Discovery of remains of Ben Milam in 1848

[TRK]

Long time ago, I posted at the Alamo de Parras website my transcription of the following newspaper account of the discovery of the remains of Ben Milam in Bexar in the summer of 1848. The transcript is still archived at ADP, but for those who may have missed it, here 'tis again. [Note: My comments appear in brackets.]

New Orleans Daily Delta, September 1, 1848,

Correspondence of the Delta:
Discovery and Disinterment of the Bones of Texan Heroes.

Black Jack, Fayette County, Texas, Aug. 10.
Eds. Delta—You must know that there is a monumental society recently organized in La Grange, whose avowed object is to collect the bones of the gallant dead, wherever they may be, who have fallen while contending against the enemies of liberty; and truly they are scattered far and wide. They bleach the plains and valleys from the Sabine to the city of Mexico. In addition to the remains of the decimated [i.e., the Mier Expedition prisoners executed at Salado, Mexico, on March 25, 1843], which you have already noticed in your paper, they have procured the remains of about sixteen of [Nicholas M.] Dawson’s ill-fated corps, who were cut to pieces in a small grove near the Soldado [the battle of the Salado, September 18, 1842] by the Mexican cannon whilst contending against ten times their numbers. His company consisted of about one hundred, and about eighty were killed; a few made their escape and a few taken prisoners.
Col. J[ohn]. H[enry]. Moore, one of our most worthy and patriotic citizens, was dispatched about ten days since to procure, if possible, the remains of Milam, Crockett, Travis, Bowie and others. On his arrival at San Antonio and making his business known, all of the principal citizens seemed quite willing that he should have the bones, and kindly offered any assistance of which he might stand in need.
The place being identified where Milam slept, which was in the kitchen yard of the Berementh [Veramendi] House, under an accumulation of the most disgusting filth and rubbish, they proceeded to disinter and found the entire frame about two feet below the surface. He was buried within a few feet of where he was killed. It has now been about thirteen years since, and yet his bones still clung together; his boots were almost entire and had to be pulled to pieces to get out the bones of the feet. Upon examination, a bullet hole was observed in the right temple, and a small quantity of hair still adhered to the scalp. Col. Moore put the bones in a box and was about leaving, and repairing to the Alamo for the remains of others, when a hasty town meeting was called. It had been gotten up upon the representations of Mr. [Samuel] Maverick, the matter submitted to a vote, and Col. Moore was informed that he could not have them. There was considerable excitement when Col. Moore left. Whether they will restore [Milam] to his late resting-place in the kitchen yard amidst all manner of filth, or whether they grace some quack doctor’s office with his bones, is impossible to tell. The idea of erecting a monument to this gallant hero’s memory was never thought of until Col. Moore went for his bones. Col. Moore and those who went with him declare that they never saw such large bones in their lives—indeed they looked like the bones of a giant. Upon their refusal to give them up, Col. Moore and his friends retraced their way gloomily home.
Our monument is intended to cost about one hundred thousand dollars, and will be commenced shortly. It is to be located on the bluff nearly opposite La Grange, which is rather in bad taste, I think. I would rather see it located in the public square. . . .

[signed:] Black Jack

[Jim Boylston]

A gruesome report, but it sure is interesting. Where was old Ben's final resting place?
Jim

[sloanrodgers]

I'm not sure anyone knows where Old Ben Milam is buried. His body was
removed from Veramendi's and reinterred outside the Campo Santo walls
(now Santa Rosa Hospital) like all good non-Catholics. The cemetery was
later removed and the majority of graves (including the Americans outside)
were placed in San Fernado Cemeteries #1 or #2. Milam's grave was said
to be the only grave that was left undisturbed. His body was supposedly discovered in the early 1990's in time for a big renovation of Milam Park
next to the hospital, but I'm skeptical. His body may have suffered the
same fate in this cemetery as San Jacinto veterans Henry Karnes, Benj.
F. Cage, Lysander Wells, John Pickering, Moses Lapham and William D.
Redd. What a historical travesty to lose the grave sites of these great
Texas heroes.

