“A Splendid Piece of Photography”: The Siege and Fall of the Alamo (1914)

A stock certificate for the Siege and Fall of the Alamo Motion Picture Co., November 17, 1913.

A single document (shown above) and a handful of photographs at the DRT Library are thought to provide a crucial record of a lost silent film about the 1836 Battle of the Alamo. No copy of the The Siege and Fall of the Alamo (1914) is known to exist, and earlier generations of historians believed that the film was never made. While this assertion has proven to be false, information is sparse and many questions remain unanswered.

This picture from the DRT Library's collection shows the palisade that scholars believe was reconstructed in front of the Alamo church during filming of The Siege and Fall of the Alamo. (SC98.103)

A synopsis of The Siege and Fall of the Alamo, written for copyright registration, survives at the Library of Congress and is reproduced in its entirety in Frank Thompson’s book Alamo Movies. Unfortunately, Thompson writes, the summary “tells us little about what the film might have been like.” In addition, a review and advertisement in the San Antonio Light (not in the Library’s collection) describe the film’s showing at the Royal Theater on June 1-2, 1914. According to the ad, The Siege and Fall of the Alamo was made in San Antonio with a cast of 2,000 actors “at a cost of more than $35,000.00.” At “five great reels” in length, it was the first feature-length film about the Alamo. Praising the film, the Light called it “a splendid piece of photography, clear in every detail, and the acting is perfect. The play seems to please the patrons and is pronounced by historians as a great production.”

The reconstructed palisade. The Siege and Fall of the Alamo may be the only movie about the 1836 battle filmed at the actual Alamo. (SC98.101)

The production stills below were previously thought to be from The Immortal Alamo (1911). However, the actor shown to be portraying David Crockett (below) is not Francis Ford, who played the famous Tennessean in The Immortal Alamo. The wooden palisade shown in the photographs above appears to be same one behind “Crockett” in the picture below. Other clues in the palisade photos and production stills support the conclusion that these materials show The Siege and Fall of the Alamo, although a lack of definitive corroborating evidence means that this identification remains less than certain.

An unidentified actor portraying David Crockett in front of the reconstructed Alamo palisade. (SC96.601)

Davy Crockett struggling with a Mexican soldier. (SC96.602)

A woman attempts to defend Jim Bowie while Susanna Dickinson protects her daughter. (SC96.600)

Texians firing and reloading rifles. (SC96.603)

References and Further Reading

Books by writer and film historian Frank Thompson include Alamo Movies (1991) and The Alamo: A Cultural History (2001), both available at the DRT Library. Another work by Thompson, Texas Hollywood: Filmmaking in San Antonio Since 1910 (2002), does not discuss The Siege and Fall of the Alamo specifically but provides interesting contextual information. Additionally, the DRT Library has a vertical file on various movies that have been made about the Alamo, and Richard R. Flores’ book Remembering the Alamo: Memory, Modernity, and the Master Symbol (2002) also contains a chapter on the topic.

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A Look Back at the 1911 Battle of Flowers Parade

In honor of today’s Battle of Flowers Parade, this entry highlights some photographs of the 1911 parade. Contained within the Library’s collection of Beckmann family papers, the images show throngs of spectators in Alamo Plaza – some even perched on nearby rooftops, including that of the Alamo! – and the facade of the Alamo church decorated for the parade. Also shown is the float of twenty-one-year-old Helena Dorothea Guenther, the Queen of the Court of Carnival Flowers a century ago.

Helena Guenther on her float in Alamo Plaza during the 1911 Battle of Flowers Parade.

Helena Guenther in the 1911 Battle of Flowers Parade.

Spectators in an undated photograph, believed to show the 1911 Battle of Flowers Parade.

Born in San Antonio in 1889, Helena was the granddaughter of Carl Hilmar Guenther, builder the first flour mill in the city. She attended the German-English School and Miss Wasson’s School for Young Ladies. In 1909, she made her debut with her cousin Regina Augusta Beckmann at a party in the Guenther Home. Regina was the Princess of the Daffodils and Maid of Honor to her cousin the Queen in 1911; John O. Meusebach was Helena’s Prime Minister of the Realm, Robert Ayres and Franklin McIlhenny were pages to the Queen, and Atlee Ayres was court jester. In addition to being Queen in 1911, Helena was the Duchess of de Chataney in the Court of Roses (1910), Duchess of Sylvia in the Court of Lilies (1912), and Princess of the Lilies and Maid of Honor to the Queen in the Court of Spring (1913).

Helena Guenther, Queen of the Court of Carnival Flowers.

The Queen on her float in the 1911 parade.

Helena Guenther married Arthur Hughes Muir (1884-1955) in 1917; the couple had one surviving son. Known as a gardener and gourmet cook, Helena was an active member in a number of San Antonio organizations, including St. Mark’s Episcopal Church and the Alamo Heights-Terrell Hills Garden Club, Junior League, Military-Civilian Club, Symphony Society, and San Antonio Conservation Society. She died in San Antonio in 1977.

