name in country music.

Information or to order Stoneman Music, contact Patsy Stoneman Murphy, P.O. Box 17044, Nashville, TN 37217.

North Texas Book Festival

Come and check out The North Texas Book Festival, Saturday, April 14, 2012 from 9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. at The Center for Visual Arts, 400 E. Hickory St. at Bell Ave. in Denton, Texas. You will find books from many genres, meet the authors on-site and get autographed copies of their books. Nearly fifty authors have registered for the all day event.

I will be presenting “The Smith Family Goes to Austin” at 11:15 a.m., in the crafts room of the Visual Arts Center. They were one of the first families that built and organized the town of Austin and Travis County during the early days of the Republic of Texas. 

The funds received from the North Texas Book Festival, are given in grants to schools and public libraries, literacy and reading programs in Denton County. For more information, call 940-565-0804 or 940-464-3368 or visit the North Texas Book Festival website at http://www.ntbf.org/