TO SAN ANTONIO. 41 
way of Santa Fé; and doubtless ere long all merchan- 
dise for the northern part of Mexico will pass this 
way. 
One of the principal objects of interest to the 
stranger in San Antonio is the Alamo, memorable for 
its brave defence by Travis, Crockett, Bowie, and 
others, who only gave up the contest with their lives. 
The building was originally a mission. It is now 
occupied as a storehouse by the United States Quarter- 
master’s Department, and retains but little of its former 
appearance. The principal doorway, ornamented in 
the Moorish style, remains tolerably perfect. 
We saw in the County Clerk’s office a large col- 
lection of old Spanish documents, which have been 
accumulating ever since the first settlement of the town. 
Doubtless their careful perusal by some persevering 
antiquary would develope many interesting facts con- . 
nected with the early history of the country. It is to 
be hoped, that measures will ere long be taken by the 
enterprising State to which they relate to rescue them 
from oblivion and decay, and cause them to be collated 
and given to the world. The Northern States have 
Spent immense sums in sending agents to England, 
France, and Holland, to procure similar papers from 
the State archives to illustrate their Colonial history. 
Texas possesses in her own record offices voluminous 
documents of equal value, in which the scholar and 
historian of every State feels an interest second only 
to that of her own people. ’ 7 : 
Near the town and upon the banks of the San An- 
tonio River are the remains of extensive mission esta- 
blishments. We found time to pay a short visit to 
