Posted on 02/10/2011 8:30:52 AM PST by Racehorse
A ranch south of San Antonio and two Rio Grande Valley sites are among the 10 most endangered historic places in Texas, a preservation group said Wednesday.
With its ties to the Alamo and its rare 1800s jacales, huts built by Tejano settlers, the Blas Herrera Ranch in Von Ormy was added to the National Register of Historic Places in September. SNIP
The jacales, made of natural materials such as timber, stone, straw and mud, are vulnerable to the elements.
“Because of the construction, any time it rains, they're susceptible to deterioration,” said Stuart Johnson, preservation field representative with the San Antonio Conservation Society, which nominated the site for the list and is trying to save it.
Blas Herrera, a soldier, scout and courier in the Texas Revolution, is best known for alerting the Alamo command in mid-February 1836 that Mexican Gen. Antonio López de Santa Anna and his army were headed to San Antonio. Herrera served under Texian Capt. Juan Seguín, who coordinated field intelligence with Alamo commanders William Barret Travis and Jim Bowie.
“The Tejanos were the ones best suited to secretly observe any movements, because they knew the countryside,” said Rudi Rodriguez, founder and chairman of the Hispanic Heritage Center of Texas.
Herrera's warning gave local residents a week to flee, or take up arms or seek refuge at the Alamo.
He also protected local delegates José Antonio Navarro and José Francisco Ruiz, Herrera's father-in-law, as they traveled to Washington-on-the-Brazos to sign the Texas Declaration of Independence. In late 1836, after Gen. Felix Huston sent an order to destroy San Antonio and move its residents east, Seguín sent Herrera with a plea for help to Gen. Sam Houston.
Houston quashed the order, saving the town and the Alamo's remains.
(Excerpt) Read more at mysanantonio.com ...
Ping
***Houston quashed the order, saving the town and the Alamo’s remains.***
After the texans won their independence the Mexicans left the Alamo and blew up all the fortifications leaving only the chapel which we see today.
bttt
Ping!
If you want on, or off this S. Texas/Mexico ping list, please FReepMail me.
The walls of the home on the Blas Herrera Ranch were built using a construction method called jacal. Cedar posts stand vertically, and strips of cypress were nailed horizontally connecting the posts. Rubble stone was inserted between the slats, and then the wall was slathered with mud and plastered. The final step was usually a white wash.
Photo: SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS, JOHN DAVENPORT
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.