References and Further Reading

The five-volume History of the Order of the Alamo, available at the DRT Library, contains information about each court between 1909 and 1989, including photographs of each queen, princess, and duchess and descriptions of each coronation ceremony during that period.

For more information about how the history of the Battle of Flowers Parade is documented in archival collections at the DRT Library, see earlier entries about the event on the “Inside the Gates” blog.

For additional information about Helena Guenther and her family, see The Family of Carl Hilmar Guenther and Dorothea Pape Guenther (2001), available at the DRT Library.

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The Daughters of the Republic of Texas: 105 Years of Alamo Custodianship

Last week marked the 105th anniversary of the legislation that granted the Daughters of the Republic of Texas custodianship of the Alamo. The act, entitled “Providing for the Purchase, Care, and Preservation of the Alamo,” passed the Texas House of Representatives on January 23 and the state Senate on January 24th before being signed by Governor Lanham on January 26th, 1905.

Clara Driscoll, who, with Adina De Zavala, led the DRT's efforts to acquire the Alamo. (SC96.002)

The legislation appropriated $65,000 to Clara Driscoll, who had advanced that amount in personal funds to cover a DRT fund-raising shortfall and to purchase the Alamo convento (today the Long Barracks museum) in her own name. The act also placed title to the convento in the name of the State of Texas; turned custody of the property to the Daughters of the Republic of Texas; and transferred custody of the Alamo church, which the state had purchased in 1883, from the City of San Antonio to the DRT.

The legislation stated, in part:

Section 3: Upon the receipt of the title to said land [the convento], the Governor shall deliver the property thus acquired, together with the Alamo Church property already owned by the State, to the custody and care of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, to be maintained by them in good order and repair without charge to the State, as a sacred memorial to the heroes who immolated themselves upon that hallowed ground.

Several months after the Act was approved – on September 5, 1905 – Clara Driscoll transferred the title to the convento building to Texas; one month later, Governor Lanham conveyed it and the Alamo church to the DRT.

Alamo Plaza looking south, circa 1907. The Alamo church, on the east side of the plaza, is beyond the photograph on the left. It is obscured by the old mission convento, which merchants Charles Hugo and Gustav Schmeltzer purchased in 1880 and operated as a wholesale warehouse and grocery. (SC8317.4)

 

The 1905 legislation followed decades of efforts to preserve the Alamo and a five-year campaign on the part of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, led by Adina De Zavala and Clara Driscoll, to raise money for the preservation of the Alamo. Development of downtown San Antonio began in earnest following the Civil War. Photographs (like the one above) and maps (like this 1904 Sanborn map of Alamo Plaza, available as a PDF document) show the Alamo surrounded by commercial structures by the late 1800s and early 1900s. Additionally, the Alamo church was in deplorable condition following years of being repurposed, neglected, and damaged. San Antonians feared that the site would eventually be demolished altogether.

The Alamo church and the Hugo & Schmeltzer building (the old mission convento) in an undated photograph, circa 1877-1912. (SC95.044)

A photograph from the late 1800s showing a saloon immediately to the south of the Alamo church. (SC13523)

 

At the fourteenth annual meeting of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas – held in La Grange, Texas, in April 1905 – Second Vice-President Cornelia Branch Stone of Galveston described the Daughters’ efforts in the weeks prior to the passage of the “Alamo Purchase Bill.” Speaking on behalf of the absent Clara Driscoll, Stone reported that

the committee were [sic] well received by the Senate and House of Representatives, where they found many warm supporters of the measure. Miss Driscoll and Mrs. Stone addressed the Committee on State Affairs in both houses, and Miss De Zavala spoke to the House Committee on State Affairs, as the Alamo Purchase Bill has been referred to this committee. Every courtesy was shown by the two committees, and unanimous endorsement was given to the bill. The Senate was unanimous in support of the bill, and while there was some opposition in the House, the bill had so many strong supporters it was passed by a large majority. Those who most conspicuously advocated this measure were Speaker Seabury, Messrs. Kyle, Glen, Blount, Brelsford, Onion, Robertson, Hudspeth, Judge Terrell and others. [Sam Ealy Johnson, father of President Lyndon B. Johnson, was another supporter of the bill.] Mrs. Looscan and Miss De Zavala were present at the final passage of the bill. Mrs. Stone and Miss Driscoll, having been assured of its safety, left Austin after having spent a week there. The committee did good work, and were [sic] constantly advised by Judge Clarence Martin, whose wise counsel was of great value.

Adina De Zavala in 1924. (SC95.316det)

In another address to the Daughters assembled in LaGrange, Cornelia Branch Stone asserted that the legislation would “require renewed activity on our part to meet [the] demand” placed on them. This, indeed, has proven to be the case in the 105 years since the state granted custodianship of the Alamo to the Daughters of the Republic of Texas.

