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March 2, 1836 was the day Texas proclaimed itself a republic and independent from Mexico. While the forty five delegates to the Convention of 1836 were signing the Declaration of Independence at Washington-on-the-Brazos, the defenders inside the Alamo were already under siege. Santa Anna’s troops would make their final assault on the Alamo four days later, ending the battle with the massacre of the survivors. Shortly after the fall of the Alamo, Col James Fannin’s men were defeated after running battles along Coleto Creek near Goliad, TX. They too were executed after surrendering. Sam Houston withdrew the demoralized and exhausted Texian army until the final stand at San Jacinto. San Jacinto proved to be the decisive conclusion to the Texas Revolution where over 600 Mexican soldiers were killed and over 700 captured at the cost of 9 Texians killed. The prize jewel of the battle was the capture of the self-styled “Napolean of the West” General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna Himself.
Further scuffles with Mexico ensued as Texas sought to defend her newly-found and hard-fought independence, but ultimately the Republic joined the United States as the 28th State admitted to the Union in 1845. 16 years later in early 1861, Texas seceded from the United States and joined the Confederate States until, oddly enough, the last battle of the Civil War was fought on the banks of the Rio Grande outside Brownsville, TX in May 1865.
Since then we’ve had a pretty rough-and-tumble history of Indian wars, range wars, famous outlaws and bandits, oil booms, oil busts, a couple revolutions south of our Rio Grande border, an economic Depression or two, droughts, and at one point or another cotton, cattle, railroads, and oil were king. These days, we’re still a pretty independent minded, tough, resourceful, and very proud folk. We’ve led the world in technological development, space exploration, energy development, and even guitar playing! So anytime y’all feel like coming to Texas, please come say howdy to us here at PPL Motorhomes.com!