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I think the “Alamo City” deserves a different nickname, maybe the “Riverwalk City.” Granted, the Alamo is the city’s most famous landmark but the city owes its entire existence to the river. The area was originally settled because of the life-giving water; the resulting city, San Antonio, is named after the river that meanders through downtown.

The river earned it’s name because it was discovered by the Spanish on June 13, 1691, which, as everyone knows, is the feast day of San Antonio de Padua, a Portuguese saint. The first settlement didn’t occur until the mission of San Antonio de Valero (now more commonly known as the Alamo) was founded near the river in 1718.

Which brings us to the mission period of San Antonio. Spain had claimed huge swaths of the New World but in true pioneering spirit a claim was only as strong as your presence. In other words, your word was not enough to keep other countries from encroaching, you needed boots on the ground. In the early 1700s France began to push her boundaries westward in the New World infringing well into Spain’s Tejas territory. Spain needed to settle the area fast. Unfortunately, the Crown had trouble persuading any of its loyal subjects to make the move that was fraught with certain peril.

So, Spain decided to tap into one of its many resources, the natives. The Crown established five missions along the San Antonio River: San Antonio de Valero (1718), San José and San Miguel de Aguayo (1720), San Juan Capistrano (1731), San Francisco de la Espada (1731), and Nuestra Señora de la Concepción de Acuña (1755).

These Texas missions were far different from Spain’s other missions in the southwest. At all missions the natives were converted to Catholicism and saved, but in Texas the natives were also trained to become loyal Spanish citizens. The missions served as vocational training schools where the natives learned farming, and animal husbandry techniques as well as blacksmithing, weaving, woodworking, masonry and numerous other skills. So who were these native people and did they do all this voluntarily?

The natives were small bands of hunter/gatherers known collectively as Coahuiltecans. They were under severe duress when the first Fathers appeared. Their neighbors to the north, the Lipan Apaches and Comanches had already acquired the horse from other tribes further west and since they were more mobile they were infringing on the Coahuiltecan’s territory. Contact with the Spanish exposed the natives to various diseases they had no resistance to and the climate record shows an extended period of drought. So, completely altering their lifestyle and learning new ways of living may have been a voluntary act of desperation.

The missions were self supporting walled villages where the natives exchanged labor for food and refuge. Although they received supplements from Mexico City twice a year the rest was up to them. On nearby fields, called labores, the mission residents farmed sugar cane, corn, beans, wheat, cotton and raised pigs, goats, sheep, and cattle. The missions at one time had over 5,000 head of cattle on the open range. An interesting cultural note, the vaquero (cowboy) that is so iconic of the West originated with the natives who ran cattle for the missions in Texas!

Overall the missions met with limited success. The natives continued to succumb to foreign diseases, some left and after Mexico won its independence from Spain the missions became irrelevant. The Catholic Church deeded much of the mission lands to the inhabitants (supposedly) and by the end of the 1700s the missions were in disrepair. After close to 80 years of running cattle the missions had overgrazed the land so severely that the once lush grasslands were reduced to brush and cactus-choked country.

While the missions were foundering the town of San Antonio continued to grow. The San Fernando Cathedral opened in 1731, an influx of Spanish settlers began to arrive, the Spanish Governor’s Palace which was the home and headquarters of the presidio captain was built in 1749, and by 1824 Stephen F. Austin and three hundred other colonists had settled along fertile rivers in Texas.

Which leads us to the reason for the city’s nickname, the Alamo. Austin and his “Old Three Hundred” had received certain guarantees from the Spanish government but Mexico’s Independence threw Texas into a state of confusion. The Mexican uprising was based on establishing a liberal republic but those ideals were swept aside when President Antonio López de Santa Anna established himself as dictator.

By late 1835, the newly organized Texians (as they called themselves) were fighting Santa Anna’s army for independence from Mexico’s rule. The first battle in the San Antonio area took place in the ruins of the San Antonio de Valero mission. The mission grounds had been overtaken by cottonwood trees, hence the name the Alamo (Spanish for cottonwood). The December battle saw the Texians victorious as they drove out a small Mexican army force.