[Allen Wiener]

I've seen the Milam statue in Bexar, not far from the Spanish Governor's house. I didn't notice at the time, but is that Milam Park? I gather there is no indication that his body ended up there, or ever resided there?

The bullet hole in the skull seems to confirm the accounts of how he died.

AW

[sloanrodgers]

I'm not sure where the Spanish Governor's Mansion is located, but yes, his statue
is standing in Milam Park next to Santa Rosa Hospital. The exhumation account of
Milam's body from the Veramendi House sounds authentic even though the author
(Black Jack) uses a pseudonym. It is easier to locate a particular corpse/grave in a historic house courtyard a few years after the burial than it is to find a certain
body in a cemetery decimated by urban developement. Milam was a tall patriotic
figure who inspired others to risk their very lives to defend Texas. The short sickly
man they dug up in Milam Park awhile back just does not seem to be cut from the same cloth. It's easy to lose remains during a 140 years if the site's not marked
properly. So far as the tell-tale head wound. All of the past Campo Santo (cem.)
residents I listed above, died violently except Karnes. I'm sure there were a few
cases of fatal head trauma in early San Antonio.

[Jim Boylston]

I'm sure there were a few
cases of fatal head trauma in early San Antonio.

Now there's a safe bet.
The head wound does lend more authenticity to the identification of the body as Milam though, considering that he was reportedly taken out by a sniper.
Jim

[sloanrodgers]

I'm not debating Milam's first disinterment at the Veramendi
House, just Ben's supposed second exhumation with the big
renovation of Ben Milam Park in the early 1990s. I'm no CSI
expert, but the condition of the skeleton that was reburied
under the statue doesn't fit very well with primary and con-
temporary descriptions of Ben Milam. The boots found with
these remains were also reported to be intact and wearable
whereas in the '48 disinterment, they were destroyed. The
forensics in this case seem a bit biased or fishy to me. It's
like the investigators were more interested in proving that
the remains were Milam's than discovering its true identity.

[TRK]

The Library of Congress has a photo reportedly taken in 1910 by Adolph Phillip showing the patio or courtyard of the Veramendi Palace, where Milam was originally buried (huge URL; copy and paste if necessary):

memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/displayPhoto.pl?path=/pnp/habshaer/tx/tx0100/tx0172/photos&topImages=154970pr.jpg&topLinks=154970pv.jpg,154970pu.tif&title=3.%20%20Historic%20American%20Buildings%20Survey,%20Adolph%20Phillip,%20Photographer,%201910%20PATIO%20VIEW%20(LOOKING%20SOUTH).%20%20%20%3cbr%3eHABS%20TEX,15-SANT,21-3&displayProfile=0

[Jim Boylston]

That's a great image, and one I'd never seen. I guess the rear of the main house is to the right in the frame.
Jim

[TRK]

admin said:

I guess the rear of the main house is to the right in the frame.

That's my interpretation, although I'm not sure what the photo's orientation is, since the Veramendi Palace was described as an L-shaped structure. If that large, arched opening was the passway to the main entrance of the house fronting on Soledad Street, then the photo is facing west.

[stuart]

Thanks for posting that, I'm particularly interested in the Veramendi House because as near as I can figure that's where James Grant was wounded during the fighting for Bexar

[bmoses]

I appreciate the healthy level of skepticism on the part of Ranger Rod and would like to address his legitimate arguments and to hopefully satisfy him that the skeleton excavated, was indeed that of Ben Milam. This evening I have had a lengthy conversation with Clint McKenzie who at the time of the exhumation in 1992 was City Archaeologist. The exhumation was overseen by Cindy Tennis who at the time was working for the Center for Archaeological Research, University of Texas at San Antonio. This posting is primarily from information provided by Mr. McKenzie and the survey report produced by Mrs. Tennis.

