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Discovering the Alamo Mission in San Antonio: TheStory Behind The History

Whether you picked it up from history class, timely cinematic references, or just through social osmosis, almost everyone out there has at least heard of the Alamo. Or, how it was once called, the “Mision San Antonio de Valero.”

Originally a Spanish mission and fortress compound founded in the 18th century - in what is now San Antonio, Texas. The Alamo Mission in San Antonio would eventually become the stage of the renown “Battle of the Alamo" on March 6, 1836.

Today, it stands as part of the San Antonio Missions World Heritage site. But in between, the location has seen a lot of history, events, and interesting historical figures. So, let's delve a little deeper into the Alamo's background and explore some of them!

The Alamo Mission in San Antonio – A Brief Timeline

Back in 1716, the Spanish established several Roman Catholic missions in East Texas, but they were so isolated that they have difficulty keeping adequately provisioned. To help the situation, Martín de Alarcón – governor of Spanish Texas back then – set out to establish a waystation between the settlements along the Rio Grande and the new missions in East Texas.

Two years later, in April 1718, Alarcón led an expedition to found a new community in Texas. On May 1, the group erected a temporary mud, brush, and straw structure that would be the first to bear the name “Mision San Antonio de Valero.” One of several Spanish missions in Texas.

Within the year, that mission had moved to the western bank of the river to avoid flooding, and it kept growing over the years with new missions being established nearby. Then, in 1724, after remnants of a Gulf Coast hurricane destroyed the then existing structures at Mision San Antonio de Valero, it was moved to its current location.

For decades the complex kept expanding, and the first permanent building was likely the two-story, L-shaped stone residence for the priests. By 1744, over 300 Indian converts resided at the Mision San Antonio de Valero.

That same year, the first stones were laid for a more permanent church building, but that would collapse in late 1750. The reconstruction would not begin until eight years later.

The mission kept expanding between that period and was built to withstand attacks by Apache and Comanche raiders, something it would have to do before long. In 1745, 100 mission Indians successfully drove off a band of 300 Apaches, which had surrounded the presidio. Their actions saved the presidio, the mission, and likely the town from destruction.

Walls were erected around the Indian homes in 1758, likely in response to a massacre at the Mission Santa Cruz de San Sabá. For additional protection, a turret housing three cannon was added near the main gate in 1762, and by 1793, an additional one-pounder cannon had been placed on a rampart near the convent.

Eventually, Teodoro de Croix – commandant general of the interior provinces – decided the missions were a liability and began taking actions to decrease their influence. In 1778, he ruled that all unbranded cattle belonged to the government, resulting in a great loss of wealth for the mission. Unable to support a larger population of converts, only 12 Indians remained by 1793

In 1793, Misión San Antonio de Valero was secularized and was shortly after abandoned.

The name “The Alamo” was adopted in the 19th century. In 1803, the abandoned compound was occupied by the Second Flying Company of San Carlos de Parras, from Álamo de Parras in Coahuila, which the locals took to simply calling the "Alamo Company."

The buildings were transferred from Spanish to Mexican control in 1821 after Mexico gained its independence, and soldiers continued to garrison the complex until December 1835, when General Martín Perfecto de Cos surrendered to Texian forces.

One year later, on March 6, 1836, the fabled "Battle of the Alamo” would take place.

The Alamo Mission in San Antonio – A Battle for History

The Battle of the Alamo took place between February 23 and March 6, 1836, and was a pivotal event in the Texas Revolution.

After a 13-day siege, Mexican troops under President General Antonio López de Santa Anna reclaimed the Alamo in San Antonio de Béxar - Killing the Texian and immigrant occupiers. Santa Anna's cruelty during the battle would inspire many Texians, both legal Texas settlers and illegal immigrants from the United States, to join the Texian Army.

The Texians would defeat the Mexican army at the Battle of San Jacinto on April 21, 1836. But the battle of the alamo would take place a few months before.

After driving all Mexican troops out of Mexican Texas, about 100 Texians were then garrisoned at the Alamo. The Texian force grew slightly with the arrival of reinforcements led by eventual Alamo co-commanders James Bowie and William B. Travis. This was the stage of the battle that was going to make the Alamo Mission in San Antonio famous, and eventually would be recognized as the San Antonio Missions World Heritage Site.

On February 23, approximately 1,500 Mexicans marched into San Antonio de Béxar as the first step in a campaign to retake Texas. For the next ten days, the two armies engaged in several skirmishes with minimal casualties. Aware that his garrison could not withstand an attack by such a large force, Travis wrote multiple letters pleading for more men and supplies from Texas and from the United States, but the Texians were reinforced by fewer than 100 men because the United States had a treaty with Mexico, and supplying men and weapons would have been an overt act of war.

