San Jacinto, Texas
Battleground Monument and the USS Texas
March 2000
The San Jacinto Battleground and Monument is where the destiny of Texas was said to be begun.  At this battleground Sam Houston defeated Santa Anna, and this led to the subsequent indpendence of Texas from Mexico in 1836.  It took place about six weeks after the Alamo, so the victory was an inspired one by the Texans.  Charleston Heston narrated an excellent historical slide presentation derived from paintings of the battle and its participants.  The monument itself is an obelisque topped by a “Texas star” with a reflecting pool in front of it.  If it sounds like the Washington monument, that’s what we thought, but no mention of any similarity was made anywhere.

The USS Texas was commissioned in 1914, served in both World Wars, and was given to the state of Texas by the United States of America.  One of its 1914 guns launched a shell which was described as having the same capacity as “launching a small compact car over 12 miles.”  Quite a ship for almost a century ago.

Battleground
Monument
View from the
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View from the Monument
Visitors at the
Monument
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View from deck
You can see Camelot in the parking lot
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