Stories Bigger Than Texas: The Alamo Podcast

Stories Bigger Than Texas: The Alamo Podcast Episode 139: The Esparza Family Reunion   Two brothers, Gregorio and Francisco Esparza, fought on opposite sides of the Texas Revolution. During the Battle of the Alamo, Gregorio manned a cannon inside the Alamo Church while his wife and children huddled for safety just steps away in the Sacristy.   We reveal how, 190 years later, the Esparza family car...

Stories Bigger Than Texas: The Alamo Podcast Episode 138: How Texas Became A State   As we prepare to celebrate America’s 250th birthday, we’re taking a look at how Texas became a part of these United States.   We reveal why Texas traded its status as an independent nation, how American presidents of the time felt about adding another state, and the impact made across the country by the Lone Star...

Stories Bigger Than Texas: The Alamo Podcast Episode 137: The Art Of Dueling   In the early years of the United States and the Republic of Texas, duels were how gentlemen settled scores. There were rules, witnesses, and honor at stake.   We reveal how duels worked, the famous Texans who took part in them, and how a famous Alamo defender is forever known for his role in a duel. Featuring the Alamo&...

Stories Bigger Than Texas: The Alamo Podcast Episode 136: Lights, Camera, Alamo!   Lights, camera, Alamo! Our Shrine of Texas Liberty has lit up the big screen for as long as filmmaking has been around.   We reveal insider stories from the set, why Hollywood kept turning to the Alamo for inspiration, and how screenplays – no matter how dramatized – fostered very real passion for history. Featuring...

Stories Bigger Than Texas: The Alamo Podcast Episode 135: Texas Trades Leather working, blacksmithing, and fabric weaving: these skills are considered a bit antiquated today, but they were essential for surviving frontier life in 1830s Texas.   We reveal how the Alamo’s living historians learned their trades, the ways they keep old-fashioned techniques alive in the modern-day world, and the event...

Stories Bigger Than Texas: The Alamo Podcast Episode 134: The Alamo Funeral Pyre Mystery   History makes clear: the bodies of the men who died defending the Alamo on March 6, 1836, were burned in a funeral pyre. But an enduring mystery has been, how many pyres there were?   We reveal how this mystery of history persists, why some eyewitness accounts have been called into question, and the prominen...

Stories Bigger Than Texas: The Alamo Podcast Episode 133: The Alamo De Parras Company If 1836 is the year we learned to Remember the Alamo, then 1803 is the year the Alamo became the Alamo. That’s when a group of soldiers from Alamo de Parras, Mexico, settled within the walls of an old Spanish mission, and changed the course of history.   We reveal why the Alamo Company came to San Antonio, how th...

Stories Bigger Than Texas: The Alamo Podcast Episode 132: The Treaties Of Velasco May 14, 1836. On this day 190 years ago, the Texas Revolution ended – not with the firing of a weapon, but with the stroke of a pen.   We reveal how the Treaty of Velasco brokered peace between Texas and Mexico, why a secret, private treaty was also signed that day, and how Santa Anna played both governments’ self-in...

Stories Bigger Than Texas: The Alamo Podcast Episode 131: Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders   Just footsteps from where the world-famous Battle of the Alamo was fought, a new generation of frontiersman stepped up to fight for freedom. Legend has it, a future president recruited them inside the Menger Hotel bar - and with their signatures, wrote a new chapter of the Alamo’s already storied histor...

Stories Bigger Than Texas: The Alamo Podcast Episode 130: The Texas Cavaliers Education Center   Today, the Alamo cuts the ribbon on the brand-new Texas Cavaliers Education Center. It’s a place built for our smallest Texans, but with a great big responsibility.   We reveal how it will tell the Alamo’s story thoughtfully and accurately, the key features that will resonate with the wide-ranging curi...

Stories Bigger Than Texas: The Alamo Podcast Episode 129: Battle Cries Through History It’s the battle cry heard across the bloody battlefield at San Jacinto: Remember the Alamo! Battle cries have been used throughout history to inspire, to turn emotion into action.   We reveal the world’s famous battle cries, what they teach us about taking a stand, and why so many endure through the ages. Featur...

Stories Bigger Than Texas: The Alamo Podcast Episode 128: Wise About Texas Texas is home to a state judge who, in his spare time, puts down the gavel and picks up a microphone. Judge Ken Wise is the host of “Wise About Texas,” long considered the gold standard of Texas history podcasts.   We reveal why the judge felt called to start a podcast, how it’s led to a hands-on role in preserving Texas hi...

