When I was very young, my father was called to active duty (he was in the Medical Corps, Reserve) at Fort Sam Houston. He was gone for about 6 months, and every week or so, he would send us postcards , usually with pictures of The Alamo. I did some research on the story, and when he finally came home I asked him how if every one of the Texans fighting the Mexican Army were wiped out, how did we know the story about Travis drawing a line in the sand and calling for all those who would stay to save Texas crossed the line, including Bowie, who had to be carried over on a cot. My Dad told me that there was one man, a French trader by the name of George Rose, who respectfully declined the honor of dying for Texas and made his escape over the wall the night before the final battle. He went on to explain that this was the origin of the song THE YELLOW ROSE OF TEXAS.


Mark Ross