San Antonio Cheap Hotels
Many tourists want to visit the city of San Antonio to see the culture, the entertainment, the historic sites (such as the Alamo). Many tourists may want a cheap hotel so they can save on cash. They may want discount deals or special deals from the hotels. So they may search for hotels offering good cheap deals. Some may want to see the entertainment venues or the sports sides. Some may want to go to the city to partake in entertainment, sports, culture or work or study. Some may require short term accommodation. Some may want a hotel that has good scenic views of the city and of the landscape around the city. Some visitors may want a hotel that has good prices or are exclusive or high quality.
San Antonio was named for the Portuguese St. Anthony, whose feast day is on June 13, when a Spanish expedition stopped in the area in 1691.
Native Americans originally lived in the San Antonio River Valley in the San Pedro Springs area, calling the vicinity Yanaguana, meaning refreshing waters.
In 1536, Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, a shipwrecked captive of Native Americans, visited the interior of what would later be called Texas. He saw and described the river later to be named the San Antonio.
In 1691, a group of Spanish explorers and missionaries came upon the river and Native American settlement (located in the area of present-day La Villita) on June 13, the feast day of Saint Anthony of Padova, Italy and named the place and river "San Antonio" in his honor.
In 1716, The Spanish Council of War approved a site on the San Antonio River for construction of a fortified presidio (fort). The Domingo Ramón expedition, accompanied by the trader St. Denis from Louisiana (who had come to the site two years previous) established a presidio on the river. That council also approved a request by Father Olivares to establish a Catholic Mission at the site.
In 1718, Martin de Alarcón, then Governor of Texas, reinforced the presidio and the ten soldiers and their families were recognized officially as the beginning of the villa. Alarcón named the presidio San Antonio de Béjar in honor of the Duke of Béjar, in Spain, the viceroy's brother, who died what was considered a hero's death defending Budapest from the Ottoman Empire in 1686 (This is in dispute because there is no such saint).
That same year, the Mission of San Francisco de Solano was moved from the Rio Grande to merge with Mission San Antonio de Padua. Father Olivares renamed his merged mission Mission San Antonio de Valero. The presidio, the villa and the mission comprised the municipality named San Antonio de los Llanos (of the Plains) by Governor Alarcón. One year later, in 1719, Mission San Antonio moved to its second site on the east bank near the present day St. Joseph's Church on Commerce. (The names are in dispute because there are no such saints and only a Pope can name saints.)
In 1721, The Marquis de Aguayo moved the presidio San Antonio de Béjar to its present site on the Plaza de Armas, where permanent quarters were constructed for the soldiers. In 1726 the official settlement population was 200.
The Mission San Antonio was moved to its third and final site on Alamo Plaza in 1724 because of hurricane flooding at the previous location.
The Battle of the Alamo took place in 1836, and eventually the town would grow to encompass the mission where the battle took place, a mile to the east. This was where 189 defenders, both Mexicans and settlers, were besieged in the old mission against 4,000 Mexican troops led by Antonio López de Santa Anna for 13 days. The defenders were all killed in the final assault on the garrison. Some recent evidence suggests there might have been a few prisoners, Colonel Davy Crockett perhaps among them, that were executed after the battle had ended. The cry "Remember the Alamo" became the rallying point of the Texas Revolution. Texas independence was finally attained at the subsequent Battle of San Jacinto the following April.
The Battle of the Alamo was fought in February and March 1836 in San Antonio, Texas. Part of the Texas Revolution, the conflict was the first step in Mexican President Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna's attempt to retake the province of Texas after an insurgent army of Texian settlers and adventurers from the United States had driven out all Mexican troops the previous year. Mexican forces began a siege of the Texian forces garrisoned at the Alamo Mission on Tuesday, February 23. For the next twelve days, Mexican cannons advanced slowly to positions nearer the Alamo walls, while Texian soldiers worked to improve their defenses. Alamo co-commander William Travis sent numerous letters to the acting Texas government, the remaining Texas army under James Fannin, and various Texas communities, asking for reinforcements, provisions, and ammunition. Several times small groups of Texians ventured outside the Alamo walls, occasionally skirmishing with Mexican soldiers. Mexican forces received reinforcements on March 3. The Texians were reinforced at least once, when 32 men from Gonzales entered the fort, and may have received additional reinforcements. Additional Texas settlers and American adventurers gathered at Gonzales to prepare for the march to San Antonio.
As the Mexican army retreated from Texas following the Battle of San Jacinto, they tore down many of the walls and burned the palisade which Crockett had defended. Within the next several decades, various buildings in the complex were torn down, and in 1849 a gable was added to the top of the chapel. Today, the remnants of the Alamo are near the San Antonio town center. The church building remains standing and serves as an official state shrine to the Texian defenders.
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antonio cheap hotels
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