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Post by Rich Curilla on Sept 22, 2013 16:15:23 GMT -5
Garita from the town side. I'm afraid you'll have to imagine the hill, trees and bushes.
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Post by Rich Curilla on Sept 22, 2013 16:17:15 GMT -5
Aerial View from west.
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Post by Rich Curilla on Sept 22, 2013 16:20:07 GMT -5
Aerial View from the East. If I were to have tilted the "camera" up a bit, you would see the town in the distance -- but my computer would lock up due to the heavy geometry in the image! I neglected to add the unsuccessful well that was between the buildings and the outworks. The water in the ditch is rainwater.
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Post by Herb on Sept 24, 2013 17:59:52 GMT -5
Rich, great stuff! Can't wait until you have the whole package available. Accurate terrain models add so much to our understanding. It's a shame that except for the fields and a few dominate features we have no accurate idea about the vegetation (likewise jacales, sheds, and other minor buildings). Your work is going to be an invaluable addition.
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Post by Rich Curilla on Sept 25, 2013 14:33:44 GMT -5
Rich, great stuff! Can't wait until you have the whole package available. Accurate terrain models add so much to our understanding. It's a shame that except for the fields and a few dominate features we have no accurate idea about the vegetation (likewise jacales, sheds, and other minor buildings). Your work is going to be an invaluable addition. Thanks, Herb. I sure hope so, because that is my primary goal. And, since it is easy to change details on the model, it can be a growing learning and teaching tool. Artists too could benefit from being able to go anywhere in the 3 mile square area and select any angle they want -- and see it in true perspective! I'm having as much fun "walking around" my faux streets and "photographing" things as I would at a real world site. (It's a bit scary actually.)
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Post by Rich Curilla on Nov 20, 2013 22:55:30 GMT -5
Well, I did manage to add a hill to Powder House Hill. So, let's take a quick trip up there. It's 2,170 yards from our camera position. It was no closer. It was no higher. My hill (which stretches the full three mile north to south distance of my ground plane) is laid out approximately on the contour map lines (couldn't overlay these in the program as with the streets, roads and waterways). The "Road to the Powder House" clearly was not the Gonzales Road. It was most likely laid out by the military (it was the only straight-as-an-arrow street in Bexar) before 1810 at the time the Powder House and Watch Tower were built. Gonzales (and other points due east) didn't start to appear until after 1821.
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Post by Rich Curilla on Nov 20, 2013 23:05:13 GMT -5
One approached the front door of the Powder House (left). Here is the classic Seth Eastman view -- from the other side. This is the side that faced east, according to early accounts. The Alamo compound can be seen in the valley below in the lower-left corner of the picture. Accounts are also clear with regard to an earthen bastion with long parapets on the south and east sides. Still haven't added the defunct well, but it was reported to be between the Powder House and the bastion.
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Post by Rich Curilla on Nov 20, 2013 23:34:22 GMT -5
Looking from San Fernando Church, the Watch Tower stands on the ridge 2,930 yards east. The ridge actually crested several hundred yards behind the site of the structures. In spite of this, the Watch Tower's lofty height provided a vantage point from which the whole river valley could be seen on the west side as well as the roads to the three Salado Creek fords between 2-1/2 and 3-1/2 miles to the east, southeast and northeast. The gap in the ridge to the northeast separates Dignowity Hill on the right (the highest point on the ridge) from Government Hill on the left (both later named) where Fort Sam Houston would be built. Modern I-35 heads through this pass on it's way to Austin. Looking N.E. from the church, we can see up the river valley (extreme left) around the left side of Government Hill. The grey building with maroon trim is the Yturri house (Santa Anna's H.Q. during the Alamo Siege). Connected to it on the right is the "Priest's House" (a primary goal during the Battle of Bexar in '35) and, above the Yturri, the Veramendi Palace. Placing the camera in the classic Herman Lungkwitz position for his Alameda painting, we do indeed get the same placement of the Watch Tower and Powder House just to the left of the tree line, the eastern majority of which was gone by Lungkwitz' time. Two of the three funeral pyres were to the left and right of the Alameda, a fact which draws speculation that cottonwoods were cut down to use for fuel for the mass cremation.