The timeline:

December 7, 1835

Milam killed by a shot to the head while standing in the Veramendi Palace courtyard on Soledad Street. The Veramendi Palace was on the east side of Soledad Street about 2/3rds of a block north of Main Plaza. The back of the house bordered the San Antonio River. While the Veramendi Palace was demolished in 1910 a subsequent structure known as the “Veramendi Building” took its place and is still standing on Soledad. Of additional note, there is a tile mural by the San Jose Pottery/Ethel Harris Studio on the opposite side of the river at the north entrance to the horseshoe bend. This mural – while not currently PC - commemorates the notion that Mexican Snipers used the large cypresses to fire on the unsuspecting Texians. Interestingly, this is an obvious reference to the death of Milam across the river in 1835 but is not specifically mentioned in the mural.

December 7, 1846

There are two accounts of Milam’s first exhumation from the Veramendi Palace courtyard .They are not necessarily mutually exclusive of one another. The first account is of a Col. John H. More who supposedly exhumed the body and reinterred it in the public cemetery adjoining the “old campo santo” (what later became the Protestant Cemetery in 1848 and Milam Park in 1884). The reference for this account is an interview between an Eddie James and the amateur historian James DeShields. The manuscript is on file with the DRT here in San Antonio. DeShields had a tendency to embellish somewhat to make his stories more interesting and was not always the most accurate of historians. I say this as a segue into the second account of Milam’s exhumation.

December 7, 1848

According to the written minutes of Alamo Masonic Lodge No. 44, they disinterred their Masonic Brother Ben Milam’s body from the Veramendi courtyard and then reburied the body with proper civilian and Masonic honors in the then recently dedicated City Cemetery (April 1848 – City Council Minutes).

It may very well be that both accounts are correct and that DeShields simply had the date wrong by two years. The fact that DeShields account is an oral interview and that the Masonic Lodge minutes are an extant and verifiable written record leads me to believe that the correct date is the 1848 citation.

The comments about the condition of Milam’s body did NOT come from the Lodge minutes book but from DeShields’ account and are more than likely an embellishment based on fact.

July 18, 1878

The Express News publishes an article that the Mayor – V. O. King – had established the resting place of Ben Milam and that on the day prior – July 17, 1878 – a flat stone marker was placed on the grave bearing Milam’s name.

Now – here is where there is a fudge factor in my opinion. It is reasonable to assume that in the 30 years between 1848 and 1878, well within the memories and lifetimes of individuals present in 1848, that V. O. King was able with certainty to establish the location of Milam’s re-interment in 1848. While it is reasonable, it is not certain. That is where the subsequent work comes in to help clarify the picture.

January 8, 1884

The City Cemetery, abandoned in 1853 (no more room!!!) is rededicated as Milam Square and named such on account of Milam’s grave/resting place within the square (City Council Minutes).

September 19, 1899

$750 dollars ($250 from the City and $500 from the DeZavala Chapter of the DRT) allocated for the erection of a marble grave monument.

According to the DRT minutes of the transaction/discussion with the sculptor, Frank Teich, he assured them (DRT) that the monument had been erected over the spot where “the stone slab had lain”.

Sometime in 1976

During a beautification the Teich monument is relocated to the west side of Milam Park and the site of the original monument is lost to view and grassed over.

December 15, 1992

Archaeological reconnaissance and monitoring (Tennis 1995) in the park during yet another beautification project uncovers an approximately 60” by 60” by 18” early concrete slab near the center of the park, about six inches below the modern surface. The age of the slab is evidenced by the inclusion of irregular gravels as well as chunks of yellow Laredo brick and granite pieces. As Teich was a sculptor he would have had a ready supply of granite and it is most likely he caused or created the foundation for the installation of his 60” by 60” square base of his monument.

It was beneath this slab, and only slightly off the northeast corner that the remains of a wooden casket containing human skeletal remains were uncovered.

Analysis of the remains

No less than three well respected forensic archaeologists analyzed the remains. All three concurred that the remains were those of a man who stood approximately 5’9” tall and had died as the direct result of a shot to the head. The age of the man was estimated to be between 40 and 49 years old at the time of death.

