The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-02-17

Milam's attack on San Antonio in f7se On the other corner are the old De soto and TrevinO homes erected about the same time. The east side shows the original San Fernando Mission.
 The Moorish domes of fhis old temple now form the altar and sacristy of the
 cathedral of moro recent date. Tn the
 northwest corner of the plaza are the old police quarters. It was known for
 years as "the bat cave In the oIdeu days Military Plaza was a primitive market place.
 In those distant years the coraL on, the south side was in this plaza, the exchange was on the west side. and the old guard house was on the northwest
 corner. Where St. Joseph's orphanage
 now Is was the celebrated priests
 house taken by Ben Milan in the cap
 ture of San Antonio. Tn this plaza
 resided Masmela. the Flores, Begara,
 Do la Gar-Do, Buenos. Berez. Rod
 riguez. Urutia. Minion, and other of
 the old Spanish families. These were royal personages and must not be con-
 fused with the Mexican element that drffted In from the south. In this and Main Plaza were to be found the cen- ters of social and military life in those
 historic days.
 Main Plaza was originally called the Plaza de los Islas. This was for the FSaooh tHdt " was the main place
 where the sixteen families from the, Canary Islands were located under royal grant. These are the immi-
 grants who figured so prominently in Milams famous attack. They were really ot Norman-French descent The Canary Islands were discovered by Jean Betehncourt, Norman navigator, and peopled by many Normans. The
 French Government refused them aid It was R0IRhf and l..
 who assumed sovereignty over them.
 In time the names of the Normans took on a Spanish form. This plaza is If possible. more historic than the other. Passing from Commerce Street. southward, halfway between that point and Market Street. we find the old court house. This is where the famous Indian fight took place At the southeast corner of Market Stseet Is the old family residence of the Mon- tex This place passed into the Flores tamiiy by marriage. A little further on Is the French building. This, for many years. was used for the Mayors once, and by the United States for the Federal Court of the Western District of Texas. Many famous trials have been held in this old house.
 The handsome ss00.00O court house stands on the site of the Rodriguez de Granados homestead. The Southern Hotel Is built on the spot that was formerly the Bustillo homestead. The old and famous De Roso homestead Is now occupied by the Frost National Bank. On Wolfson's corner is the place that was once the De la Rosa and Yturri homesteads. Near the cor ner of old Soledad, the old Arocha homestead, became the old Vaudeville theatre There is no place in the south. the pages of whose annals are more thoroughly stained with blood. This Is primitive San Antonio, Out of 1t. and from under its war clouds, has emerged one of the prettiest. gayest, southland of ours.
 San Antonio thence became the prin- cipal military post of the Spaniards in Texas. The monks had not only the Indians. but had per suaded many of them to give up their life of wandering. They taught these children of the forest to till the soil and do many other kinds of work. These Indians nocked into the infant town and played no small part in it's early settlement. By their hands many of the rude adobe buildings that have withstood the ravages of two centu- ries were constructed. By their labor | the great aqueducts and ditches for ir- rigation were opened up. These In- l dians early acquired the Spanish lan- guage, and In the course of time 1t became their mother-tongue. As early | as 1733 they formed the major popuia- | ton of the quaint old city. On the I streets of San Antonio today are to be | seen many of tho direct descendants of | these Indians.
 The first Americans appeared in 1901. | They were survivors of the i'll -fated | Phil Nolan Company. They were pris- l