The Alamo will be remembered Jan. 24 and 25, have no doubt…

Jan. 15, 2009
Posted by Noah

I can’t really think about the Alamo, or the Texas Revolution without thinking about my eighth grade history teacher, Coach Armon. I never really liked him, and he wasn’t really a teacher of any note in my life, except that he loved the story of the Alamo – made us watch the movie twice to make sure we didn’t miss any “details” of the story – and he frequently commented on what amazing horse riders the Apaches were. He loved his athletes, disdained those few of us not on a team, and shamelessly flirted with the pretty girls in the class, which, come to think of it, was always a little creepy.

For all of that, I remember reading the text of William Travis’s final impassioned plea from The Alamo, as his tragic few men waited for reinforcements, staring over the mission walls at a force of thousands of Mexican National soldiers. The weekend after this, Jan. 24-25, Heritage is going to be auctioning off a very rare copy of a broadside – which is a fancy way of saying old, hand-printed poster – of Travis’s plea, which appeared after the Alamo fell, after he and all his men were overrun and run through, and was a very salient rallying point for the rest of the Texas Revolution, if not the single most important turning point. And it’s here, in the building, under lock and key. How amazing is that? I defy any Texan to deny that the very thought of it doesn’t send chills up your spine.

I guess I should thank Coach Armon for that.

Here’s a link to the auction of important Texana, and here’s a link to the lot. This thing is pretty amazing, if just for the very fact that it’s survived almost two centuries, let alone its witness to Texas history, and proximity to those legendary players.