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For further reading, DRT Library:

The general collections of the DRT Library contain books, annual meeting proceedings, vertical files, photographs, and other materials that document the history of the DRT and its custodianship of the Alamo. Additionally, the library also has several archival collections of personal papers and scrapbooks by, to, and about women who held leadership positions in the organization. Additional information about these materials can be found by searching the library’s online catalog. A few resources that describe the context of the DRT’s early preservation efforts and custodianship are listed below.

Preservation Pioneers: The Daughters of the Republic of Texas compiled by Laura T. Beavers

90 Years of the Daughters: History of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas by the Daughters of the Republic of Texas

Saving San Antonio: The Precarious Preservation of a Heritage by Lewis F. Fisher

A Line in the Sand: The Alamo in Blood and Memory by Randy Roberts and James S. Olson

100 Years of Custodianship by Madge Thornall Roberts

“Alamo History Chronology,” a timeline compiled by the staff of the DRT Library

For further reading, other institutions:

Several other Texas repositories contain archival collections of personal papers by, to, and about early leaders of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas. Many of these collection, such as the Adina De Zavala papers at the University of Texas at Austin, can be found by searching Texas Archival Resources Online (TARO). Others, such as the Adele Briscoe Looscan papers at the Albert and Ethel Herzstein Library and the Adina De Zavala papers at the University of the Incarnate Word, can be found through Internet search engines.

Christmas in San Antonio

San Antonio is home to many Christmas traditions, some of which continue today and some of which are no longer practiced. The picture files at the DRT Library document some of ways in which San Antonians have enjoyed the holiday season.

The first photograph, taken in December 1922, shows a Christmas tree in Alamo Plaza. According to a November 25, 2006 article in the San Antonio Express-News, the tradition of a tree in front of the Alamo dates to 1914, “when the local Rotary Club put up an artificial tree for poor and homeless children and showered them with toys and sweets.” In fact, the sign to the left of the tree in the picture says “Rotary Christmas Tree…Dec. 22, 1922.” In later years, the city of San Antonio was responsible for the Alamo tree, and beginning in 1986 a live tree was sponsored each year by a grocery store.

Christmas tree in Alamo Plaza, December 1922. (SC5029.1)

In the below photograph, residents of Boysville enjoy a visit from Santa in 1952. The history of Boysville dates to 1943, when Reverend Don Holliman sought to help the orphaned, homeless, and abandoned boys he observed in Travis Park. As stated at Boysville’s website, “police picked these boys up from the park in an effort to provide some safety and shelter for them,” but “because they had no other place to take them the police took them to a detention center even though they had not committed a crime.” Known as “A Home with a Heart for Boys,” Boysville provided a safe and caring environment for boys, and today continues to provide boys and girls with food, shelter, clothing, medical care, community, and access to education.

Children at Boysville visiting with Santa, 1952. (SCElicson.08.005)

The final photograph shows Joske’s famous forty-foot fiberglass Santa being hoisted and positioned onto the roof of the department store in downtown San Antonio. Julius Joske, a German Jewish immigrant, opened his dry goods store near Main Plaza around 1867; after several relocations and name changes, Joske Brothers opened at the corner of East Commerce and Alamo Streets in 1887. This flagship store became known as “The Big Store.” In 1936, a joint venture between Joske’s and the city of San Antonio turned the store into the first fully air-conditioned store in Texas. By 1953, Joske’s boasted a slogan of “the biggest store in the biggest state” and its 551,000 square foot, five-story store was the largest department store west of the Mississippi River, a distinction it held until its closure in 1987.

Santa Claus on the roof of Joske's department store, downtown San Antonio, circa 1950-1970. (SCElicson.08.001)

Joske’s was known for its elaborate Christmas decorations, which included holiday window displays and the elaborate fourth-floor Fantasyland, where children saw a winter forest, a miniature town square, and Talking Bears while standing in line with their parents to see Santa. The outdoor Santa enjoyed a commanding view of downtown San Antonio from the 1950s to the 1970s; while he was brought out of retirement in 1994, in 1997 he was severely damaged in a windstorm and permanently removed from the building’s roof.

Merry Christmas!

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JFK at the Alamo

On this day 48 years ago, September 12, 1960, Democratic presidential nominee John F. Kennedy, his running mate Lyndon B. Johnson, and Senator Ralph Yarborough stopped at the Alamo during Kennedy’s campaign. Less than two months later he defeated Republican candidate Richard Nixon. Kennedy later visited San Antonio as president on November 21, 1963, the day before his assassination in Dallas. These photos are part of the library’s Octavia West collection.

John F. Kennedy signs the guest register in the Alamo. To the left is his sister Patricia Lawford and to the right the DRT hostess. (SC03.007)

From left, Senators Ralph Yarborough, John F. Kennedy, and Lyndon Johnson in the Shrine. (SC03.008)

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