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Post by Rich Curilla on Nov 22, 2013 2:31:55 GMT -5
I noticed that this painting by James Gilchrist Benton ca. 1849-1852 has not been posted on our Powder House thread. It provides a different perspective (looking due west) -- and reveals the variance in proportional rendering between Benton and Seth Eastman. Benton's seems somewhat more squatty. The dimensions provided in primary accounts however support Eastman's eye. Here is Eastman's 1848 drawing (looking N.W.) for comparison: And here is a "Boudoir Card" lithograph of a similar tower near Monclova, Coahuila.
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Post by edward on Nov 22, 2013 13:28:50 GMT -5
I noticed that this painting by James Gilchrist Benton ca. 1849-1852 has not been posted on our Powder House thread. It provides a different perspective (looking due west) -- and reveals the variance in proportional rendering between Benton and Seth Eastman. Benton's seems somewhat more squatty. The dimensions provided in primary accounts however support Eastman's eye. Here is Eastman's 1848 drawing (looking N.W.) for comparison: And here is a "Boudoir Card" lithograph of a similar tower near Monclova, Coahuila. Are there any other views showing the two structures together besides Eastman's? The Eastman drawing seems to be two separate perspective views of each structure combined into one. The tower structure seems to have been drawn looking from a height of more than half the height of the tower as if he climbed onto something that was over 10 feet tall. The lower structure seems to have been drawn standing on the ground. So if this is the case the artist may have moved the structures to fit into his drawing. I have the structures distance to be more or less as shown on the civil war map.
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Post by Rich Curilla on Nov 23, 2013 0:55:50 GMT -5
Are there any other views showing the two structures together besides Eastman's? The Eastman drawing seems to be two separate perspective views of each structure combined into one. The tower structure seems to have been drawn looking from a height of more than half the height of the tower as if he climbed onto something that was over 10 feet tall. The lower structure seems to have been drawn standing on the ground. So if this is the case the artist may have moved the structures to fit into his drawing. I have the structures distance to be more or less as shown on the civil war map. I see what you are saying, but I really think that was just an imperfection of Eastman's work. There are a few. Judging from his sketch book, he was so prolific (often several drawings for one feature), that I believe he would have done such a thing as two separate drawings and not tried to combine perspectives as one. He wasn't an experimental artist. He was conventional. While I find the "Civil War Map" to be highly accurate in all measurements (I have a full scale copy 26x30"), I do not believe its S.W. structure is one of these two buildings but rather a later powder house and that the N.E. structure was the only one of the two Eastman structures still standing at the time the map was drawn (or at least the only one significant enough to illustrate). The S.W. structure on the map has a rectangular footprint oriented long-ways north and south, whereas both the watch tower and powder house in Eastman's drawing (and by the extant dimensions) were both square. Also, on the map, the N.E. square is larger than the S.W. rectangle. Since the watch tower was the larger of the two Eastman buildings -- and it faced east -- then the S.W. feature on the map should be larger than the N.E. one. Therefore, my conclusion is that the distance between the features on the map has no relationship to the drawing. Alas, no other drawings have thus far come to light.
