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Post by Rich Curilla on Sept 22, 2013 15:59:01 GMT -5
Her name was Edith Simpson Halter, but she always signed her letters Mrs. R.G. Halter. Her husband (by then deceased) was an architect (I think), and they lived in Mexico for many years. His name was Richard G. Halter. Their son Richard used to come over to her house for ice cream while I was there, and one time I made them both sit through my 8mm. home movies of Alamo Village summers. Seems I was still welcome though. Some day I must go to the DRT Library (or whatever it's called now) and ask to see her file. I bet it is just chock full of goodies. She once told me that, when she was little, her mom and dad would take her from the house to Mission Concepcion -- in a buggy by way of the ford south of downtown! Thinking now about it, this must have been a deliberate detour since the mission is on the same side of the river as the house and downtown. Oooops! This changed pages. Go back a page if you didn't start there, Allen.
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Post by Allen Wiener on Sept 23, 2013 11:50:41 GMT -5
Great stories, Rich! I really envy you as I know she was a terrific lady. What a treat to be in the Alamo before it opened, and then when it DID open! I do recall having some trouble reading her handwriting; I'm in Italy right now, but I'll have to try to dig out her old letters and remind myself what they looked like. It's nice to think that there was a time when people actually patiently wrote out letters by hand! If her handwriting was a bit tough, I can only imagine how she ever read my own letters to her!
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Post by Rich Curilla on Sept 23, 2013 12:14:27 GMT -5
Yes. All my same reactions. Really cherished those letters to an interested kid with tons of questions. Imagine what a kid would get from the Alamo today. Italy, huh. Watch out for Vesuvius. It's not done yet. And the ghost of Spartacus might still be lurking. Safe journey.
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Post by Allen Wiener on Sept 23, 2013 15:07:44 GMT -5
Thanks Rich! Steering clear of Vesuvias this time!
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Post by Allen Wiener on Sept 23, 2013 15:07:46 GMT -5
Thanks Rich! Steering clear of Vesuvias this time!
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Post by Rich Curilla on Sept 23, 2013 16:05:18 GMT -5
But you are repeating yourself. That's not a great sign.
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Post by Rich Curilla on Sept 23, 2013 16:05:49 GMT -5
But you are repeating yourself. That's not a great sign.
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Post by Allen Wiener on Sept 23, 2013 16:07:10 GMT -5
You said it!
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Post by Paul Sylvain on Sept 27, 2013 8:35:01 GMT -5
Ghost of Spartacus, Rich? Bearing a strong resemblance to Kirk Douglas, no doubt.
I have to laugh because my cousin, who has lived in San Antonio for decades, used to love to tell family and friends visiting the Alamo at night that if they kept a sharp eye out, they might just see the ghost of David Crockett wandering around the Shrine --- and that he looked just like John Wayne, too.
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Post by Rich Curilla on Sept 27, 2013 19:01:05 GMT -5
Ghost of Spartacus, Rich? Bearing a strong resemblance to Kirk Douglas, no doubt. I have to laugh because my cousin, who has lived in San Antonio for decades, used to love to tell family and friends visiting the Alamo at night that if they kept a sharp eye out, they might just see the ghost of David Crockett wandering around the Shrine --- and that he looked just like John Wayne, too. You mean... he didn't???
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Post by Paul Sylvain on Dec 20, 2014 12:02:22 GMT -5
I'm convinced that ol' Davy knew that one day, this dude called "The Duke" would portray this Crockett fella in the movies (which was pretty good, since movies didn't exist back then, but I digress ...).