In the early morning hours of March 6, the Mexican Army advanced on the Alamo. After repelling two attacks, the Texians were unable to fend off a third one. As Mexican soldiers scaled the walls, most of the Texian fighters withdrew into the interior buildings. Occupiers unable to reach these points were slain by the Mexican cavalry as they attempted to escape.

The bloodshed was enormous. Between five and seven Texians may have surrendered; if so, they were quickly executed. Most eyewitness accounts reported between 182 and 257 Texians died, while most historians of the Alamo agree that around 600 Mexicans were killed or wounded.

Several noncombatants were sent to Gonzales to spread the word of the Texian defeat. The news sparked both a strong rush to join the Texian army and a panic, known as "The Runaway Scrape," in which the Texian army, most settlers, and the new, self-proclaimed but officially unrecognized, Republic of Texas government fled eastward toward the United States ahead of the advancing Mexican Army.

Within Mexico, the battle has often been overshadowed by events from the Mexican–American War of 1846–48.

In 19th-century Texas, the Alamo complex gradually became known as a battle site rather than a former mission. The Texas Legislature purchased the land and buildings in the early part of the 20th century and designated the Alamo chapel as an official Texas State Shrine.

The event that took place in the Alamo in San Antonio, the renowned "Battle of the Alamo," has since inspired many works of fiction and non-fiction, due to its historical significance.

The Alamo Mission in San Antonio – Protecting the Legacy

During the next half a decade, the Alamo Mission in San Antonio was sporadically used to garrison soldiers from both the Texian and Mexican armies, but it was ultimately abandoned.

In 1849 – after Texas was annexed to the United States – the U.S. Army began renting the facility for use as a quartermaster's depot. However, by 1876, the Alamo was abandoned once more, once the nearby Fort Sam Houston was established.

The Alamo chapel was eventually sold to the state of Texas, which conducted occasional tours but made no effort to restore it. The remaining buildings were sold to a mercantile company which operated them as a wholesale grocery store.

Then, the Daughters of the Republic of Texas (DRT) formed in 1895 and began trying to preserve the historical significance of the Alamo Mission in San Antonio. Ten years later, due to the efforts of Adina Emilia De Zavala and Clara Driscoll, the state legislature was convinced to purchase the remaining buildings and to name the DRT as the permanent custodian of the site.

Emilia De Zavala, Clara Driscoll, and the Importance of Preserving History

Adina Emilia De Zavala (November 28, 1861 – March 1, 1955) was an American teacher, historian, and preservationist of Texas history. Clara Driscoll (April 2, 1881 – July 17, 1945), was a Texas-born businesswoman, philanthropist, and historic preservationist.

Together, these two great women were instrumental in the preservation of The Alamo in San Antonio.

With the Mision San Antonio de Valero and others like it falling in disrepair by late 1880, it was clear that these iconic buildings wouldn't last much longer if something wasn't done. In 1887, Emilia de Zavala formed the "De Zavala Daughters” an organization dedicated to preserving and marking Texas history. Shortly after, the organization changed its name and became a chapter of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas.

In 1903, Adina Emilia De Zavala enlisted Clara Driscoll to join the Daughters of the Republic of Texas and chair the De Zavala fundraising committee to negotiate the purchase of the long barracks. A brilliant decision that secured the fate of the perseveration of the Alamo Mission in San Antonio.

With Clara Driscoll backing, just two years later, on January 26, 1905, Governor S.W.T Lanham signed legislation for state funding to preserve the Alamo property. And the rest, as they say, is history.

The Alamo in San Antonio, Today

The church of the Alamo stands today inside the restored ruins of the original mission walls. It’s a beautiful white stone whose iconic façade is brimming with breathtaking stonework. Looking just as it did back over 170 years back.

It’s a spending display of masonry of the period — four feet thick, 75 long, 62 wide, and 22 and a half feet high. The chapel's cruciform shape encases a baptistery, a confessional, and a sacristy.

The Alamo Mission in San Antonio has seen plenty of restorations over its long history, and while some of the original building didn't survive until today, what did is impressive. The chapel enjoys a metal roof dating from a hundred years back, thanks to the Daughters of the Republic of Texas – who also replaced the woodwork of the side and rear doors, and the windows.

The church, however, is not the only building that has seen restoration and remains until today.

Two of the living quarters in the Alamo can be visited, and a portion of the acequias that fed the mission and village field was preserved in 1968 and is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Located right in the center of downtown San Antonio, the once “Mision San Antonio de Valero” is open to the public all through the year. And as the most famous of the Spanish missions in Texas, The Alamo in San Antonio is definitely worth your while!

The complex includes the buildings, exhibits on Texas history, the Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library, the museum shop, and gardens. Moreover, the chapel holds a collection of historical paintings and artifacts from Texan history.

You can always find history talks and tours for the public, and other San Antonio missions can be found nearby. If you are nearby, you should definitively scratch visiting “San Antonio Missions World Heritage Sites” from your tourist list!