Stories Bigger Than Texas: The Alamo Podcast Episode 127: The Brew King Of San Antonio   We are tapping into a lighter side of Alamo history, when a German immigrant named William Menger earned the nickname the Brew King of San Antonio.   We reveal what prompted a wave of German migration to the Alamo City, how a lifeline built when the Alamo was still a Spanish mission buoyed a beer business, and...

Stories Bigger Than Texas: The Alamo Podcast Episode 126: The Power Of The Printing Press With the course of history running at an especially fast pace, during the Texas Revolution, news traveled slowly - sometimes excruciatingly so. Handwritten letters were given to couriers who rode on horseback for hours and hours, sometimes days, to share messages.   We reveal the power of the printing press t...

Stories Bigger Than Texas: The Alamo Podcast Episode 125: The Texas General Land Office The Texas General Land Office was founded 190 years ago to oversee the land the Texan Revolutionaries fought so hard to self-govern. For the past 15 years, it’s overseen the Alamo - one of the very places where blood was shed in the name of that freedom.   We reveal how the Land Office preserves Texas history,...

Stories Bigger Than Texas: The Alamo Podcast Episode 124: Ask The Alamo's Archaeologist Archaeology is something you might see in the movies or on TV, and it’s usually happening in far-away places. But visitors to the Alamo get to see active archaeological work every single day, making the enigmatic profession accessible to everyone.   We are giving you the opportunity to ask the Alamo’s lead...

Stories Bigger Than Texas: The Alamo Podcast Episode 123: Washington On The Brazos In March 1836, a group of delegates met along the Brazos River to turn the Texas Revolution into a true independence movement. They worked for 17 days straight to not only declare independence, but to write a constitution and the framework for a government.   We reveal the harrowing stakes of the convention at Washi...

Stories Bigger Than Texas: The Alamo Podcast Episode 122: The Alamo Defenders' Fate A battle for the ages, breaking out at dawn. A fort, surrounded. The men inside, outnumbered by about ten to one.   We reveal what happened after the final shot of the Battle of the Alamo was fired, the collective fate of the Alamo Defenders’ bodies, and how generations of Texans who came after made sure we al...

Stories Bigger Than Texas The Alamo Podcast Episode 121: How The Battle Of The Alamo Almost Never Happened One hundred ninety years ago this week, the Alamo is under siege. The Defenders believe help is on the way. They don’t yet know that battle will soon break out, most of the relief they’re promised won’t arrive in time, or that they are living the final days of their lives.   We reveal the roa...

Stories Bigger Than Texas: The Alamo Podcast Episode 120: The Alamo Under Siege   The Siege of the Alamo meant 12 days of psychological warfare: with each sunrise and sunset, not knowing whether battle was imminent, or if war games would continue to impact your manpower, your supplies, and your mental state.   We reveal how a sense of hubris may have impacted the Texans and the Mexicans, the intel...

Stories Bigger Than Texas: The Alamo Podcast Episode 119: Tejanos Of The Texas Revolution In early February 1836, the Alamo is just days away from being under siege by the Mexican Army. A fight about the role government should play in the lives of its citizens has now evolved into a fight for independence.   We reveal the roles Tejanos played in the Texas Revolution, the dilemma many faced when th...

Stories Bigger Than Texas: The Alamo Podcast Episode 118: Women Of The Texas Revolution   While men served on the front lines of Revolution, the women of Texas bore sacrifices, too. Their back-breaking struggles and heart-wrenching loss paved the way for the freedom we now enjoy.   We reveal the stories of women during the Texas Revolution, the firsthand accounts passed down to future generations,...

Stories Bigger Than Texas: The Alamo Podcast Episode 117: San Antonio During The Texas Revolution In a frontier town like San Antonio de Bexar, a framework of ordinances helped maintain law and order. In the run-up to the Revolution, those ordinances kept the town organized - even with Mexican troops marching toward it.   We reveal how San Antonio’s government functioned, how key players in the Al...

Stories Bigger Than Texas: The Alamo Podcast Episode 116: The Texas Revolution - There's More To The Story   History is not static, and it’s so much more than just names and dates. Some 190 years after the Texas Revolution, historians are still poring over the details, uncovering new insights and analyzing the struggles and motivations of legendary figures.   We reveal common misconceptions a...

Stories Bigger Than Texas: The Alamo Podcast Episode 115: The Alamo's Battle Cannons Cannons played an outsized role in the Battle of the Alamo. Many of them stood the test of time and are part of the Alamo’s collection today. But over the centuries, they've needed preservation work to ensure they’ll be here to help future generations learn the history.   We reveal the highly-detailed wo...