It’s gives pause to stand there and guess that the Mexicans breached the North Wall about where now are the Fed’l courthouse steps, or that Col Travis fell at about the corner of E. Houston and Alamo Plz streets. Or to have grown with friends whose great-great-greats, Mexican and Anglo, have their names inscribed on the Memorial.

Happy Birthday, Texas. Proud to call you home.

“New States of convenient size not exceeding four in number, in addition to said State of Texas and having sufficient population, may, hereafter by the consent of said State, be formed out of the territory thereof, which shall be entitled to admission under the provisions of the Federal Constitution;…”

An interesting idea.

Today is Casimir Pulaski Day, which is a City of Chicago holiday. I just remembered that old Mayor Daley would declare “Everybody is Polish on Casimir Pulaski Day” or “Everybody’s Irish on St. Patrick’s Day”, etc., etc.. So, how about everybody is a Texan on Texas Independence Day?

The battlegound is woefully short of historical markings. Cannons of any make are placed wherever some artillery might have been. It is very difficult to understand the battle from the markings onsite.

There is a very tall limestone tower, topped with a, guess what, lone star. Actually, a statue of Sam Houston was planned atop the tower, but that would have made it exceed the height of the Washington Monument, and the Park Service nixed it. There is a reflecting pool at the base of the tower, but it seems like an afterthought and very out of place.

The Lynchburg Ferry, used by the attackers to sneak up on the Mexican Army, is still in use, albeit on gasoline powered boats. They are small, the largest capable of holding only twelve cars.

Lastly, the area is smack dab in the middle of a huge chemical plant infastructure which stretches for maybe 12 miles along the Houston Ship Channel. It is a shame that too much of it is too close to this important landmark.

And my fellow Harris Countians would skin me, but being a Fort Worth native, Go Cowboys..!

And that independence showed when Texas rejoined the Union after the Civil War. Texas agreed to rejoin but there was one special provision; there are no federal lands in Texas. Even the Davy Crockett National Forest is called that because it is managed by the feds, but Texas holds title.

My favorite Texas song? “Freeze A Yankee”

None of us here mentioned it because we were waiting for you to do so.

In honor of Texas, here’s the 1989 song Texas by Chris Rea. May not be entirely appropriate, but it’s a great tune.

I know because I’ve been previously corrected on the spelling. Apparently it’s a common mistake, however, because About.com did it, too.