San Jacinto County Go Texan: Fill & Download for Free

We’re Texans we don’t give up. Seriously, we just don’t.Did the 187 Texians at the Alamo give up when faced with 1500 of Santa Ana’s troops in 1836? Hell no! They fought bitterly to the end, taking out at least 600 Mexican troops.The next month, Texians again rallied against Santa Ana’s troops at San Jacinto, this time they were over 900 strong but outnumbered by 1350 Mexican troops. They should have lost again, but despite all odds, Texians fell 950 Mexicans and captured 300, while only suffering 11 fatalities, because by then, they were pissed. Their battle cry?Remember the Alamo!So history has shown us that Texans aren’t afraid of a fight and will do battle even when we know the odds aren’t in our favor. And while we sometimes lose, when it really counts, we’ll win.There’s a reason we say ‘Don’t Mess With Texas’You must remember that 3 of the 10 largest cities in the USA are located in Texas.4-Houston7- San Antonio9-DallasAustin is 11th and El Paso is 20th.All of those cities were won by Clinton in 2016. She also won most of the counties closest to the border in Southwest Texas. In places like Corpus Christie and Ft. Worth, she came very close.Trump got 4,685,047Clinton - 3,877,868Libertarian - 283,492Green -71,558Write- ins- 51,261If Beto can rally enough people to get out and vote, change the minds of some Republican and Independent voters, and if the 3rd partiers would do the civic-minded thing and join the Democrats in getting rid of a party which has become increasingly dangerous, we could rid this state of Cruz. We’re not asking Libertarians, Greens and Independents to denounce their party, but only to join us in the effort to put an end into what is quickly becoming a civil-rights violating regime. Something we all can agree is not in the best interests of the country.But even if we do lose, O’Rourke has definitely ignited a flame that is quickly starting to engulf the state. We won’t go away - ever, much less give up. We’re Texans!Remember el Beto!

If you are standing on the Texas side of Stateline Bvd. in Texarkana, you’re closer to Chicago than to El Paso, if on the other hand, you find yourself standing in downtown El Paso, you are closer to Los Angeles than Texarkana, and it don’t matter which one of those towns you are in, it’s still one hell of a long drive to get to Amarillo. In the words of Ray Benson of “Asleep at the Wheel” you have “miles and miles of miles and miles in Texas”. It’s not unusual to have a flood in Central Texas while other parts of the state have a burn ban in effect because of a drought. It’s not just the size that makes Texas feel different, either.You are always surrounded with history, look at how many of the counties and cities are named for the heroes of the revolution, Austin, Houston, Zavala, Lamar, Travis, Crockett, even Deaf Smith and a lot more have a counties named for them. Every day locals as well as tourist tour the Battle Ship “Texas”,at the site of the San Jacinto battleground and the “Texas” Monument near Houston and also at the Alamo in San Antonio. Up in the panhandle, people still remember Billy Dixon and the long rifle shot that ended the battle of Adobe Walls and the life of a Comanche Chief. People come to Waco for football at Baylor University but also to see where Dr. Pepper was first created and go to the Texas Ranger Museum (the lawmen not the baseball players) and a walk through the cemetery where some of the early rangers and pioneers are buried.Texas remembers it’s past but go to Clear Lake and visit NASA, where so much of the history of Space travel has been and will be created. Yes, we respect the past but we also plan to be part of the future, Check out the computer business centered in Austin and second only to Silicon Valley and growing.There are major professional sports teams in every sport as well as nationally ranked College teams all over the state. For many, Friday nights in the fall are spent in thousands of high school stadiums across Texas watching some of the finest football played anywhere. For those inclined to the sport of speed there is a Nascar track located south of Dallas.As vibrant as the sports scene is, the music industry has it shaded, Live Music is alive and doing well all over Texas, the whole world knows the Austin Scene with South By Southwest music and film Expo, and other events as well a the live taping of the “Austin City Limits” TV show since it started in 1975 ( the longest running music show on TV). There is all types of music in Texas from Outlaw Country to Symphonies and Grand Opera in Dallas and Houston. Texas is a land that gave the world Bob Wills, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Buddy Holly, Waylon Jennings and Van Cliburn. What an assortment, and lets not forget that little ol’ Houston band “ZZ Top”.When you can claim something as large and divergent as Texas, the piney woods to the valley, Palo Duro to the Gulf you are not the same person you’d be somewhere else. In a place as different as Texas, you are different too.Remember, Glenn McCarty, Howard Hughes, and H.L. Hunt were all Texans.

