JULY 201 4 SUNRAYS | 71
ONLINE:
SCTXCA.ORG
Photos submitted by SANDY NIELSEN
the surprise attack. Santa Anna was captured
the next day and, ultimately, signed an agreement
that evacuated all Mexican troops from Texas,
giving birth to the Republic of Texas.
The United States annexed Texas 10 years later,
but immediately had to defend its territory in the
subsequent Mexican–American War. Out of that
conflict, the United States acquired Texas, New
Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, California, Utah, and
parts of Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas, and Okla-
homa—about one-third of the current area of the
nation. Nearly one million square miles changed
sovereignty, beginning with that 18-minute battle
at San Jacinto.
San Jacinto Battle Monument
and Museum
Today, a 567-foot obelisk—the tallest monumental
column in the world, according to the Guinness
Book of World Records—marks the battleground,
and with its museum and Texas Forever! film
memorializes the patriots of the Texas revolu-
tion. Taller than the Washington Monument,
the obelisk is faced with fossilized shell stone
quarried near Austin. Its observation deck, at
489 feet, is under the 34-foot Lone Star that caps
the memorial. From there, it is possible to see the
Houston Ship Channel, which connects Houston to the Gulf of Mexico, as
well as the nearby battleship Texas.
The Texas, commissioned in 1914, was the most powerful naval weapon
of its day, and is the last remaining battleship to have served in both of
the World Wars. It was decommissioned and ownership transferred to the
State of Texas in 1948. It is open to the public daily.
The San Jacinto Memorial is one stop on the Texas Independence Trail that
covers 28 counties and 200miles fromSan Antonio to Galveston—learnmore
about historic sites on the trail online at
.
RIGHT The view of the Houston Ship Channel
and the battleship Texas from the observation
deck of the San Jacinto Monument.
Left The view of the obelisk when approach-
ing the San Jacinto Monument, near Houston,
Texas.
Left Fossilized shell
stone, quarried near
Austin, covers the
exterior of the granite
memorial.
