Presidio La Bahia (Texas Country Reporter)

foreign it was a great location to build the fort of course the trees are all growing up around here today but if you'd have been here in the 1750s or the 1800s you could see all back to the west or back to the east I mean this is the high point for a fort to be built on presidios were basically a particular type of Fort that were built to protect the missions and their their locale [Music] anyone realized back in 1749 that these stone walls along the San Antonio River would become a silent Monument to sacrifice struggle and survival as a historical site there are signs and boards to guide you through the stories of so many people so many years and what's characterized as a turbulent past [Music] well nobody knows that turbulent past better than Presidio La Bahia director Scott McMahon at any given time in the fort they probably would have only had about 40 or 50 men that were around this is the only fully restored Presidio west of the Mississippi River so it's really a special place oh yeah [Music] this was the site that Fannin and his men were held for about a week close to 400 men were packed in here [Music] what happened well you've got 400 people packed in here a lot of them were young men they were in their teens early 20s they've surrendered they think that they're going to go home and they're held here for a week and then they're taken out in three separate groups and they get about a mile away from the Presidio each one of the groups is halted and the Mexican soldiers that were escorting them step off the side of the road turn on the Texans level their muskets they fire into them and they Massacre bandage men the guy who was in charge here in fact he didn't want to kill these guys no he did not they surrendered they had surrendered and he wanted to treat them as prisoners that had surrendered honorably but Santa Ana wanted to make an example out of him he'd storm the Alamo he could he could have bypassed Alamo he stormed the Alamo to make an example there and he says basically signed these men's death warrant to make an example out of them foreign the smoke may have cleared from that terrible day but so many years later that Unthinkable episode of Cruelty and horror is something that Scott McMahon says every Texan every American should know about and never forget how many men escaped from here there were about 25 maybe 30 that made their way out some of them actually escaped the massacre some of them were saved by the angel Goliad she was the wife of one of the Mexican officers here she knew about what was going to happen and she actually hid these guys away in different places here at the Fort and helped them to escape the massacre how have we honored the angel of Goliad here well we keep her story alive by by you know talking about it to the kids that come through the tours that we have that sort of thing we have a statue for her descendants of the Angela Golia to put up a statue just outside of the Presidio between the Presidio and the actual burial site where fans men are at so she's remembered here in later life ended up at the King Ranch and that's where she spent her last year she I think she was a cook down there and lived on the ranch and so she's she's buried at [Music] everything you see in the display cases here was dug up on site and we didn't bring in anything from any other historic site at all everything was used by the Spanish soldiers the Mexican Army the texian forces it's almost like this place was just abandoned they walked away from it and everything just sat the museum at La Bahia tells the story not just of the massacre but of the whole life of this fort through the centuries in a way the entire Presidio is one giant Museum like nothing else found anywhere in America and something else that's found nowhere else is the overnight lodging now available Behind These legendary walls we have what we call the quarters initially they were priest quarters where you can stay you can book the quarters we've got two different bedrooms we've got a kitchenette a living room that really the greatest thing from for me at least I think is when you can stay here you know you're you're at the site where these guys where all this history took place and and it's really neat and your mind can wander just one glance at La bahia's website shows how popular the priest quarters have become imagine at the end of the day the museum and Visitor Center closes the Presidio flag comes down and inside all to yourself all the modern conveniences blended with the Echoes of centuries past no television no internet you're here to experience exactly this and you know kids today are used to all their electronic devices and they show up and I can hear them going what there's no there's no TV there's no Wi-Fi but you see them the next day when they're getting ready to move on and they're just really excited because they they got to slow down to a different pace and and absorb some of that history that we have here this place has been here you know pretty soon it'll be 300 years you get visitors who come here but you're probably the one person who wakes up every morning thinking about this place oh yeah what what does this place and what happened here mean to you personally well I'm a I'm a native Texan and the history of Texas is is just really intertwined in my life and my family but it's a symbol of of Texas and the strength and tenacity of Texans then and today but we really push to keep our story alive and and get it out there for people to know what what we're about and who we are where we came from foreign Scott McMahon has a story to tell as Ori he insists has not lost its impact through so many years the phrase remember Goliad became a Battle Cry in 1836 and today one visit whether it's overnight or just a quiet moment in the chapel makes Presidio La Bahia impossible to forget [Music] if these 349 men could somehow know what you've done you think they'd be proud of how we're keeping their memory alive I'd like to think they are we honor their memory on a daily basis we keep the story alive here we're still an adventurous people and those young men that came here to Texas were looking for adventure and I think they could still find some of it here in Texas today so I think they'd be happy with with what we're doing I like to think that [Music] I'd love that story me too and we've got plenty more where that came from just click on the Subscribe button and keep traveling with us

Channel: Texas Country Reporter

Views: 25,086

Keywords: texas country reporter, Texas, bob, kelli, phillips, Bob Phillips, Kelli Phillips, Tv, TCR, History

Id: 6eOGidxetPA

Length: 7min 58sec (478 seconds)

Published: Thu May 04 2023