The Alamo’s fascinating past is revealed through the author’s personal experiences as a participant in five of the 15 archaeological investigations that have occurred at or near the Alamo. These include the first investigation in 1966, in which the author participated as a high school student volunteer, and four others in 1979, 1988, 1989, and 1995. A self-guided walking tour with six stops around Alamo Plaza and the Alamo grounds is presented in Appendix 2. Brief narratives and historic photographs of excavations and findings are included for each stop. The main text contains detailed information about the stops and about several additional investigations.
Among the many interesting finds described are the human skull found in the North Courtyard in 1979, remnants of two military fortifications built along the South Wall in the fall of 1835 by the Mexican Army under the command of Santa Anna’s brother-in-law, General Martín Perfecto de Cós, that were unearthed in Alamo Plaza in 1988 and 1989, and two rare 1818 Garza coins that were found on the west side of the plaza in 1979. The author presents a strong case that the ashes and charred bones found under the street in front of the Alamo Shrine in 1995 may be some of the last remains of the Texian Alamo defenders’ bodies that were burned just after the Battle of the Alamo on March 6, 1836.