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Post by silverwolf on Sept 27, 2015 9:18:47 GMT -5
The major problem, with this account is the Sutherland sketch, where he places Bowie's death in the southern Castanda house along the West Wall (where Bowie was living when Sutherland left the Alamo). Upon falling ill he was moved and died according to most accounts in the Low Barracks near the main gate (see Alsbury, Ruiz and Sanchez-Navarro). It seems probable that the stained wall was left by the defender that attempted to protect Alsbury and her sister. I totally agree. Dr. Sutherland seems never to have heard (from Juana Alsbury or anybody else) that Bowie had been moved to the low barrack during the siege. Thus, since the Francisco Castaneda house is where Bowie and his family were when Sutherland left on the 23rd., he assumed he died there. Silverwolf, it is interesting to hear you refer to "Lin K. Tinkle accounts." Is it safe to assume you mean Lon Tinkle and his 1958 book 13 Days to Glory? Lindsey K. Tinkle was author-historian Lon Tinkle's g-g-g-great grandfather, who left Tennessee with Davy Crockett but did not continue on to the Alamo. I know of no Lin K. Tinkle account -- and would LOVE to. Your right on that. I did mean Lon K Tinkle. And it did say that Lin only came to Texas with David. Dont know where he went from there. Something to research. As far as Bowies death and Doctor Sutherland, here is his quote on the matter. "Being informed of this circumstance by Mrs. Dickinson and Travis’ boy, I had some curiousity to see the place and when in Bexar nearly two years after the fall, I visited the room which Colonel Bowie had occupied and in which he was killed, when upon examination, I found the stain of his brains yet upon the wall precisely as it had been represented to me by the persons mentioned. The stain remained upon the walls of the room until they were replastered. I frequently visited the place and pointed out the spot to others. The room has since been demolished, together with the walls which Travis defended, and the barracks are all gone. The Vandal hand of progress has done its work. The old church alone, where Dickinson fell, remains, and the wandering tourist is pointed to this room or that within it, and told that here or there is where the noble Travis, or Bowie, or Crockett fell, when in truth they fell not in the church at all, but, as I have said on the ground outside, while the truck cart of traffic rumbles over the identical ground that drank in the life blood of those devoted men." It seems that Joe also knew attested to where Bowie had been per Doc Sutherlands 1860 account. I have read that Crockett's right arm had been shattered by aa bullet. Dont know how accurate this factoid is and I imagine is maybe came from Susanna Dickinson. "Travis and his boy cut their way through the thickest of the ranks of the enemy and finally came near the northeast corner of the church, when Travis, seeing that the enemy were still rushing over the wall, mounted it, cheering his men to the conflict. After discharging his pistol he continued the slaughter with his sword, dealing blow after blow. As fast as they loosed their holds, they tumbled to the ground beneath him. But he was not long to occupy so conspicuous a place. Receiving a ball through the head, he fell on the inside. His boy, ever faithful, had continued near him, doing good service, but seeing the fate of his master and thinking that all was of necessity, lost, concealed himself in one of the small rooms of the barracks where, after the action was over, he and another man were found by an officer. The former’s life was spared because he was a negro. The latter was promised protection if he would show the bodies of Travis and Bowie which he did, but Santa Anna soon rode within the walls and seeing him asked, "What’s that fellow doing here?" On being informed of the condition upon which he had been spared, he replied that they had "no use for any such men," and ordered him shot. A file of soldiers executed the order at once. So soon as the bodies of Travis and Bowie were shown by this man, they were brutally mutilated by the sword and bayonet. Colonel Bowie, being yet sick, was confined to his room, indicated, on the diagram, which he had occupied from the beginning of the siege. It was there while suffering the tortures of disease, unable to lift his head from his pillow, that he was butchered. He was shot several times through the head, his brains spattering upon the wall near his bed-side.10 Near the picket wall reaching from the corner of the barracks to the southwest corner of the church, lay in one promiscuous heap, disfigured in their mingled gore, twenty-five of the enemy and David Crockett, with his twelve "Tennessee boys." They had bravely defended their position during the whole siege. Captain Dickinson commanded a gun which bore from the small window in the east end of the church. It was in the second story and there being no floor overhead, he erected a scaffold for the gun to stand upon. It was in the church that he fell. The story that he killed himself and child by springing from the window of the church is a romance. I know what part of the house his wife occupied at the time. She told me, however, that he fell as stated. They had but one child, who is still living. Some time ago a donation was made to her by our Legislature as "The Child of the Alamo."
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Post by daverothe on Nov 6, 2015 23:36:31 GMT -5
I think that the "heroic rise" from his sick bed and fighting until the end is what appeals to the courage and determination we all look for in ourselves. In reality, it is probably a good assumption that he died right before the final assault or was too sick to stand up much less fight back. Kinda ironic that the big battle that he seemed to have sought his whole life was the one battle he ended up not being able to fight in.
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Post by Rich Curilla on Nov 8, 2015 10:43:32 GMT -5
In reality, it is probably a good assumption that he died right before the final assault or was too sick to stand up much less fight back. Kinda ironic that the big battle that he seemed to have sought his whole life was the one battle he ended up not being able to fight in. Why is this a good assumption, at least in relation to other good assumptions. My good assumption is that, while he was very sick and bed-ridden, the adrenalin rush of the moment (with the sounds of the battle and the Mexicans at his door) could indeed have given him last minute strength for some amount of defense. I personally believe that, from available primary accounts, no absolute conclusion can be drawn. I hold little faith in Señora Candelaria's accounts -- if only because she seems to have changed the details with age or with her audience. I see John Lee Hancock's interpretation in The Alamo (2004) as being a fair example of my assumption.
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Post by loucapitano on Nov 9, 2015 19:38:40 GMT -5
Brace of pistols in hand and slashing blade is the way Bowie should have died. At least that's the way most historians and film directors had him expire in the past. I've been interested in some recent opinions that Bowie was not as deathly ill as assumed by witnesses. One opinion is that his Malarial type of illness generally had a two week run where you either died or recovered. If he was on the path to recovery he may have been lucid enough to "give 'em what fer" before falling. That could possibly account for the mutilation reported by several witnesses who claimed his body was lifted on bayonets. But I have neither the interest or scholarly drive of some of the dedicated members of this Forum, so my opinion is just my tendency to prefer dramatized historical events. Lou From Long Island
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