At the listed coordinates you will find yourself at a very important landmark to Texas. This location means a lot to me personally, I was named after William B. Travis, one of the commanders of the Alamo at the Battle of the Alamo. My oldest son (William) is also named after him and my youngest (James) is named after James Bowie the other commander.
To claim this Virtual Cache, all you need to do is post a picture of yourself, preferably with your GPS (but I know many of you use your phone/camera as your GPS) with the Alamo behind you while standing at the listed coordinates (or at least very close to the listed coordinates)! Logs not containing photos from the listed coordinates may be deleted. Do not post pictures from previous trips to The Alamo to claim your find, YOU MUST VISIT AGAIN AFTER THE PUBLICATION DATE OF THIS LISTING. If your picture is attached to another cachers log (group photo etc..) please be sure to put that in your log when logging the find. It's that easy, you don't need to show your face if you don't want to.
Originally built in 1744, The Alamo Mission in San Antonio commonly called "The Alamo" is one of the early Spanish missions in Texas. Originally built to educate local American Indians after their conversion to Christianity. Later secularized in 1793 then abandoned, around 10 years later it became a fortress, now home to the Second Flying Company of San Carlos de Parras military unit. It's believed they are the ones who named it "The Alamo".
In December of 1835 Mexican General Martin Perfecto de Cos surrendered The Alamo to the Texican Army following the Siege of Bexar. A small number of Texicans held the fort but were eventually "removed" on March 6, 1836.
The Battle of the Alamo lasted 13 days from February 23 to March 6, 1836. Many of the buildings surrounding the area your standing in at the listed coordinates were torn down in the years to follow. William B Travis and James Bowie shared command of The Alamo during the siege.
Over the next five years The Alamo was used to garrison soldiers for Mexican and Texican armies but was eventually abandoned. After Texas joined the United States the US Army began renting the facility to use as a quartermaster's depot in 1849. Once the nearby Fort Sam Houston was established in 1876 the army left The Alamo. The chapel was sold to the State of Texas which began to conduct tours but did not begin to restore it. Other buildings were sold off to a mercantile company which operated them as a wholesale grocery store.
In 1895 restoration projects began under the newly formed "The Daughter of the Republic of Texas". In 1905 the DRT convinced the state legislature to purchase the remaining buildings and to name them the permanent custodians of the site. They were the custodians of the site until 2015 when Texas Land Commissioner George P Bush officially removed control of the Alamo to the Texas General Land Office.
The Alamo is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Virtual Reward - 2017/2018
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between August 24, 2017 and August 24, 2018. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards on the Geocaching Blog.