Lewis Cook

I was a science major, premed (biology and chemistry) at the University of Arkansas. After arriving in Texas and awaiting my bar results, I got a job teaching biology, chemistry, eighth-grade science, and one seventh-grade Texas history class. Full disclosure that I knew no Texas history got no sympathy and no class exchanges from the science department chairman who shrugged, saying, “Stay a chapter ahead of them.” That didn’t work. One of the seventh grader’s dads taught American History at the University of Houston, and this kid knew his stuff. His questions were sharp, and he took pride in returning with challenging corrections and insights. I was forced to read the complete Texas, My Texas textbook and went to the Alamo over Thanksgiving. Damn, if I didn’t find it interesting.

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So, this account of the Alamo began with my reading a one-line quote from Joe, William Travis’ slave - the only male survivor of the Alamo. Joe said, “There were many different races and religions there.” Joe was severely wounded and probably allowed only to live because he spoke Spanish. General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna wanted his massive human slaughters at the Alamo and Goliad to symbolize hopelessness and certain death to all who stood against his mighty army. Instead, ‘Remember the Alamo’ has come to symbolize bravery and the resolve of a few to stand firmly against overwhelming odds in battle worldwide.
Before the course ended, my learned student had one last inquiry. Who first said ‘Remember the Alamo? Was it the Mexican General Santa Anna, Joe Travis, Susanna Dickinson, or General Sam Houston? I wondered, too, how those words became so meaningful without any recognition to the slogan’s originator.