The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 43, July 1939 - April, 1940 Page: 253
576 p. : ill., maps ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Letters and Documents
courage to make the charge, and that Santa Anna was licked by a
crowd of half-drunk men. I arose and asked him for proof. He
had none.
It would make this article too long to give the various recitals
which have come to my attention lately, reflecting on the early
patriots of Texas. Texas, at the time of the Revolution, had quite
a good-sized population of Anglo-Americans, interspersed with a
few Europeans. Of course, in such a large number of people there
were undoubtedly renegades, but they did not constitute the ma-
jority, as our debunking historians would make us believe. It is
unreasonable to believe that such historians as Thrall, Yoakum,
and many others, who lived in Texas at the time of the Revolu-
tion, did not know what they were writing about, and we should
demand positive proof to destroy credence in their histories.
It is also alleged that Mrs. Dickinson, the survivor of the Alamo,
was a disreputable person and that her stories of heroism at the
Alamo should not be believed. All of us have very likely known
people who were "talked about" in some ways but still were
truthful. Why should Mrs. Dickinson falsify in her statements
of what she saw at the Alamo? Our speaker at Houston referred
twice to the "capitulation" of the Alamo, which was the first time
in my long life that I ever heard such an assertion. I believe we
should have very strong proof before we believe it. It was asserted
by Mexicans that after the Alamo battle two or three of the Texans
were found hidden in or near the Alamo and that Santa Anna
ordered them taken out and shot immediately. If the Mexican
story is true, would the finding of two or three men who were
not killed during the battle be a fair basis for the assertion that
the defenders of the Alamo surrendered instead of fighting to the
last, as history records?
The story of Travis drawing a line and inviting those to cross
who wanted to leave is thrown out. Is there definite proof that
Travis did not draw the line ? If not, then let us believe it, even
though it possibly may be legendary and based on an offer that
any who wanted to leave could do so.
The debunkers in their pose of impartiality and accuracy have
themselves drawn unwarranted conclusions, and have gone far
into the realm of assumption, guessing, and pure invention.
Let us keep our illusion of angels with beautiful and graceful
wings, and of our Texas heroes as patriotic, loyal and good citizens.253
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 43, July 1939 - April, 1940, periodical, 1940; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101111/m1/267/?rotate=270: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.