ABSTRACT
“Alamo” is the Spanish word for cottonwood tree. But in San Antonio, Texas, its meaning has gained much deeper significance. The Spanish mission called San Antonio de Valero but affectionately referred to simply as “the Alamo” is overwhelmingly the symbol of San Antonio and represents the thematic focus of its pivotal industry - tourism. The popular myth is that the first definitive step toward Texan independence from Mexico was taken within the mission’s wall by a collection of primarily Anglo Americans who voluntarily sacrificed themselves in a noble stand for freedom against the numerically superior forces of Mexican dictator General Santa Anna in 1836. The birth of Texas is thus credited to an act of apparent mass martyrdom at the Alamo.
