"REMEMBER GOLIAD!" "Remember the Alamo!" Those shouts were heard as the Texan troops attacked Santa Anna's army at the battle of San Jacinto. Have you remembered Goliad lately?

If you value the preservation of our Texas history and want to see more people educated about Presidio La Bahia's place in our history, we need your help.

Presidio La Bahia, a colonial Spanish fort that was established in 1721 and relocated to Goliad in 1749, stands as it did in 1836, due to the generosity of Kathryn Stoner O'Connor, who restored the fort during the 1960's.

The first offensive action against a Mexican military installation in the Texas Revolution took place here on October 9, 1835. The first Texas declaration of independence from Mexico was signed in the chapel onDecember 29, 1835; and the darkest day in Texas history took place here on Palm Sunday, March 27, 1836, when Colonel Fannin and 341 of his men were executed on orders from Santa Anna.

Each year attendance grows. Currently over 33,000 people visit Presidio La Bahia, with over 7,000 of them being students. Each group who visits Presidio La Bahia, including the school groups, is given a twenty-minute lecture about the history of the fort in the 223 year old Our Lady of Loreto Chapel.

We continue to need your help. Our total means of support is admission fees, donations, and profits from the items that we sell. None of your tax dollars are spent at Presidio La Bahia. Each year, a group of Texas history guardians, known as "Friends Of The Fort", make tax-deductible contributions to Presidio La Bahia. Those donations are used to underwrite the cost of the living history programs that are offered throughout the year and to purchase items of need.

Past contributions to Friends of the Fort helped make possible funding for the award winning video PRESIDIO LA BAHIA AND ITS PLACE IN THE HISTORY OF TEXAS. The video was first place winner in the Sons of the Republic of Texas 34th annual Presidio La Bahia awards competition -- the only video to ever win the award, and a gold citation winner -- the highest award given in the Texas Association of Museums Mitchell A. Wilder competition.

Our major living history program is the Goliad Massacre-Fort Defiance Living History Program. Typically, over 4,500 people attend this event.

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We need your renewal, or new memebership in "Friends of the Fort". Our party will accommodate a limited number of people, therefore only Supporting, Caballero, and Empressario members who join before March 15, will be invited to "Libations" - Goliad - prior to early admission to the Candlelight tour during our March Living History Program.
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