Free Republic

"March 2, 1836 dawned, frigid and gray; cutting winds blew through glassless windows. Texians - as they styled themselves - huddled close, pulled blankets tight, and gave birth to a dream." -- Dr. Stephen L. Hardin, professor of history, The Victoria College That dream of which Dr. Hardin recently spoke so eloquently was that of a free Texas, a shining Republic answering to no one but its own elected representatives, and formed from the ground up by the blood, sweat and tears of a rough-hewn bunch of frontiersmen who would die willingly to stake claim to the Texas clay beneath...

For all of her secret life as the wife of a soldier in Santa Anna's army, Patty Tristan has tried to adhere to one policy. No camping in the mud. There was no such luck this weekend, when Tristan and more than 200 other people gathered at San Jacinto Battleground State Historical Park to recreate the 1836 victory that gave Texas its independence from Mexico. The battle re-enactment was cancelled after a thunderstorm Saturday morning was capped by a lightning strike to the 570-foot tall monument in the middle of the park. Lightning, static electricity and 100 pounds of black...