Goliad Massacre

In a comment on the February 18 blog post, "Prettiest Place in the City", Bill wrote -

The Texans repaid Santa Anna for the Alamo at San Jacinto Creek. Is that near San Antonio?

The presentation of the history of Texas and the Texas Revolution at the Alamo was very complete and events subsequent to the defeat at the Alamo are presented as well as a number of details that occurred during the siege of the Alamo. For instance, Jim Bowie and William Travis were co-commanders when the siege began on February 23, but Jim Bowie became ill with pneumonia on the 24th leaving Travis in sole command. Aware that his garrison could not withstand an attack by Santa Anna's large force (100 Texans vs. 1,500 Mexicans) Travis wrote multiple letters pleading for more men and supplies. Fewer than 100 additional men arrived but, ninety miles away, at Goliad, Colonel James Fannin made an initial attempt to come to the aid of the fighting men at the Alamo but, perhaps because of transportation problems, had to turn back to Presidio La Bahia at Goliad. 

When we left San Antonio to travel here to Goose Island, we opted not to travel on Interstate #37 but to take the State Highways referred to on the February 22 blog, "Goose Island." It seemed a more picturesque way to travel, but we didn't realize we were driving straight into the next chapter of the history of the Republic of Texas. In the early afternoon, we drove through the town of Goliad and we remembered the write-up at the Alamo and sure enough, we encountered signs in the town that directed us to Goliad State Park and Mission Espiritu Santo and Presidio La Bahia. We made a spur of the moment decision to stop at the State Park and visit the Mission.

Franciscan priests established the Mission Espiritu Santo at Goliad in 1749, adjacent to Presidio La Bahia. Both the mission and presidio were strategically located on opposite banks of the San Antonio River protecting Camino La Bahia, a major Spanish trade route to the the north and east. Mission life proved destructive to the natives' traditional way of life. In return for food, shelter and protection from more aggressive tribes, they agreed to live in the mission, follow its discipline and receive instruction in the Roman Catholic faith. The result, over time, was the gradual erosion and eventual destruction of their traditional tribal culture.

During its existence as a mission, the church and grounds were the center of a busy community. Ranching became the main occupation at Espiritu Santo. Thousands of wild long-horned cattle and horses roamed the mission lands. Mission Indians adapted Spanish riding and roping styles to their own and soon became accomplished vaqueros.

Espíritu Santo's church and grounds were the center of a busy community. 

At the Park Visitor Center we were referred to the church where a docents gave us a tour of the mission. Upon entering the church we were invited to ring the mission bell - it is supposed to bring good luck.

Franciscan efforts at Mission Espiritu Santo continued until 1830 when declining Indian populations and political turmoil in Mexico forced it to close. It was abandoned by the Catholic Church and use of its stone walls for construction in the town of Goliad left the buildings in ruin. From 1935 until 1941, the State of Texas, having acquired the site for a park, used crews of the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Work Projects Administration to restore the Mission. 

Picture of the ruins in the early 1930's.

Working from drawings left by the original Franciscans, the state has replicated the look of the original church. Since it was abandoned by the Catholic Church, it is no longer used for religious services.

One of the side altars.

And the altar on the other side.

The two stone wall sections are original and all that remains of the historic church. The white-washed exterior is not historically accurate.

Historic items from the Spanish occupation.

Rhode Island connection! - This is Ginny Barnes, the docent that gave us a tour of the mission. After she encouraged us to ring the bell we were walking through the church when I asked her if she was a native Texan. "No", she replied, "I'm from Rhode Island." She was raised in the Westerly area and married a Texan so she now lives in Texas in the winter and Rhode Island in the summer. (She was reluctant to have her picture taken because she said she does not "take a good picture." I have to admit that I didn't catch her pleasant likeness, but it is the only picture I took of her.)

There was a trail that led to the banks of the San Antonio River and the kiln used by the Indians, and later by the CCC, to make the bricks for the mission.

The Park hosts a number of species of birds including the Painted Bunting.

Maybe you can just make out a nest in the winter-nuded tree - center left.

This is the remains of the kiln used by the CCC to fire thousands of floor tiles used in the restoration of Mission Espiritu Santo. It also burned stone to create lime mortar - an essential element in the creation of the walls of the Mission.

Native Americans harvested the tiny cochineal insect found living on the pads of prickly pear. When the Spanish learned of the red dye the Indians made from this insect, they prized it almost as highly as gold.