Santa Anna, who some say suffered from a Napoleonic complex, took the loss personally and vowed to solve the Texas problem once and for all. By late February 1836 Santa Anna and roughly 3,000 men occupied the city of San Antonio and unfurled the red flag of “No Quarter” atop San Fernando Cathedral. No quarter meant that all would be killed, no prisoners would be taken. Inside the Alamo were roughly 200 men, most were Texas army regulars under the command of Colonel William B. Travis, the rest were volunteers following Jim Bowie (the most famous of which was David Crockett).

Travis refused orders by Sam Houston to withdraw, stating “Victory or Death”. The defenders of the Alamo were woefully outnumbered and their hoped-for help never arrived. After 13 days of siege Santa Anna led a full attack on the Alamo before sunrise on March sixth. By dawn, the Battle of the Alamo was over and all 188 of the defenders were dead. To serve as an example Santa Anna had their bodies burned (denying them a Christian burial). He then released the few women and children so they could tell of the destruction.

Santa Anna’s confidence was short lived as the remaining Texian force camped near Houston resolved to win. “Remember the Alamo” and “Remember Goliad” (another town where Santa Anna was victorious) were the cries that helped the Texians to defeat Santa Anna in an 18 minute battle on April 21st. And the rest, as they say is history…

Tourism is one of the main things that drives San Antonio’s economy. Another main driver is the military (the Army operates Fort Sam Houston and the Air Force has Lackland and Randolph bases). There is plenty to do in San Antonio and much of it is conveniently located downtown. We toured the Spanish Governor’s Palace where we encountered a deliciously sweet smelling tree, the Tea Olive in the old courtyard. As soon as we have a yard we are planting a Tea Olive! The Palace was restored and is managed by the city, nice to see they value their history.

Just a block away is the dominant San Fernando Cathedral. I happened to be wandering by on Ash Wednesday and the crowd was immense. To serve its large congregation the church gave services and ashes every half hour from 7am to after dark. Later in the week when Lance and I popped in to peek at the casket that supposedly holds some of the remains of the defenders of the Alamo, there was a wedding rehearsal taking place; busy church!

We traveled four miles south of downtown to visit the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park Visitor Center at Mission San José. The Park’s 819 acres are within the city limits and have been cooperatively managed by the Park Service and the Catholic Church since it was established in 1978. Four of the five San Antonio missions are active parishes and a part of the Park, Mission San Antonio de Valero (the Alamo) is preserved by the Daughters of the Republic of Texas.

At San José some of the acequias (canals) are still in use. The water from the San Antonio River still runs the grist mill. A knowledgeable and friendly volunteer explained the process of wheat milling. He even explained some common phrases that originated in grist mills. Like “run of the mill”, which referred to the fineness of the ground meal.

The miller could tell how the grinding stones were doing by feeling the meal, if it was just right it was called the “run of the mill.” “Nose to the grindstone” is another miller’s phrase. If the grinding stones were too close together the meal would heat up from the friction and start to smell toasted. Hence the miller kept his “nose to the grindstone” to ensure proper alignment of the heavy stones.

Lance and I find that being a tourist is hard work, so we popped into the famous Nicha’s Mexican Food Restaraurant to recuperate. Usually the line to get in is out the door, but we were lucky and were seated right away. As we walked by the kitchen we glimpsed a young woman making tortillas—now that’s fresh! Refreshed, we headed back downtown.

Of course, we spent a lot of time wandering along the Riverwalk. There are several different arms to the Riverwalk, some follow along the original route of the river, others are man-made canals. All of the walkway offers a welcomed respite to the traffic noise above at street level.

San Antonio is lucky to have preserved such a resource. Of course much of the work was done for the Hemisfair that the city hosted in 1968. No matter how or when, I am just glad it was done. And who would of thought that in the middle of the city we would add two cool new birds to our list (Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron).

Overall, a very enjoyable city to visit and we only scratched the surface of it since we had to leave early for a quick trip back to Tucson.

Photos: View our photos from San Antonio, Texas.

Notes: We stayed in San Antonio, Texas from 02/18/2007 to 03/03/2007.