One of the most famed historic shrines in the United States is the Alamo, the old chapel of Mission San Antonio de Valero, founded in 1718. Here on March 6, 1836, a band of less than 200 Texas patriots valiantly defending the Alamo against more than 5,000 troops of Santa Anna, the Mexican general, were massacred. “Remember the Alamo!” became the battle-cry of other Texans. Santa Anna was later defeated by General Sam Houston’s forces at the battle of San Jacinto.
Most of the earlier history of the Alamo, is shrouded in obscurity. It was named in honor of St. Anthony of Padua and the Duke of Valero, a Spanish viceroy. Although the mission was founded in 1718, the cornerstone of the chapel was not laid until 1744. Founded for the purpose of Christianizing and educating the Indians, it later became a fortress and was the scene of many conflicts prior to the immortal siege of 1836. The ravages of time, of faulty construction, of war and fire have destroyed all the buildings except the chapel, and even this has been partially restored. According to some historians, the name “Alamo” came from a company of soldiers bearing the name who were once quartered there, and another claims it was derived from a grove of cottonwood trees nearby, “Alamo” being the Spanish word for cottonwood.
Mission Conception, Nuestra Señora de la Purisima Conception de Acuna, was established in 1731. It is probably the best preserved of the Texas missions, despite the fact that when it was secularized in 1794 its lands were distributed among the Indians, settlers and soldiers and it ceased to function as a church settlement.
Conception and the other missions of the San Antonio area are built of adobe and porous gray rock called tufa. The walls of this mission are 45 inches thick. The topmost roofs of the twin towers are pyramidical and of stone, with smaller corner and center cap stones.
The interior plan of Conception is the cruciform. Original frescoes of vegetable and mineral dyes are still visible.
The niche within the triangle above the ornamental entrance of Conception once held a statue. The coat of arms and symbols of the Order of St. Francis are carved in the center of the arch. Here and there can still be seen spots of what were once vivid frescoes adorning the mission front.
