The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1889-10-23
FALL OF THE ALAMO.

eraOBe sOu Of lDovy Crucketts VINO tiau
been n frontier~man the best part nj his
life, who had been q member of conRress
and who could whip his weight i'm Wild |
cats" beforc he became one Of the victims
Of the massacre of the Alamo. RECALLS
some interesting facts regarding tina |
memorable hattie al Texans against SAM /,
tn Anna.
In lslA Samuel &. Bastian was ls,rn i'm |
this city, at the outhwc corner of Front
and Spruce streets. When he was 10
years of age his father, who was - gum
smith. removed tn Alexandria, i'm Louisi-
ana, and to-day, after an abscncs. of sixty
three years, the son rcvisits his birth
place, "a s,aiwart man despite his - years.
His career has been ~ most eventual one.
He il without doubt the only surviving
American who Witnessed the fall of Alamo
i'm the Texan revolution of lSai, ana his
account of il will show of how little worth
il popular opinion as material for history.
The Alno was n stone. and adobe Nicxi-
can fort in what il now the centre of the
city of San Antonio bMt i'm 1Ssi il WAS out
side of the town. Ii was Harri-onsl ny
about iaO men. commanded hy Colonel
William H.. Travis and Colonel James
Bowie. MIR. Bastian says he "kuew both
thee men well. Travis wasa very decent
bier, cut-throat AMI thief. and tn tell the
truth. ons-half of the garrison were figi-
lived at Ai.xansiria il was a fronticr town
and the abiding place of many of the
worst ~rIfiians i'm the southwest. Prom
voted himself tai forging land titles.
and IL Is amusing tn me tn read
| of as 4. hirii-tonci southern gentleman
and a patriot who died for the cause of
Texan Independence. He has come down
bowie knife, hut my recollection is this:
Bowls, had sold "a German. named Hauf-
Unitcd states land registrar, refused To
record il. Kaufman Threatened tn prose-
cute Bowie and was promptly stabbed tai
death for his presumption In "a suit AT
law shortly after the United States dis
trict Judge complained of the endless liti-
CATION over land claims. and one "f the
B..wic's knife was the srcsslicst and sur,.st
way of settling trouble about such dis
story of Bowic's connection with the his
toric knife.
which took place ON a sandh.nk on the
mississippi just below Alexandria, in 1881.
This was a quarrel between two promi-
gagged sa in IL. WE'VE wcra N Killed I'd and
many wounded. Bowie was "a participant
ipssrsini a%a "l from o" ES.mb Mcaa%rs' IL a
his state. N very dangerous man. hut
honest and upright in all business trans
is5i. when the last of the Ciary family
fell in "a duel with Philip Jones. and "a
road home from Baton Rouge 10y Ciary's
feud.
1 was i'm the Alamo i'm February. Thers.
was IA bitter feeling bstwcsn the partisans
of Travis and Bowie. thc latter being the
choice OF the r1,,Rher party in the garri,
by pneumonia and could not act. When
Santa Ana appeared hefors, the place
the Mcxicans made "a rush the contest
would have been short. Travis did his
oonci Fnnmin al Gonnairs. =" hurry mn r..
Inducements. L was one of these cour-
iers, and fortunately l knew the countr.
we'll and spoke Spanish like "a native so 1
had no trouble. On the LIST of March
met a party of thirty volunteers from
Gonzales on the way To the Aiam.
covered and fired on by the Mexican
but 1 and three others had to take til,
chapInarel to save our lives. One of ti'
party was a Spanish creole from New
brought W. Intelligence. We were aboti
; :aO yards from the fort concealed h.
! brush, which extcIcd north for Nd miles
/, / could see the cncny' operations per
fcctly: A brisk canonadc was kept pfo
e W. nays, nnu OF .me ~ :" n'rr,m !,
. saw the fort assaulted. Thcr. was abo'i
2.5OO Mexicans. and in about half am hos,
Dickinson leap from the walls with hi
child i'm his arms. hut both were killed a
once. About = o'clock in the morning I'll
Mexican iiaR was Loistcd and W. kne'
Disgusting myself and in ompany wit
e Rigault. the creole. we stole into IL,
Il town. Everything was confusion. I
O front of the fort the Mexican's dead ca,
cred the ground, hut the scene inside I'll
fort was awful. II was evident that Ill
= garrison had fought IL out to the last. A
y The rifles were shattered at the stock, AN
many of the Mexican soldiers had falle
% by the knife. The only surviving inmate
, of the garrison were Mrs. Lieutenar
Dickinson, her Mexican nurse am
= IL negro who belonged to Ira,
u is. Bowie had been bayoncted
$ bed. Colonel Crockett lay i'm the doorwa
of the chapel across the body of ~ Mex
~ can officer richly Uniformed. Everythit
attestsd the desperate defense of the ga
rison. Huddlcd mp i'm one corner. guar
en- by two soldiers. was poor Mrs.. Dicks.
son. She seemed out of her mind. Tn
night her daughter was horn. "the chi
Ii of the I'M whose subsequent fate
one of Inc sad memories of the dreadf
N occasion i'm which their unfortunate vi
M came into the world.
" Early in life she was deceived 10y
NJ United States officer, who was aftsrwar
So killed 10y IA friend of her fathers. b
~ Juliet Dickinson was lost tn good woma
ld hood and i'm the fiftics was killed in
y brawl i'm IA dance house ina Toliad.
AT One nan had escaped outside tho wal
In but was discovered i'm IA ditch 10y
'n ranchero, who gave the alarm. A ru
rr was made for him. After killing three
AZ the enemy he was lassoed and dragged
We death.
g. W.. ,xu. .-ts &, s.-.. A. II. q