Images of The Alamo, San Antonio Missions National Historical Park in central Texas, taken in August 2016.

From the time it was founded in 1718 as the Mission San Antonio de Valero, the Alamo (Spanish for “cottonwood”) served many different purposes; as a mission, a fortress and a military warehouse but it is best known as the location of the Battle of the Alamo which took place over eight days in late February and early March of 1836. It was then that approximately 200 Texas Revolutionaries including former Tennessee congressman David Crockett, knife fighter James Bowie and Alamo Commander William B. Travis, fought for eight days to hold off General Antonio Lopez Santa Anna and the Mexican Army which outnumbered the Texians and Tejanos by over ten-to-one. On the morning of March 6, 1836 Santa Anna’s army stormed the compound and killed all of the Alamo fighters to end the standoff.

For years to come, as the Republic of Texas (1836-1845) continued to fight for its independence from Mexico, they used the battle cry “Remember the Alamo” to symbolize the ultimate sacrifice that its defenders made to secure their freedom. Today it is protected, as part of San Antonio Missions National Historical Park, as a Shrine to Texas Liberty.