The primary author of these studies was Dr. Doug Owsley of the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington DC. I would suggest that any google search on his name will dissuade you from thinking that he may have erred in his analysis. The guy is simply the best there is in forensic archaeology.

Sunday, December 11, 1994

Ben Milam is reinterred beneath the original monument – in the original 1884 location with both Catholic and Masonic services.

Conclusions/Discussions

The preponderance of the evidence strongly suggests that the remains are indeed those of Ben Milam. While there are potential gaps in certainty it is statistically more likely by far that it is Milam and not some other poor fellow.

The concern that he was only 5’9” is understandable by today’s average height standards. However, in 1835 5’9” was an above average height. As for the other degenerative conditions noted on the skeleton, they are more common than not in similar skeletal materials of the same age and population. Face it, Texas in the 1820s-1830s was a hard life.

I am not sure whether copies of the original Archaeological Survey Report are still available – the number of the report was 223 and entitled; “Exhumation of a Hero, Colonel Ben Milam – Milam Park Renovation Phase 1”. The principal author was Cynthia L. Tennis with contributions by Owsley, Sandness, and Winkler. The date of publication was 1995. Many of the questions of fact raised in the posting are addressed in that report.

If anyone should like a copy of the report, there may be a few available at the CAR web site: car.utsa.edu/Publications/asr.htm. If there are no more issues available, I would be glad to make copies for anyone who would like one for their reference library.

[Rich Curilla]

trk said:

admin said:

I guess the rear of the main house is to the right in the frame.

That's my interpretation, although I'm not sure what the photo's orientation is, since the Veramendi Palace was described as an L-shaped structure. If that large, arched opening was the passway to the main entrance of the house fronting on Soledad Street, then the photo is facing west.

Based on drawings of the Veramendi Palace from the 1840's and plats of the city showing its shape, it was indeed L-shaped. Allegedly, the western wing was the original structure and the north wing added for Bowie and Ursula, but that could be a romantic notion on somebody's part. But L-shaped it was, as can be seen in early photographs looking up Soledad Street from the plaza. This means that the photograph above is looking west, the "Bowie wing" is on the right and the arch is the porte-cochere coming through from the main entrance. Milam's grave would have been in camera view.

[bmoses]

I am including below some of the more pertinent excerpts from the CAR report on the exhumation of Ben Milam in 1993. I am also throwing in few unpublished photographs taken at the time of the excavations. I hope the one of the Milam skeleton isn't too much, I think it helps to see it in the context of the forinsic anthropology in the text. The manuscript was written by Dr. Barbara Winkler, Dr. Douglas Owsley, Karin L. Sandness and Cynthia Tennis.





INTRODUCTION

The bones of Texas Revolutionary hero Ben Milam were exhumed from their 1846 reburial site in what is now Milam Park, in downtown San Antonio across from Santa Rosa Hospital. By the time of the exhumation in early 1993, the wooden coffin had almost completely disintegrated, although metal coffin nails were found. Shell and bone buttons from Col. Milam’s shirt and pants were also located; however, no signs of the brass belt buckle or the Masonic ring with which, according to legend, he had been reinterred (Taylor 1935:65) were found.

As excavation continued, the partially exposed lower spinal column appeared to be intact; however, the remaining bones of the upper body were either missing or fragmented, since the coffin had unwittingly been reburied in a groundwater seepage point. This inadvertency led to apparent pooling of water in the chest cavity and nearly complete destruction of the bones by groundwater action and perhaps soil pressure. As the exhumation proceeded, it became clear that, other than the femur and the tibia of the right leg, very few of the remaining bones were intact.

The skeleton was carefully removed in all its pieces, bits, and fragments and taken to the CAR laboratory for study. As the bones were cleaned, classified, and studied, some fragments of the cranium, the major long bones of the left leg, the innominates, and part of the sacrum were carefully reassembled. Some of the vertebral column was reassembled, but many of the thoracic and most of the cervical vertebrae were either missing or were too badly eroded and fragmented for reassembly.



