The Alamo

Santa Anna

In 1834, Santa Anna made himself the dictator of Mexico. Texans didn’t want to be controlled by Santa Anna, so they declared independence from Mexico. 

Sam Houston

In December 1835, Texans captured the Alamo, a fort outside San Antonio, from Mexican forces. Sam Houston believed it would be impossible to defend San Antonio and the Alamo, so he ordered Colonel William Travis to destroy the Alamo and return with the soldiers. Instead, Travis decided to protect the Alamo. Colonel William Travis and Lieutenant Colonel James Bowie led the forces at the Alamo. 

The Alamo

Colonel William Travis

On February 23, 1836, Santa Anna’s troops arrived to take the Alamo back. On February 24, 1836, Travis wrote a letter to the people of Texas and all Americans pledging victory of death at the Alamo. As Travis’s messenger, John Smith delivered the letter to the army in Gonzales, Texas. The Mexicans laid siege to the Alamo for 11 days before they attacked on March 6, 1836. 

Although women, children, slaves, and servants were allowed to escape, the Mexicans killed every last soldier they could find in the fort. After this, Sam Houston led the Texans to victory against the Mexicans in the battle of San Jacinto on April 21, 1836. Their rallying cry was, “Remember the Alamo.”

Cabeza de Vaca

Cabeza de Vaca was born in 1490 in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain. Before he began his journey, he served in the military. Then, he was sent out for an expedition to North America under Panfilo de Narvaez in 1527. When they were almost there, a hurricane swept them into Cuba. They eventually made their way to Florida near present-day Tampa Bay.

When they were in Florida, many people died from disease or starvation. To survive, they ate horses. They built rafts to go to the Spanish, but, unfortunately for them, they hit rough seas and landed in present-day Galveston. Cabeza was kidnapped by the Karankawa for 6-7 years. Eventually, he became a healer and was set free. He met up with his 3 fellow castaways and together they set off for Mexico City to find the Spanish.

The Comanche: Fierce Warriors

The Comanche tribe was the fiercest of the Native American tribes in Texas. The Comanche would rip the scalps of their enemies, and take it as a trophy. They were known for attacking on nights with full moons, but they did not do it all on foot. The Comanche were excellent horsemen. They got their horses from the Spanish in the 1600s. They fought neighboring tribes, such as the Apache, the Spanish, the Mexicans and the Americans. When it looked like the Comanche were in trouble, they would always find a way to have the bigger hand. The Comanches were an unbelievably tough tribe.

Cynthia Ann Parker

Cynthia Ann Parker was born to Silas Mercer Parker and Lucinda Parker. Her birthdate is unknown, but we do know she was born either in 1824 or 1825 in Crawford Country, Illinois. 

When she was 9 or 10, her grandfather, John Parker, settled his family in north-central Texas near Waco. He was able to make a fort which he called Fort Parker. He negotiated with the non-Comanches, but not the Comanche, that was a HUGE mistake. 

On May 19, 1836, 100 to 600 Comanches and allies attacked the fort. During this, Cynthia and 5 others were kidnapped. A teenage girl was able to escape. Cynthia was now a part of the Camanche. 

Later on, Cynthia married Peta Nocona. He was the chief. What was unusual was that when you are chief, you have many wives, but Nocona’s only wife was Cynthia. Later on, they had 3 children, Quanah [a boy who later will become a chief], Pecos[ a boy], and Topʉsana [a girl]. 

In December of 1860, Texas Rangers came looking for Cynthia and fought the Comanche. During the fight, a cook for the Texas Rangers was given the honor of killing Nocona because Nocona killed the cook's family.  When the rangers found Cynthia, they knew it was her because of her blue eyes and she told them her name. When they found her, she and her daughter were sent to live with her relatives. Sadly, she was separated from her 2 sons. 

In 1864, Topʉsana, Cynthia's daughter, perished from influenza. After that, Cynthia refused to eat and died in March of 1871. Cynthia had a terrible life. She had been kidnapped, her husband was killed, she was separated from her 2 sons, and her daughter died. If you say you have a bad life, change that right now.