Thursday, February 6, 2025
From My Front Porch | Volume 386

The tree that stands watch at the Alamo

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This past weekend I traveled to San Antonio to take in an event I had long wanted to attend. Since the event was Friday night, there was a concern about my working Friday and still managing to get to San Antonio and make the event in a timely fashion. After reflection, it made sense was to leave home after work Thursday, arrive in San Antonio late Thursday evening and then enjoy spending a leisurely day Friday enjoying the fruits of the city.

It has been several years since I’ve been to the Alamo. For my wife, it had been many years. We got online and got our tickets and hit the Alamo gates first thing Friday morning. We were ready to enjoy some Texas history!

It is hard for me to explain my feelings when I am at the Alamo. It is a sacred place that commands reverence and respect and provokes thought and soul searching. Visiting the Alamo is impactful. It is an experience I wish all Americans could enjoy.

After about an hour of touring the grounds, the sun rose higher, and the clear blue sky warmed me. I took possession of an empty park bench and sat in the presence of the live oak pictured above. The tree is truly an amazing piece of God’s work. There is no way for me to accurately describe its magnificence. Its height and breadth are massive, and the shade it cast provided a comforting respite from the warm sun. Sitting quietly and enjoying the peace and comfort the tree provided, I began to reflect on the huge oak.

Live oaks grow very slowly in comparison to other trees. I feel very comfortable saying the tree is over 300 years old. In comparing it to photos of other live oak trees that had been professionally aged, I do not exaggerate saying the tree might be 400 or even 500 years old.

What had the tree “witnessed” and what had it “heard” during its long lifetime? Clearly, it was a substantial tree as long ago as when the Mission San Antonio de Valero was started by the Spanish in the mid 1700’s. I sat and could picture the tree at perhaps 30% of its current size and imagine peasants resting under it shade, just as I was, as they worked to build the first walls of what was to become the Alamo.

I imagined the Alamo under the control of Mexican Gen. Coz and the battle with Texican forces that occurred in 1835. After a two-month siege, Coz surrendered the Alamo compound to the revolutionary forces. In exchange for being released, he promised to never return to Texas, but history shows he did not keep his word. Coz was captured and taken prisoner at the Battle of San Jacinto.

In January 1836, Sam Houston sent Jim Bowie and 35 men to the Alamo to move the artillery which had been abandoned by Coz and to destroy the fortress. Bowie concluded there were not enough oxen to move the artillery to a safer place, and most of the men who were at the Alamo believed the fortress held strategic significance in protecting settlements to the east. On Jan. 26, 1836, a vote was held by the men of the Alamo and contrary to the orders of Gen. Houston, they decided to hold the Alamo and immediately began making additional reinforcements to the grounds. William Travis and James Bowie were in command. The live oak tree would have witnessed all of this: the surrender of Coz, the lowering of the Mexican flag, and the efforts of the Texians to improve the fortifications from what they believed to be an eventual Mexican attack.

On Feb. 23, 1836, the Mexican army and Gen. Santa Anna would lay siege to the Alamo. The tree would have “seen” over the ramparts and witnessed more than 4,000 Mexican soldiers outside the walls of the Alamo. It would have “heard” the Mexican bugler playing El Dequello again and again. The music was a warning to all those inside the walls that there would be no quarter; if the battle was lost, all would be put to the sword.

It would have “heard” the cannon shot by Col. Travis warning the Mexican army that the Texicans would never surrender. It would have seen the onslaught of the Mexican forces, heard the tortured deaths of the valiant defenders, and smelled the stench of burning bodies as the corpses suffered a final indignation as the Mexican troops set them on fire rather than burying them.

In the years to follow, the tree would witness millions of proud Americans pour through the gates of the Alamo as they arrived to pay tribute to its valiant defenders. Hopefully, the tree will continue to stand guard as a symbol of our strength, our determination and our resolve to be forever free.

I shed a tear while sitting on the bench before the great tree at the Alamo. The feelings that went through my heart were of pride, of admiration and respect. I pray the day never comes when I fail to feel the same way about the Alamo. It would be a loss I could not bear.

God Bless the Alamo and God Bless our Texas.

Thought for the day: Our flag does not fly because the wind moves it. If flies with the last breath of every man who dies protecting it.

Until next time ... I will keep ridin’ the storm out!