The Alamo a San Antonio Legend

On September 22 my class went to the Alamo to walk its grounds and learn about its history from the curator, Dr. Winders, he said that all history is connected and that the story of the Alamo has been told very differently. In movie that tell the story of the Alamo the John Wayne movie tells us that the Massacer at Goldia happened before the battle of the Alamo when in fact the it happened after the Alamo. When most people go to see the Alamo when they reach the front the chapel is the first thing many people see and think it is the front of the Alamo but actually the front was a wall with a gate that extended all the way to the river and where most of the buildings are today.

After the battle the Alamo was nearly in ruins and it wasnt till the early 1900's after the civil was that the United States Government allowed the restoration of the Alamo and it wasnt designated a national park until the 1960's. The Alamo was mainly used for millitary storage during the civil war and in the chapel a adicte was built manily from storage space but was latter torn down after the Civil War. Today the chapel is now a memoriale for all those who fought at the Alamo and holds the flags of each independant state that each person hailed from. Althought the has hold history for it is the heart of San Antonio and will still be there to intrest future generations in its rich history.

The soruce of life at the Missions

Mission Francisco De La Espada depended upon a dam back in the days of exploration for Spain, which they needed water to allow them to sustain life over at the mission. From the time of its constructions Espada dam has been the life of the mission Espada and the Indian crops since 1740, which has been the oldest functioning aqueduct in American history. The experience that I gained from going to the Espada was that I learned that how there could be such a beautiful site could exist here in San Antonio because of how fast the river was flowing. The dam itself was very interesting and amazement that it has with stood the elements of nature and time and that is still functioning and bringing water to the mission. Around the dam the environment was so calm and cool and I saw fish swimming through the aqueduct and the walk from the aqueduct to the dam was good exercise for anyone that would enjoy the place. The impact that I thought that the dam had on the missions was that it brought life to the missions it allowed the Spaniards and the Indians. To me both the dam and the aqueduct were interesting parts of the missions because I got to see how the both structures communicate with the environment around them. The importance of the dam today is that is a historical marker and a memory of the past for what the missions stand for in the eyes of its descendents. Which is why that the missions should be preserved so that future generations would learn and get to experience the history of the San Antonio Missions and all it has to offer. This is what the San Antonio Missions mean to me when I go and see them.

Mission Espada

I Learned over at Mission Espada is that the mission was once a community for the Native Americans during the time of exploration for Spain and that the mission was used for many purposes. One of the uses for the mission was the chapel and that even today there are decadences of the mission that still hold Sunday masses over there and that it is one of the only buildings that are still standing during the years since it completion. The Park Ranger Dora Martinez told us some facts that were very informative about the Native Americans lived their lives back in the early days of the mission. In order to get water over to the mission the Native’s built an aqueduct that leads from the San Antonio River over to the mission and even to this day is the oldest running aqueduct in America. One of the ways that the Indians lived their lives over at the mission was the farming had to be done out side of the mission which put those that went outside of the mission at great risk from a raid by enemy tribes. For a way for the Indians to sleep at night was that thy grabbed some deer moss that would fall down from the mosque trees as for a mattress of a kind so they would sleep in their tents. The way the Indians had clothes because the Spaniards thought them how to use the loom which was a way for the Indians to make clothes so that they would be more civilized and more presentable in life. That is what I learned from my trip to Mission Espada and that it is a mission that would need to be preserved for as long as possible for the rich history that the mission holds.