Free Republic

Two hundred miles north of the border, Sheriff Roy Boyd of Goliad County, Texas, has placed warning signs at his county line, written in Spanish. “Warning! Drug and human traffickers: Turn around, do not enter Goliad County,” the sign reads. “Go around. Otherwise, we are going to hunt you down and put you in Goliad County jail.” He says they work. When the signs are up, cartel activity decreases, and when the Texas Department of Transport removes the signs, cartel activity picks up again. “When the signs are in place we notice that we do not have fresh activity at...

Someone sent me a Chuck Norris fact that says: “Had Chuck Norris been present at the Battle of the Alamo, the southern border of Texas would be extended a few thousand miles to Guatemala.” I don’t know about that, but I can tell you I’ve found some of my greatest heroes at that Texan O.K. Corral. Sunday, Feb. 24, marks the anniversary of the day in 1836 that those Alamo defenders called for assistance. Colonel William Travis sent out that call for help on behalf of the Texan troops defending the Alamo, the old Spanish mission and fortress in the...

On this day in 1836, the Goliad Massacre takes place. Most of you have heard “Remember the Alamo!” Did you know that “Remember Goliad!” was another battle cry used by Texans? The events at Goliad occurred just two short weeks after Texans were defeated at the Alamo. Colonel James Fannin was then at Goliad, building reinforcements around the presidio there. When the Alamo fell, Fannin received orders from Sam Houston to withdraw. But Fannin was in a bit of a bind. Against orders, he had sent some of his soldiers to help with other expeditions. He awaited their return, and...

In a disastrous setback for the Texans resisting Santa Anna’s dictatorial regime, the Mexican army defeats and executes 417 Texas revolutionaries at Goliad. Long accustomed to enjoying considerable autonomy from their Mexican rulers, many Anglo Texan settlers reacted with alarm when Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna proclaimed himself dictator of Mexico in 1835. Santa Anna immediately imposed martial law and attempted to disarm the Texans. Yet, this move merely fed the flames of Texan resistance.

Yes, that was deceitful, but i really DO need a title -- I'm no good at that. My boring choice was, "How Does The General Election Relate To Texas History and a "Last Stand?" :)This isn't about Rick Perry, btw. It's about you and me and our future as a Constitutional Republic. Rick Perry -- in an act of courage, conviction, and wisdom -- has stepped aside and endorsed someone whom he thinks can lead our charge. For that, I am thankful. Even if you disagree with his endorsement, you probably understand that nothing is more important than stopping the...

On March 26-27, an estimated 5,000 visitors will witness re-enactments of one of the bloodiest chapters in Texas’ quest for independence from Mexico – the Battle of Coleto Creek and the ensuing “Goliad Massacre” in 1836 – at the Presidio La Bahia (Fort of the Bay) National Historic Landmark in Goliad. About 300 members of the Crossroads of Texas Living History Association (COTLHA), highly authentic re-enactors representing Texian colonists and Mexican soldiers, will vividly portray the occupation of the 290-year-old citadel and the subsequent defeat, surrender and massacre of Col. James Fannin and 341 of his men. The 26th annual...

The Massacre at Goliad At dawn of day, on Palm Sunday, March 27th, the Texans were awakened by a Mexican officer, who said he wished them to form a line, that they might be counted. The men were marched out in separate divisions, under different pretexts. Some were told that they were to be taken to Copano, in order to be sent home ; others that they were going out to slaughter beeves ; and others, again, that they were being removed to make room in the fort for Santa Anna. Dr. Shackleford, who had been invited by Colonel Guerrier...

In the face of increasing terror attacks on our rights and our freedoms from the media and their anointed deities in Washington, it is important that we remember our history. And those who died looking at the guns of oppression for many days, but who refused to quit. -- And, in Goliad a few days before, remember also those who were mercilessly slaughtered AFTER meekly surrendering to the same invading horde of despots. Those deaths prove that "Quitting" and "Negotiations" are a fast way to death. not peace.

(On This Day In History) June 22, 1876: General Santa Anna Dies In Mexico City Embittered and impoverished, the once mighty Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna dies in Mexico City. Born in 1792 at Jalapa, Vera Cruz, Mexico, Santa Anna was the son of middle-class parents. As a teen, he won a commission in the Spanish army and might have been expected to live out an unspectacular career as a middle-level army officer. However, the young Santa Anna quickly distinguished himself as a capable fighter and leader, and after 1821, he gained national prominence in the successful Mexican war for...

DALLAS (AP) - Texas ranked lowest among the nation's four southern border states in its standards for teaching Latin American and Mexican history, according to a national study released Monday. The study by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, said on a scale of zero to 10, Texas scored a five - just above the national average of 4.2. California, meanwhile, scored a 10. Arizona scored a six and New Mexico scored an eight, said Walter Russell Meade, a senior fellow for the council on foreign relations who conducted the study based on a review of...