The brown San Antonio River viewed from the trail.

Even though the original was not white, the restored building is stunning.

A quarter of a mile beyond Mission Espiritu Santo is Presidio La Bahia, designated a National Historic Landmark and considered the world's finest example of a Spanish frontier fort. This is the most fought over fort in Texas history, having been involved in six National Revolutions/Wars for independence. Spanish, Mexican and Texas soldiers all garrisoned its fortified walls. 

The Presidio La Bahia, established at this location in 1749,  is strategically located on an elevation overlooking the surrounding area. The town of Goliad grew up around the protection of the fort and became the second largest populated settlement in Spanish Texas. Soldiers from the Presidio assisted the Spanish army fighting the British along the Gulf Coast during the American Revolution. This action gives Goliad the distinction of being one of the only communities west of the Mississippi River to have participated in the American Revolution.

The cattle industry of America had its beginnings at La Bahia with the soldiers of the Presidio over-seeing the vast herds of the nearby mission. Troop escorts for cattle drives to supply other settlements in the Spanish Southwest were commanded by the garrison of the Presidio. 

In the fall of 1835, a group of Texans seized the Presidio from Mexican troops and held it in support of the newly proclaimed Declaration of Texas Independence that was formally declared at the Presidio on December 20. The first flag of Texas Independence was flow over the Presidio.

After word spread that the Alamo had fallen on March 6, 1836, Gen. Sam Houston ordered Col. Fannin to destroy Presidio La Bahia and retreat to Victoria because he felt that it was insufficiently armed to withstand an attack by Santa Anna. On March 19, Fannin and about 300 men began the retreat with Mexican forces under General Urrea only two hours behind.  Fannin's lead quickly evaporated and they were caught in the middle of an open prairie near Coleto Creek, outnumbered by the Mexicans. By nightfall the Texans were completely surrounded and seven were dead and 28 wounded, including Col Fannin. In the morning, when it became clear that it was impossible to continue fighting, Fannin and his officers surrendered. 

Fannin and his men were marched back to Goliad and the Presidio and despite pleas from Gen. Urrea to treat the captured as prisoners of war, Gen. Santa Anna ordered the prisoners executed. The darkest day in Texas history, the Goliad Massacre, took place on Palm Sunday, March 27, 1836, when 302 Texans were marched out of La Bahia in 3 columns. They were shot pointblank and any survivors were clubbed or knifed to death. 

The 40 wounded prisoners were shot inside, Col Fanning last. He was seated in a chair before the chapel because of a wound in his leg. According to reports from physicians who were spared, Fannin made three requests.

• his personal possessions be sent to his family
• he be shot in the heart, not in the face
• he be given a Christian burial

The Mexican soldiers took his belongings; shot him in the face; and, burned his body along with the rest of the executed soldiers (as were the defenders at the Alamo). 

Deemed a massacre, the execution of Fannin's command served to inflame the Texas cause. As the grim news reached the United States, volunteers streamed forth for the people of Texas and many settlers rejoined the Texas Army under Gen. Sam Houston. After several weeks of maneuvering, on April 21, 1836, the Texan Army attacked Santa Anna's forces near the present-day city of Houston, at the Battle of San Jacinto. They captured Santa Anna and forced him to sign the Treaties of Valesco, ending the hostilities and providing official recognition of the Republic of Texas' independence. It set the Boundary of Texas at the Rio Grande.

Flags that have flown over the Presidio La Bahia.

Presidio La Bahia is a fort, not a mission. It was restored in the 1960s to stand as a lasting memorial beside its sister shrines, the Alamo and San Jacinto. Today it is considered one of the most authentic restoration projects in the United States.

We found one of the cannon.

This chapel was erected in the quadrangle of the Presidio for the sole use of the soldiers and Spanish settlers living in the town of Goliad, surrounding the fort. It is named "Our Lady of Loreto" and is the oldest building in the compound and one of the oldest churches in America, in continuous use since the 1700s. This centuries-old chapel was where Fannin's men were held during part of their captivity before being massacred. 

The fresco behind the altar was done in 1946 by the "Michelangelo of South Texas", renowned Corpus Christi artist, Antonio Garcia. 

One of the side altars.

Unlike the Mission Espiritu Santo church, the chapel continues its existence as a place of worship. The Presidio compound is a private institution operated under the administration of the Catholic Diocese of Victoria. 

In a near-by park is a memorial to the soldiers who fought here.