BURIAL DESCRIPTIONS

PHYSICAL PLACEMENT
The body was resting in an extended, supine position oriented east–west, with the head to the west. The arms were in a flexed position with the hands crossed over the abdomen, right hand over the left.

COFFIN DESCRIPTION
The coffin, probably pine, was the hexagonal type common in rural Texas until the 1890s (Fox 1984). Exact measurement of the coffin length was not possible due to water damage of the upper section, but an estimate based on nail placement indicates an overall length of 5.5 ft and a width varying from six inches at the toe to 1.5 ft at the elbow. The remaining wood was in extremely poor condition and the coffin had been compressed to a maximum thickness of only four inches.

ARTIFACT DESCRIPTIONS

BUTTONS

Bone
Five complete and one half bone buttons were recovered from the burial. Three of the complete buttons and the one half button were found in situ during excavation; the remaining two were discovered in the lab while the bones were being washed. One of these was found in the clay associated with the left tibia, the other was within the dirt block containing the foot bones. Each button is 11/16 inch in diameter and has five holes in a recessed mid-section.

Shell
Two white shell buttons were recovered from the burial. The button found in situ in the neck area measures ¼ inch in diameter and has three holes. The other shell button was found during washing in association with the middle vertebrae. This button has four holes.




The following section lists the bones, teeth, and skeletal fragments which were found, together with a short description of pertinent findings.


CRANIUM, FACIAL BONES, AND DENTITION


CRANIUM
Of the cranium, only fragments and pieces remain. Many parts, including most of the facial bones, are missing, probably disintegrated through groundwater action. All fragments show the two tables which make up cranial bones, indicating that no pieces of scapula were accidentally mixed in with them. Cranial fragments show no pitting.

Painstaking reassembly of the larger cranial fragments provided a partially restored cranium: parts of the right and left parietals; a part of the frontal bone containing the top of the right orbit, which could be rejoined to the right parietal near the sagittal suture line; and a large part of the occiput. Reassembled, enough of the cranium is extant to show some of the sagittal suture very clearly, part of the coronal suture, and much of the occipital suture. The sutures appear well closed, indicating that the individual was in midlife at the time of death. The blunt edge of the portion of the top right orbit of the frontal bone indicates that the individual was male.

Enough of the cranium has been reassembled to show part of a bullet hole in the skull which Dr. Vincent DiMaio, medical examiner for Bexar County, Texas, diagnosed as an exit wound. This is based on the beveling on the external surface of the bone, while the edges inside the head, on the cerebral surface, remain sharply delineated (Vincent DiMaio, M.D., personal communication 1993). There is no possibility that this feature is other than what it appears to be.

The wound is located close to the top of the cranium, in the left parietal, just touching the right parietal and obliterating that portion of the sagittal suture. It lies approximately seven centimeters from lambda, the craniometric point where the sagittal suture joins the occipital suture. The edges are widely beveled at perhaps a 30o angle. The diameter of the bullet hole cannot be measured because the portions of the missing left parietal bone which would complete the circle were not found. The size of the part that has been reconstructed appears consistent with the diameter of a bullet from a Baker rifle, which the sharpshooters of Gen. Santa Anna’s army were said to be using (Taylor 1935:65).

Considering the location of the exit wound and the angle of its passage through the skull in relation to the rest of the face (were it there), it can be tentatively speculated that the fatal shot came from below instead of from face level or above (David Henkes, M.D., personal communication 1993). The bullet would have had to hit Col. Milam somewhere in the face. He would have to have had his head raised or be looking upward, in order for the bullet to leave the skull at the point where the exit wound is located (David Henkes, M.D., personal communication 1993).

FACIAL BONES AND DENTITION

Mandibles
A left mandible fragment missing the ascending ramus, condyle, and the coronoid process is present. The mylohyoid groove and mandibular foramen are well marked. Three molars, one molar, and one second premolar are intact, but nothing more of the mandible is present.