Actually, during the few months leading up to the final showdown at the Alamo from Feb 21 to March 6, 1836, the Alamo changed hands several times.A few Texan defenders would be holding the Alamo, and a whole bunch of Mexican troops would come and take it away from them. Then a whole bunch of Mexican troops would be garrisoning the Alamo, and a few Texans would come and take it away from them. It was like a ping-pong ball for a while.Col. Travis sent word they needed reinforcements, but Sam Houston ordered him to abandon the Alamo and come join him. Travis refused.So, yeah, with a few more Texans, it might’ve gone far differently in March of 1836.Here’s a column I wrote about the nation of Texas several years ago, for my weekly outdoor humor column that runs in some Central Texas newspapers:THE REPUBLIC OF TEXASKendal HemphillAs a tribute to the great state of Texas, and in honor of Texas Independence Day (2 March), Alamo Day (6 March), and my birthday (13 March), I have decided to recount certain significant events from Texas history. And in honor of my hatred for research, I have decided to do this without using any actual facts.You should recall from coach Johnny Clauson’s sixth grade history class at Mason Junior High, 1972-1973, that Texas was colonized by Stephen ‘Moses’ Austin, who put up flyers all over Tennessee, Kentucky, North and South Virginia, and Germany, to advertise the cheap land here. He did this for two reasons: 1) he was a genuinely good guy who wanted to help his fellow man and c) he needed to get enough emigrants down here to fight against Mexico in the battle of the Alamo, the battle of San Jacinto, and the Milagro Bean Field War.He did pretty well, too, managing to recruit some very good actors, such as John Wayne, Ken Curtis, Denver Pyle, and Richard Widmark. These guys, along with a bunch of extras from Tennessee (the ‘Shoot Me State’) on March 6, 1836, unsuccessfully defended the Alamo.Actually, the Spanish mission’s real name was the Mission de San Antonio de Valero. After the battle the Texans tried to encourage more people to join their army by shouting “Remember the Mission de San Antonio de Valero!” but it just didn’t flow. So they decided to call it the Alamo instead.Though many people don’t realize it, the Alamo changed hands several times during the months leading up to the 13-day siege in late February and early March of 1836, when the movie cameras were finally set up. The Mexicans would take the mission, and the Texans would take it back, and it went back and forth like a ping-pong ball. It got so confusing at one point the Texans decided to take a break and spend a couple of weeks on the coast. While they were gone the Mexicans took the mission away from themselves three times.But the defenders of the Alamo had bought the Texas army some valuable time, time it needed to prepare to defend itself, time it needed to organize its forces and plan its strategy, time it needed to figure out which way to run from the Mexican army. For the answer, the Texans turned to their colorful and enigmatic leader, General Sam Houston State University.After conferring with his colonels, his lieutenants, and a fairly reliable podiatrist, Gen. University declared that the Texans would run east, on account of the Mexican army being to the west, the Gulf of Mexico being to the south, and Comanches being to the north. Everyone agreed this was a good choice, since they had to go that way to get to the site of the Battle of San Jacinto anyhow, which was scheduled for 21 April, barring bad weather. The Runaway Scrape was on.Texans abandoned their homes, leaving hot food on the table, hot coals on the hearth, and hot footprints on the road. The new Texas government relocated several times, with the army of General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna (who called himself the ‘Napoleon of the West’) hot on their tail. They ended up in Galveston, where they buried what was left of the national treasury (three dimes and a quarter) on the beach. Their voting machines were all damaged by salt water, so President David G. Burnet decided to send them to Broward County, Florida. They are still in use today.The Texas army, meanwhile, kept going east, looking over its shoulder once in a while, but seldom slowing down. Gen. University finally called a halt when he got to the San Jacinto River. He consulted his program to find that his men were to be deployed to the north side of the battlefield, but were not yet allowed to bathe.When Santa Anna arrived he was not happy that the only seats left were on the south side, near the picturesque, mosquito-laded swamp. He complained, and was allowed to bring in some reinforcements as compensation. Partially mollified, he decided to take a nap.Which, of course, was when Gen. University decided to attack. His 910 men ran across the meadow, charged into the 1265 Mexican soldiers, killed 630 of them, wounded 208, and routed the rest. Nine Texans were killed and 30 wounded. You can believe what you want, but I think they were just trying to get to the coast. After 40 days of marching and camping without bathing or shaving, they were ready for a swim.Texas may have only been a sovereign nation for a scant ten years, but the Battle of San Jacinto was one of the most decisive and far reaching in influence of any in history. And it only lasted 18 minutes.That’s about all I remember, except that getting killed at the Alamo was extremely beneficial for John Wayne’s acting career. He continued to get killed in other wars, including WWII and Vietnam, right up until the time he died.But he never died in a more worthy cause . . .Kendal Hemphill is an outdoor humor columnist and public speaker who lost $20 betting on the Texans when the latest movie about the Alamo came out. Maybe next time.