GOLIAD - Raindrops began sprinkling down as Goliad County Sheriff Robert DeLaGarza hurriedly punched numbers into his cell phone. Moments earlier he had received information that suspected illegal immigrants whose vehicles had been stopped along state Highway 239 had fled into the brush with as many as five school-aged children. "We can't have children and women out in the brush," DeLaGarza said. "That really concerns me, especially with rain coming. We're going to do everything we can to find these children." What the sheriff did was connect with the Department of Public Safety, first with DPS Sgt. Chris Ybanez in...

The first Texas chapter of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps disbanded Monday. "The Goliad chapter of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps was dissolved today," chapter president Kenneth Buelter said in a brief e-mail sent to the Victoria Advocate on Monday evening. The e-mail included no further explanation and directed all comments to either Minuteman Civil Defense Corps of Texas president Al Garza or to a representative of the Falfurrias chapter. Repeated attempts to contact Buelter on Monday evening were unsuccessful. Buelter notified the Texas leader of his resignation and the dissolution of the Goliad-area chapter Monday evening, Garza said in...

About 60 participate in Goliad meeting GOLIAD - Residents and landowners interested in becoming members of the Goliad chapter of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps attended a meeting on Wednesday in which they discussed preparations for the launch of the civilian-led border watch in October. About 60 people attended the meeting, which was the first held by the newly formed chapter that in October plans to become part of a nationwide border watchdog group. The organization's focus is to aid law enforcement in keeping undocumented immigrants from crossing into the U.S. "I'm not against immigration, but I am against illegal...

GOLIAD - If you're going to be a minuteman and patrol the border for illegal immigrants, you'll have to behave. That was the message given to about 40 presumably would-be recruits who showed up in the 103-degree heat for the first meeting of the Goliad chapter of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps. "You've now joined a higher calling. If you're going to do this, you're really going to have to search your soul and ask yourself whether you can follow procedures," Kenneth Buelter of Sarco, vice-president of the newly formed Goliad chapter, told the men and women gathered late Wednesday...

A Goliad County constable pretended to be a smuggler Monday to lure eight illegal immigrants out of the South Texas brush. A state trooper attempted to stop a white van at about 9:30 a.m. Monday. The driver refused to stop and drove into a residential area, where about 40 people bailed out of the vehicle and ran into nearby brush. Goliad County Precinct 1 constable Michael De La Garza said that some of the immigrants were either caught or turned themselves in throughout the day, but eight people were still unaccounted for that afternoon. "We conducted a sting operation to...

The leader of the Goliad chapter of the Minuteman Project said 75 to 100 people are interested in joining the group, and that they plan to meet next week to organize a civilian-led border watch that would start in October. Bill Parmley, president of the newly formed Minuteman Civil Defense Corps of Texas-Goliad Chapter, said members will meet at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Goliad County Fairgrounds. They will discuss operation rules and how to align the Goliad chapter with 10 other Minuteman states to become part of the overall Minuteman Civil Defense Corps. The group's focus is preventing undocumented...

GOLIAD - A day after Goliad-area citizens were introduced to the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps' model to patrol the nation's borders, Goliad County's sheriff said he'll work with the volunteers but stopped short of endorsing the organization. Sheriff Robert DeLaGarza, who has been working with citizens who want to stop illegal immigration through south Goliad County, said Tuesday he's not sure the program offered by Tombstone, Ariz., newspaperman Chris Simcox is any different than what the residents of Sarco are doing already. "If they stick to and train to what they're saying, then everything will be fine," DeLaGarza said. "My...

GOLIAD — Coyotes are known to take the back roads — tiny farm-to-market roads no one takes, isolated highways and small-town county roads. "They are smart about it," Goliad rancher Elizardo "Charlie" Hernandez said of illegal immigrant smugglers who are paid more than $800 to shuttle people from Mexico. "They don’t get caught." More than 200 Texans from as far away as Houston and the Rio Grande Valley met in Goliad on Monday night to organize the first Minuteman Project in Texas, hoping to curb illegal alien activity like the type Hernandez sees on his property at least once a...

Founder of civil patrol group presents his case to residents of Goliad County GOLIAD - The federal government's inability to secure the borders of the United States has led to a revival of the old civil defense movement, Arizona newspaperman Chris Simcox told more than 100 people gathered for the first Texas-based Minuteman Civil Defense Corps meeting on Monday. Begun in Arizona, the movement has a model of success to slow illegal immigration and send a message to elected officials that ordinary Americans are prepared to do the job they won't, Simcox said. South Texas ranchers are considering creating a...

Illegal immigration concerns residents of South Texas city HOUSTON - The leader of a controversial civilian patrol group plans to come Monday to a place that carries significance in the historic conflict between Texas and Mexico. But Minuteman Civil Defense Corps leader Chris Simcox said it is only coincidence that he will meet with about 100 landowners in Goliad, where Texas revolutionaries were massacred by Mexican forces in 1836 and became martyrs for independence. Gen. Sam Houston's troops took revenge at the Battle of San Jacinto, where they went into the fight shouting: "Remember the Alamo! Remember Goliad!" Lifelong Goliad...