The North Carolina Mason

Page 14 The North Carolina Mason March/April 2018 From the Courier's Case ■ see ALAMO next page Remembering our brothers at the Alamo By Steven A. Campbell Blackmer Lodge No. 127 Ever leading the way, several Freemasons played a major role in the Battle of the Alamo. e names of Bowie, Crockett and Travis are forever etched in the annals of Texas and American history. Upon gaining our independence from Great Britain, much of North and South America were still possessions of France, Spain, Portugal, Holland and England. e American frontier pushed westward toward the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. In need of cash, Napoleon Bonaparte sold the United States over 1 million square miles of French-owned North America in 1803. is opened up vast lands to eager frontiersmen, traders, entre- preneurs, and settlers. It was during our early westward expansion that the Mexican people won their independence from Spain. What now encompasses the states of Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and southern California was part of the Republic of Mexico. Hoping to see the land prosper as well as to discourage American expansion into this region, Mexican officials opened up the lands of Texas to settlers under the agree- ment that they, along with local inhabitants, would be loyal citizens of Mexico. us is the setting in Texas in the 1830s. Speculative and hard working Americans, Europeans and Indians in this province prospered and their concerns of uncompromising rule from Mexico City fanned the thoughts of independence. In 1833, a 39-year-old Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, who helped liberate Mexico from Spain, suspended the government and seized power. Within two years, eight Mexican states rebelled. With European trained officers, Santa Anna crushed the rebels. e Mexican State of Coahuila y Tejas (Texas) rebelled in November 1835. Several skirmishes took place between Mexican troops and the settlers. On March 2, 1836, under the political leadership of David Burnet, Brother Stephen Austin and others, the Republic of Texas was formed. A settler from Virginia, Brother Sam Houston, was placed in command of the Army of Texas. ere was only one flaw in his appointment: with the exception of a few men, there was no Army of Texas. Houston would have to raise one. Meanwhile with an army of nearly 6,000 troops, cavalry and artillery, President Santa Anna marched northward, through severe winter weather, to crush the rebel- lion. e Alamo e 18 th century Spanish mission is located in San Antonio, which in the 1830s was not much more than a village. Deserted as a church, it had been used over the years as a frontier post. Early in the Texas Rebellion, settlers had driven Santa Anna's soldiers from the fort. Realizing the importance of the few cannon and supplies at the post, Sam Houston ordered Col. James Bowie to San Antonio to remove those stores. Upon his arrival, Bowie, who assumed command of all volunteer forces in the region, decided to remain at the Alamo, as it was the only barrier between the Mexican Army and Houston's fledgling force. Brother James Bowie, who was born in Kentucky in 1796, grew up in Louisiana. He received a basic education, hunted and trapped game. In 1813, he enlisted in the Louisiana Militia to fight against the British in the War of 1812. After the war, Brother Bowie moved to the east coast of Texas, where it is reported that he allied himself with the pirate Jean Lafitte (hero of the Battle of New Orleans) in a lucrative smuggling trade. Becoming a "man of means," Bowie returned to Louisiana. It was during this time that he gained his reputation as a highly skilled knife fighter. As a result of a duel (the Sandbar fight) near Natchez, Bowie was shot in the lower chest and run through with a sword cane. ough grievously (but not mortally) wounded, he fatally stabbed his assailant, Norris Wright, and the legend of the Bowie Knife was born. In September 1829, his 24-year- old fiancé died, and a year later, he immigrated to Texas, where he became a Mexican citizen. Bowie married the 18-year-old daughter (Maria de Vermendi) of the wealthy mayor of San Antonio, and they had two children. Three of the Masons who played a role at the Battle of the Alamo were (clockwise from left) James Bowie, David (Davy) Crock- ett and William Travis. The sketch of Travis is the only one believed to have been made during his lifetime. They flank a 1844 woodprint of the ruins of the mission building.

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