The Texas Gulf Historical and Biographical Record, Volume 21, Number 1, November 1985 Page: 33
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LORENZO DE ZAVALA: MEXICAN TRAITOR OR TEXAS IDEALIST?
red for union of all Mexicans. In Texas red was the symbol of bravery.
Against these bars were displayed various devices from time to time, but
the Texians substituted the numerals "1824", emblematic of the Mexican
Constitution of 1824. This flag may have been used at the Alamo.
Zavala proposed a complete change - a blue flag with a white five-
pointed star in the center and the letters "T, E, X, A, S" between the points
of the star. Although this design was adopted by the Convention, there is
no evidence of its being used. The current Texas flag was the result of Lamar's
suggstion.in 1839.24
On March 16, the Convention received news of the massacre at the
Alamo and as a result, the members remained in continuous session on the
night of the 16th and into the day of the 17th, completing and adopting
the Constituion and organizing the interim government. Without opposi-
tion, Zavala was elected Vice-President of the Republic of Texas, at 4:00
a.m. on March 17.
Immediately, the Capital was transferred to Harrisburg; Zavala, astride
a small mule, chilled and rain-soaked, went with the other officers to Har-
risburg, and then on March 23 he joined his family at Buffalo Bayou.
During this initial period the inexperienced Texians looked to Zavala
for leadership and integrity. Prior to his March 25, 1836, arrival in Texas,
Mirabeau B. Lamar had been entrusted with six thousand dollars to pur-
chase Texas lands. Because Lamar was joining the fleeing Texas Army, he
entrusted the money to Zavala and wrote to his brother, Jefferson, at Macon,
Georgia, "After due consideration, I have placed it in the hands of Loren-
zo de Zavala, the vice-president of the government, the most responsible
and probably the most honest among them.25
Further, his knowledge of Santa Anna's character 'and motives was
respected by Zavala's peers in the Texas government. On April 9, 1836, David
Thomas, Secretary of War, wrote to the Commander-in-Chief, Sam
Houston:
I requested Gov'r Zavala to make out the particulars of the in-
formation important to be known, obtained and communicated to
24David Ott, Lone Star: The History and Development of the Texas Flag, thesis for degree
of Master of Arts at Lamar University, 1977.
25R. Henderson Shuffler, "Texas' First Veep Lies in Obscure Grave," in Texas Magazine
supplement to May 2, 1965 issue of Houston Chronicle, p. 30.Nov. 1985]
33
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Texas Gulf Historical Society. The Texas Gulf Historical and Biographical Record, Volume 21, Number 1, November 1985, periodical, November 1985; Beaumont, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1433656/m1/35/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas Gulf Historical Society.