1. Who was Annie L. Taylor and why is she buried in front of the chapel? Annie Taylor was a Mexican girl who was married to a Will Taylor. She had become sick and was at the home of her parents near La Bahia when she died of tuberculosis. Her grave is only one of the many in the courtyard in front of the chapel. Some of the graves can be determined by the small crosses that have been cut into the stone walls at the base of the church. These mark the heads of the graves. During the excavations of the presidio, there were at least 13 graves located. Click on the plan (Below right) to see the other graves. Annie's grave is number 9 on the plan. It is not unusual for people to be buried in and around a church. For example, there were over 900 recorded graves in front of the Alamo chapel in San Antonio, prior to the Texas Revolution. The grounds around the Presidio La Bahia Chapel is considered holy. Thus, allowing the dead to rest in peace in holy ground.

3. Presidio La Bahia is owned and operated by the The Catholic Diocese of Victoria. In 1844 Presidio La Bahia was given to the town of Goliad as part of a four league grant of land. The Catholic Church requested the return of the chapel, but the town refused. In 1853 the Catholic Church purchased the Chapel from the town of Goliad for the sum of $1000 which was a lot of money at the time. The chapel has been used as a place of worship from that day until today, but the fort was in ruins until restored during the 1960's by Kathryn Stoner O'Connor. Presidio La Bahia is self-supporting. There are no tax dollars spent at Presidio La Bahia. Our total means of support are admission fees, donations and profits from items for sale.

4. The able bodied men were marched out of the fort in three different groups in three different directions and told three different stories about where they were going. When they were about three quarters of a mile from the fort, they were ordered to kneel and were shot. The wounded were killed inside the fort. See below map for approximate locations of the massacre.

5. Colonel Fannin was the last to die. He was taken to the court yard in front of the chapel (near the present day water gate, along the north wall), blindfolded, and seated in a chair because of his leg wound. He made three requests: send his personal possessions to his family, shoot him in the heart and not his face, and give him a Christian burial. He was shot in the face, the soldiers took his personal possessions, and his body was burned along with many of the others.