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Post by Rich Curilla on Nov 23, 2013 4:02:43 GMT -5
I have pulled forward an early group of my conjectures that definitely need revision based on research since I posted these. I certainly can't swear that I can make it right, just better. It was in direct response to Mark Lemon's line of reasoning (always sound and always aimed at making me look deeper) in the first few pages of this thread. I have since made an intense study of the roads leading out of Bexar as well as come to some conclusion regarding the Garita. The dialogue was on page 1 of this thread. This Watch Tower / Powder House thing has been a fascination of mine forever, and I think we will soon nail its exact location. I believe a lot can be based on the *lay of the land.* My long-held belief has been that it was placed on the highest prominence on Powder House Hill. Otherwise, what's the point? You want to be able to see in all directions. And I still feel this way. But the plan might have been to simply see east and west along the main road, and the evidence supports this. No longer my "long held belief." Commerce Street was just not the Gonzales Road. This route preceded the founding of Gonzales by over a decade. It was laid out by the Spanish military as the "Road to the Powder House," and ended there. It was Rick Range who pulled me kicking and screaming into this realization as I prepared his Bexar map for his forthcoming book. The Watch Tower, in my opinion, was built to observe all approach from the southeast, east and northeast. a slight rise in the ridge to the north and the fact that the crest of the north-south ridge itself was actually several hundred yards east of the tower site were of little significance. An observer, from this lofty 30 foot tower, could see over these prominences with no trouble. As Gonzales and other eastern towns developed, caminos from Bexar were blazed. As for Gonzales itself, ultimately (by the 1830's) there were two ways to get there. One went northeast from Bexar (basically where I-35 goes through the pass below Fort Sam Houston today) and crossed the Guadalupe river slightly less than 30 miles out. It then followed the left bank of the river to Gonzales, passing Green DeWitt's sawmill along the way. The other went southeast from Bexar, crossed Powder House ridge at a lower point maybe 1000 yards south and forded Cibolo Creek just north of present day LaVernia. It then stayed south of the Guadalupe River until immediately below Gonzales, where it crossed the river and entered the town. From San Fernando Church, the upper road (known as the "Mill Road") traveled 66 miles to the center of Gonzales. Also from San Fernando, the lower road traveled 67 miles (or slightly more) to the same spot. Based on my current understanding of the elevations on Powder House Hill, the Garita tower viewpoint just south of modern day Commerce beyond the "knuckle" (as clearly shown on the highly accurate Civil War Map) could see both roads for over a mile from town and the lower road possibly all the way to the Salado Creek crossing five miles from town. "Paso Hondo" must have been what they called a low spot between two knolls on the ridge. Thus "Camino de Paso Hondo." The word does indeed mean shallow or low.... 18th. Century Bejarenos named some roads after the passes they traveled to get them out of the river valley. Thus, Camino de Paso Hondo was named thusly because it left Bejar and headed for the low pass to the east. I have discovered that I was totally off base with this "head 'em to the pass" attitude. As I mentioned in my model photo captions, Salado Creek, five miles east of town in the next valley, had only three spots within easy reach where it could be forded. Creek and river fords were called "pasos," hence El Paso, Texas, comes from the Spanish name of the ford, "el Paso del Norte." The "Mill Road" to Gonzales crossed at the ford just to the right of I-35 beyond modern day Splashtown. I have seen the Spanish name but have forgotten where, so I have temporarily dubbed it "Paso Splashtown." (Hispanic historians forgive me!) Coming downstream, the ford almost due east from town was called Paso Hondo (meaning low crossing). Our modern Paso Hondo Street, I definitely believe, is a remnant of this road -- which had nothing to do with the Garita. Going toward town, it probably connected to the "Road to the Powder House" around modern day Cherry Street 170 yards east of the railroad crossing. It also probably had a link to the back of the Alamo called Camino Viejo de las Carretas (Old Cart Road) that traversed the Labor de Afuera (Outer Farm) and reached the north end of the Alamo's long barrack. The southernmost ford on the Salado was called Paso Toruto (for which I have not yet seen a translation). The road from Bexar that went southeast was aimed at that crossing (just south of Rigsby Ave. Rte. 87). The ford was at the edge of Comanche Park. This was where Austin's army camped in October of '35 before moving to Mission Espada. A few miles after this Camino de Paso Toruto crossed the creek, the road split. The left fork headed to Gonzales and the right to Victoria. ...my theory is that modern day Commerce St. dog-legged left and followed the current Paso Hondo St. in 1836 and that the tower was just off to the right, thus placing it north of the present Commerce St. This would be in the general area bordered by pine on the west and Palmetto on the east. Best bet is east of Monumental in that cemetery. Absolutely not. For all the reasons listed above. Paso Hondo (thus the Gonzales Road) crests Powder House Hill at 2,237 yards [from the Alamo apse], and actually travels the crest of a subtle perpendicular ridge running west to east. This really sells it to me as the main road. At the crest, the road is 738 feet above sea level. The apse battery is 657. This road to Paso Hondo did most likely connect to the Lower Gonzales Road somewhere beyond Salado Creek and thus could also take travelers to Gonzales, but it had nothing to do with the modern route of Commerce Street beyond the Cherry Street Crossing, still 1,000 yards west of the Garita. It probably didn't see as much traffic as the Paso Toruto route since the hill was greater at this point. Unfortunately, I think the Civil War map foreshortens the distances -- definitely places the hill too close to the Alamo. With this inaccuracy, the structures could have been anywhere east of the Paso Hondo dogleg, placing their site under any of the warehouses and other structures anywhere between Mesquite St. and Pine St. I certainly have reversed my view of the "Civil War Map's" inaccuracy. Since I got the full-sized copy, I can measure distance precisely from the 1" = 200 varas scale, convert it to feet (1 V = 2.75 ft.) and the distances match my Google Earth measurements exactly. The Garita is 2,135 yards from the Alamo apse.
