Where Texas First Declared

Here's a piece of history that Goliad rarely gets credit for. We all learn that Texas declared its independence in March of eighteen thirty-six — but months before that, right here at Presidio La Bahía, a group of Texians got there first. In December of eighteen thirty-five, ninety-odd men gathered in this fort and signed what's called the Goliad Declaration of Independence — one of the very first formal calls for a free Texas, complete with its own flag: a bloody arm gripping a sword. It was ahead of its time, and the larger revolution hadn't quite caught up to it yet.

So this fort wasn't just a place where the revolution ended in tragedy — it was one of the places where the very idea of an independent Texas was first shouted out loud. Hold that in mind as we go: the same walls saw both the birth of the dream and its most terrible price.