Mission San Antonio de Valero, later became famous as the Alamo, was established in 1718, the first of five Spanish missions founded in San Antonio to Christianize and educate resident Indians. In 1793 Spanish officials took San Antonio's five missions away from church control and made them part of the government. In the early 1800s the Spanish military stationed a cavalry unit at the former mission and soldiers nicknamed it "Alamo", which is Spanish for cottonwood. The Alamo was home to both Revolutionaries and Royalists during Mexico's ten yearlong struggles for independence.

The old buildings were abandoned by 1836 when the Alamo became the “cradle of Texas Liberty.” Rebelling against repressions of Mexico’s self-proclaimed dictator, Santa Anna, a band of 189 Texas volunteers defied a Mexican army of thousands for 13 days of siege.

The Alamo defenders died to the last man, among them such storied names as William Travis, Davy Crockett, and Jim Bowie. Cost to Mexican forces was dreadful. While Santa Anna dictated an announcement of glorious victory, his aide, Col. Juan Almonte, privately noted: “One more such glorious victory and we are finished”.

The finish came April 21 when Sam Houston’s Texans routed the Mexican army at the Battle of San Jacinto near Houston, and captured “the Napoleon of the West,” as Santa Anna billed himself.

The myth and legend of the Alamo is the creation story of Texas, central to the Texas legend itself, and it is a legend which continues growing, capturing the imagination of people around the world.

The entire siege lasted 13 days. Tuesday February 23 - Sunday March 6, 1836. The siege and final battle of the Alamo in 1836 constitute the most celebrated military engagement in Texas history.