The mandible seems small for a male, again an indication of a small face when considered with the size of the right posterior malar fragment. Smaller faces are sometimes considered to be a northwestern European—primarily Celtic—trait (Macieji Henneberg, M.D., personal communication 1984); some accounts indicate that Col. Milam was of Welsh extraction (Day 1964). The left third molar is at a very slightly elevated angle in the rear jaw and exhibits caries on the distal side. There is evidence of bone resorbed and roots of molars are showing. The roots are splayed (sometimes considered to be a Caucasian trait [Krogman and Iscan 1986]) and the molars generally show variations of a four-cusp pattern. The presence of the third molar indicates an individual over age 30; tooth wear corroborates the individual was in midlife.

The right mandible portion contains the third and second molars, with the third molar showing three cusps and what looks like a very small fourth cusp. It could be called “peg shaped,” with a +3 cusp pattern. The right second molar is badly worn down, but shows a Y-4 cusp pattern. The right second molar also shows evidence of caries on the buccal side. The teeth are well enameled, but each tooth is badly worn.

POSTCRANIAL REMAINS

VERTEBRAE

Cervical Vertebrae
Enough pieces and fragments to identify as probably having been cervical vertebrae were recovered. All were badly eroded, with all spinous and most transverse processes broken off, fragmented, or eroded. However, one piece does show a transverse foramen.

Lumbar Vertebrae
All five lumbar vertebrae were present, but all were well eroded and none was intact. Some spinous processes are present, but many transverse processes are missing. The vertebrae bodies are pitted, showing deterioration, possibly from groundwater and soil leaching. Strongly marked “Y” marks are present on the distal surface of the body of the twelfth thoracic and the proximal body surface of the first lumbar with some faintly similar marks on the second lumbar.

Reassembly of the lumbar vertebrae indicates the intervertebral disks were thinner than usual (Albert Sanders, M.D., personal communication 1993). If Col. Milam suffered from lower back problems, thin disks rather than the spina bifida occulta were probably the cause.

LOWER EXTREMITIES

FEMURS

Left Femur
The left femur was found broken postmortem about 7.5 cm above the distal end, and was later reconstructed. It is strongly pitted at its proximal end. A small bony accretion near the head on the diaphysis near the lesser trochanter shows the attachment site of robust muscles (Albert Sanders, M.D., and David Henkes, M.D., personal communication 1993). Erosion, seen around and beneath the fovea capitis, is probably from groundwater (Albert Sanders, M.D., and David Henkes, M.D., personal communication 1993). The greater trochanter is deeply pitted, eroded, and roughened. The lesser trochanter is also very rough. The angle of the head is still oblique enough to indicate that the individual was middle-aged. The linea aspera is pronounced but rough-surfaced; it has slight pitting at the distal end of the femur. The patellar articular surface shows bony accretion probably in connection with degenerative joint disease (Albert Sanders, M.D., personal communication 1993).

Right Femur
The right femur is 460 mm long and was found intact. The distal end exhibits heavy lipping around the edges of the patellar articular surface. Two calcified spurs are present on the patellar articular surface itself, one on the right side and one on the left near the outside edges. Heavy pitting is noted on the distal end. At the proximal end, the greater trochanter is pitted and heavily eroded.

Both femurs appear robust and still near normal weight after 147 years in the ground, although many of the other remaining bones are eroded and very lightweight. The curvature of the bones appears normal.

Right Tibia
The right tibia is intact (390 mm long), with a pitted medial malleolus. The distal end has a darker stain which runs up the lower end of the diaphysis; we can speculate that the stains are from the leather boots in which Milam is reputed to have been buried. Heavy lipping is present around the condylar articular edges. The spurs on the patellar surface of the right femur probably rubbed against the proximal tibia at this point (Albert Sanders, M.D., personal communication 1993). Both tibias appear slightly bowed.


CONCLUSIONS

The details of two independent analyses of the burial recovered during this investigation are given by Winkler, Appendix A, and by Sandness and Owsley, Appendix B, at the conclusion of this report. These analyses agree that the remains are those of a right-handed Caucasian male, 5 ft 7 inches to 5 ft 9 inches tall, who was between 40 and 49 years of age at time of death. The appearance of a circular defect in the back of the skull is interpreted as the exit wound of a projectile that entered the head somewhere in the facial area. This wound, which shows no signs of healing, was the cause of death.

