My great, great grandfather, one John McGaffey, was one of the first white settlers in southeast Texas, in 1822, eventually co-founding the town of Sabine Pass. Two of my great grandfather's cousins died at the Alamo. The first time I saw the place was from the top floor suite in a hotel directly across from the complex. Then, and especially after touring the Alamo, I was struck (as most are) by the small scale of the place and in the absolute inadequacy of the outlying breastworks to offer any real resistance to a determined army.

Much of the current dispute over detail emanates from memoirs of General Martin Perfecto de Cos, which suggest that not all died in the Alamo, but were taken prisoner and executed afterward, by order of Santa Anna. Crockett was said to be among them. Texans are loath to part with legend, however much in dispute it may be. Suffice it to say that the Alamo became a metaphor for heroic defense by any group. Whether, as many now suggest, it was a waste of life has almost become a secondary consideration.