The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 2, July 1898 - April, 1899 Page: 21
[335] p. : ill. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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The Old Fort at Analuac.
THE OLD FORT AT ANAHUAC.
ADLE B. LOOSCAN.
On the shore of Galveston Bay, near the mouth of the Trinity
River, and about half a mile south ,of the town of Anahuac, are to
be seen the ruins of an 'old Mexican fort, erected in 1832. Its walls
have long since been levelled to the ground, many -of the bricks
used in their construction have been utilized in various ways, but
the outlines of its foundation may still be traced, and with the
aid of the recollection of descendants of early settlers, whose child-
hood was passed near it, its site may be accurately located. Its
history is that of the rebellion of 'Texan colonists against Mexican
oppression, of their punishment by imprisonment within its walls,
which were put up by the forced labor of colonial mechanics. The
half-buried bricks of this ruin, which, 'according to primitive cus-
tom, were moulded by hand, lare endued with a new interest, when
we know Texan prisoners were made to contribute their labor by
tramping the clay, as well as moulding the bricks for the walls of
the fort.
In 1832, when the troubles between the citizens and Col. Juan
David Bradburn first began, the latter was poorly equipped to take
care of political prisoners, so Patrick C. Jack and Wm. B. Travis,
the first who were arrested for expressing themselves itoo, freely in
regard to his arbitrary conduct, were imprisoned in a house con-
tiguous to his own quarters.
Dr. N. D. Labadie, who had been living at Anahuac since March
2nd, 1831, relates the following particulars in regard to the build-
ing of the brick fort. He says, that the wants of Jack and Travis
while in prison were attended by one 'of the slaves of James Mor-
gan; that in a bundle of clothing, prepared by the prisoners for the
laundress, a letter marked 0. P. Q., requesting that "a horse
should be in readiness at a certain hour on Thursday night," was
found by the Mexican officer of the day. "The finding 'of this let-
ter," says Dr. Labadie, "caused Brad'burn much uneasiness, and,
combined with other .events, determined him to secure his prison-
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Texas State Historical Association. The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 2, July 1898 - April, 1899, periodical, 1898/1899; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101011/m1/25/?rotate=270: accessed March 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.