Some other interesting stuff has come to light (according to historians). The "line in the sand" was apparently apocryphal. It makes a good story, but it very likely didn't happen. What did happen was that Travis made a stirring speech to the men at the eleventh hour, letting them know that no help was coming. It was probably a good speech, all right, but he didn't draw a line in the sand, and no one crossed such a line.

This is not in any way to detract from the heroism shown by the men who fought and died there. (both Texans and Mexicans) The Texans put up a very brave fight. The Mexicans took very heavy losses in order to take the walls.

There is some indication that a few Texans were captured alive at the battle's end, and executed, and that Crockett may have been among those.

Also, the old story was that Jim Bowie fell off the wall and injured his back. The new story is that he probably never fell off the wall, but collapsed due to illness. He was bedridden when the final assault came. It is assumed that he fought bravely from his sickbed, but no one knows for sure.

The most accurate movie about it so far was the one done a few years back. There was no "line in the sand" scene in that movie, but there was a speech that Travis gave. In the movie Crockett was captured at the battle's end (after putting up a very good fight) and executed shortly afterward. The movie was excellent, because it humanized both the Texans and the Mexicans, and showed some of the moral complexities of the period. Slavery, for instance, was illegal in Mexico, but legal in the USA. Jim Bowie was a slave owner, and had been for a long time. Bowie was also a heavy drinker and a hellraiser and a man who engaged in land fraud and chicanery, although he seems to have had a number of good points, being also a man of great courage and a natural leader. He was quite popular among the Texans. He got along very badly with Travis, and Crockett (another natural leader) attempted to mediate between them, albeit not with much success. There were quite a few Mexicans who fought on the side of the Texan-Americans, and the movie shows that as well. I appreciated the effort the filmakers went to to present a historically accurate film.