Famous Alamo Defender’s Granddaughter Fights George P. Bush Plan To ‘Relocate’ Memorial
John Griffing
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AUSTIN, TEXAS — Liz Case Pickens, the great granddaughter of Col. William Barrett Travis, recently scolded lawmakers and Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush’s plan to “relocate” the iconic 60-foot Alamo Cenotaph memorial, warning that any such”relocation” will destroy the monument.
Pickens and many other Texans took to the podium at Tuesday’s hearing held to consider delaying George P. Bush’s plan to dismantle and move the Alamo monument.
Emboldened by her family lineage, Ms. Pickens drew her own “line in the sand” to defend the Alamo yet again, but this time to defend her ancestor’s “gravemarker,” as she refers to the Cenotaph.
Ms. Pickens’ great grandfather Col. Travis, who famously drew his “line in the sand” on that fateful third day at the Alamo, asked for only those to remain who would fight to the death. Not a single denizen of the Alamo was a coward that day, if history’s legendary brew is accurate.
Citing detailed, scientific engineering studies that all conclude the monument shouldn’t be moved, Pickens cautions that Bush really wants to destroy and store the monument.
“The cenotaph sits on sacred ground. It is in the geographic center of the footprint of the Alamo — it’s also the gravemarker for our defenders who we cherish as Texans. I wouldn’t be standing here today if I were just a Texan,” she stated. “But I happen to be a descendant of Col. William Barrett Travis,” she continued. “If somebody was coming to move, desecrate or destroy the gravemarker of one of your … grandparents, you would not be happy … .”
“In 2000, an engineering study was done, and they did a 27-page study of the Cenotaph, which you can find at SanAntonio.gov — which Coppini [the artist who designed the monument] said should never be moved — that this great marker will be damaged, if not destroyed,” Pickens stated.
The saber-rattling descendant of the saber-wielding Travis of 1836 Alamo fame, is leading the charge against Bush plans to “relocate” the Cenotaph, which has ground anchors that extend 20 feet into the Earth.
Here’s a speech she gave as part of the “Save the Cenotaph” rally in Feb. 2018:
Quite simply, Pickens believes (as do others who testified Tuesday) that such design and solid construction (weather-worn, or not) will respond about as well to being dug up as a corpse freshly buried.
“This is sacred ground. Our ancestor’s gravemarker needs to be left where it is,” Pickins said, closing her remarks to the Texas House Committee on Culture, Recreation and Tourism.
Big League Politics obtained the following video of the hours-long citizen testimony given overwhelmingly in favor of HB 1836, a bill that will effectively stymie Bush’s headlong rush to rip the monument from its current location.
WATCH:
https://youtu.be/oUtUobX9DXY
Read our original report here.
Land Commissioner George P. Bush signed an Alamo redesign plan that includes dismantling and relocating the Cenotaph, an 80-year-old, 60-foot memorial to the 189 (or more) men who gave their lives for Texas.
In February, 2019, Texas State Rep. Kyle Biedermann introduced HB 1836, a measure ostensibly for the “PRESERVATION, MAINTENANCE, AND RESTORATION OF ALAMO CENOTAPH.” The hearings were to review that proposal — not other historical preservation legislation.
The tall, marble monument salutes the fallen heroes of Alamo, e.g Col. William B. Travis, James “Jim” Bowie, and David “Davey” Crockett who died in 1836 at the old Spanish mission fighting Mexican dictator, Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna.
“Several potential locations were considered. The proposed location … will provide appropriate context and symbolism for the structure.”
San Antonio City Council wants to “honor” the men of the Alamo by moving their tombstone to the place where Santa Anna burned their carcasses following his disreputable and savage order of “Deguello” (take no prisoners, kill everyone, women, children, etc.).
Bush assures the people of Texas, “the Cenotaph will always stand,” while signing a plan to relocate it.
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