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Post by Rich Curilla on Nov 23, 2013 5:04:57 GMT -5
Looking east from above the Alameda, the straight-as-a-dye extension of Alameda Street is the "Road to the Powderhouse" which you can see on the ridge. Just beyond the eastern end of the Alameda, the Camino de Paso Toruto bears to the right (this is about where the southbound access ramp to I-37 is today) and then snakes southeast to cross Powder House Ridge at a point lower than where the Garita is. The road going off the right side of the picture is a connecting road to the Goliad Road, which emanates from La Villita. The very narrow road on the left side of the picture is the Camino Viejo de las Carretas that becomes Camino de Paso Hondo and crosses Powder House Hill left of the Garita. We are here looking back toward town (Alamo compound it top-left corner) from over the Gonzales Road ( Camino de Paso Toruto) with the Garita overlooking the road from the north. Camino de Paso Hondo crosses the hill 235 yards north of the tower. The Mill Road to Gonzales can be vaguely seen just this side of the Acequia Madre de Valero along the top of the picture. The Mill Road started from Plaza de Valero (at modern Crockett St.) and proceeded along the route of modern Bonham Street until it crossed the Acequia Madre and then headed for the gap between Powder House Hill and Government Hill (current name) where Fort Sam Houston would be built. An older road (not shown) branched off to the left just past the Acequia Madre and followed it to the springs of the San Antonio River. This was known informally as "The Road to the Head of the River" and a map showing 1836 period and drawn shortly after says that this was a "road not much used." At the time of the War of Independence, it was not the Nacogdoches Road as is generally believed, although it joined it above the springs. The Camino Real started from Plaza de Armas and went north up Flores Street, crossed San Pedro Creek to the west, rounded San Pedro Springs (where the presidio was first founded) and headed northeast to round San Antonio Springs and head for Mina and Nacogdoches. It is my guess that Bonham St. which used to be called Nacogdoches St. was indeed a main road to Nacogdoches, but not until the middle of the nineteenth century as the town began to encompass the Alamo Plaza area thus making it more commercially necessary.
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Post by edward on Nov 24, 2013 21:31:43 GMT -5
I see what you are saying, but I really think that was just an imperfection of Eastman's work. There are a few. Judging from his sketch book, he was so prolific (often several drawings for one feature), that I believe he would have done such a thing as two separate drawings and not tried to combine perspectives as one. He wasn't an experimental artist. He was conventional. While I find the "Civil War Map" to be highly accurate in all measurements (I have a full scale copy 26x30"), I do not believe its S.W. structure is one of these two buildings but rather a later powder house and that the N.E. structure was the only one of the two Eastman structures still standing at the time the map was drawn (or at least the only one significant enough to illustrate). The S.W. structure on the map has a rectangular footprint oriented long-ways north and south, whereas both the watch tower and powder house in Eastman's drawing (and by the extant dimensions) were both square. Also, on the map, the N.E. square is larger than the S.W. rectangle. Since the watch tower was the larger of the two Eastman buildings -- and it faced east -- then the S.W. feature on the map should be larger than the N.E. one. Therefore, my conclusion is that the distance between the features on the map has no relationship to the drawing. Alas, no other drawings have thus far come to light. Or it could be that they reused and expanded the existing structure to double its size?
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Post by Rich Curilla on Nov 25, 2013 0:27:04 GMT -5
I don't see any evidence of this. However, there is a Civil War period letter that points out how indefensible these buildings were and suggests replacing roofs with casemates. I don't see them expanding the building.
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