The skeletal pathologies identified during analysis illustrate the daily hardships, strenuous labor, and lack of dental care experienced by an individual during the founding days of the Republic of Texas. The thickened bone at points of muscle attachments and depressions in the vertebrae are also relics of the strenuous lifestyle led by individuals of the times. Indications of childhood illness are represented by the presence of dental hypoplasia, and evidence of the consumption of poorly processed foods is illustrated by the wear visible on the teeth. Evidence of degenerative joint disease, osteoarthritis, is present on several of vertebrae and pronounced at both knee joints.

These findings correspond with the known facts concerning Col. Ben Milam. He was a Caucasian male who died at the age of 47 during the Battle of San Antonio de Bejar in 1835. Eyewitness accounts record that Milam died from a single gun shot wound to the head. After the initial burial in the courtyard of the Veramendi house, Col. Milam's remains were reinterred in the center of the city cemetery. His grave was subsequently marked with a marble monument and the city cemetery was renamed Milam Park in his honor. Although the marble monument was moved during park renovations in 1976, the concrete foundation for the monument was located during our work in Milam Park. The burial was revealed beneath this foundation.

The physical interpretations combined with the archival and artifactual evidence gathered, as well as the location of the burial, firmly indicate that the remains exhumed from the center of Milam Park are those of Texas Independence hero Col. Benjamin R. Milam.

[sloanrodgers]

bmoses said:

I appreciate the healthy level of skepticism on the part of Ranger Rod and would like to address his legitimate arguments and to hopefully satisfy him that the skeleton excavated, was indeed that of Ben Milam. This evening I have had a lengthy conversation with Clint McKenzie who at the time of the exhumation in 1992 was City Archaeologist. The exhumation was overseen by Cindy Tennis who at the time was working for the Center for Archaeological Research, University of Texas at San Antonio. This posting is primarily from information provided by Mr. McKenzie and the survey report produced by Mrs. Tennis.

Sorry Mose, I've been out of the loop lately w/ work and legal matters. I just
noticed the resurrection of this thread the other day. Your data on Old Ben's
supposed grave excavation is extremely impressive and I can tell you've done
your homework on this subject. I know little about Milam, but still remain a bit
skeptical that you San Antonians found the right guy. There doesn't seem to
be any concrete evidence that proves this bedraggled partial skeleton had the
hero that was Ben Milam wrapped around it. This is simply my opinion. I'm just
curious. Were there any independant or non-San Antonio researchers involved
in this project? I'm sure they were objective with their analysis, but it doesn't
hurt to have an outsider looking into things.

The timeline:

December 7, 1835

Milam killed by a shot to the head while standing in the Veramendi Palace courtyard on Soledad Street. The Veramendi Palace was on the east side of Soledad Street about 2/3rds of a block north of Main Plaza. The back of the house bordered the San Antonio River. While the Veramendi Palace was demolished in 1910 a subsequent structure known as the “Veramendi Building” took its place and is still standing on Soledad. Of additional note, there is a tile mural by the San Jose Pottery/Ethel Harris Studio on the opposite side of the river at the north entrance to the horseshoe bend. This mural – while not currently PC - commemorates the notion that Mexican Snipers used the large cypresses to fire on the unsuspecting Texians. Interestingly, this is an obvious reference to the death of Milam across the river in 1835 but is not specifically mentioned in the mural.

That was one hell of a magic bullet. What is that, like 800 or 900 feet from the
eastside of the river to the Veramendi Place? It seems like that long-fire musket
ball would have had to possibly go around a few trees, over a wall, then ranged
upward in order to hit Milam in the face and blow out his top left parietal. I have
seen rounds do some funny things in the human body, but they usually wait until
they actually hit a bone or something. Of course it is just a mural. It seems more
plausable to me that Ol' Ben was tagged by a nasty sniper sitting in some other
tall structure. I'll have to read up on this subject a little more to comment further.
All for now. Adios.