The Flight of the Saltire

[Zardoz]

Today I took the Saltire on the next stop on the Texas Independance Trail, Washington On The Brazos, the birthplace of the Republic of Texas.



When delegates representing Texas settlements met at San Felipe in 1835, the citizens of Washington had hoped this "consultation" would be held in their town. They argued Washington was centrally located for all delegates, as the town’s ferry serviced the heavily-traveled La Bahia road, and the Brazos River was navigable from the coast. Soon the provisional government, who had been using an unfinished San Felipe hotel as a meeting hall and lodging, called for a convention to be held at Washington beginning March 1, 1836. If you're wondering; Washington, Texas was named after the town of Washington, Georgia, the hometown of several of the first settlers.



I guess the the San Felipe digs were pretty bad, because the convention that drew up the Texas Declaration of Independence met in a unfinished gunsmith's shop!



The granite obelisk marking the birth of a new country.


This is a replica of the Texas 'Independence Hall' built on the site of the original, in the 1930s.


59 delegates piled into a hall like this and signed the Texas Declaration of Independence on March 2nd 1836. The Declaration was produced, literally, overnight because while it was being prepared, the Alamo in San Antonio was under seige by the army of Mexico. The delegates were a diverse collection of folks, they came from a total of five foreign countries (Mexico, Canada, Scotland, Ireland and England) and twelve different US states. Only two, Jose Francisco Ruiz and Jose Antonio Navarro, were "native Texans" the rest were relative newcomers. Only ten of the delegates had been in Texas more than a few years prior to 1836, fifteen had come in 1835.


Elsewhere on the grounds are this nice visitor's center,


and the Star of the Republic museum, which is star shaped when viewed from the air.


In one of the gardens I saw this tribute to Ron Stone, an Oklahoma native who came to Houston in the early 60's. He was a Houston TV reporter and news anchor for over 30 years, and host of 'The Eyes of Texas' a cultural anthology TV series, till his death in 2008. He loved Texas and our history. He was also a neighbor of my family's, and I went though school with his son.


Even though their season is pretty much over, there were a few scraggly looking Bluebonnets hanging on around the park.

Till next time...