T H E   A L A M O

San Antonio, Texas

Here's Convento Courtyard.

Nearby I notice, of all things, a Japanese Monument. This marker is rather fascinating. In 1914, a Japanese geography professor presented this monument to the Alamo. Impressed with how similar the Battle of the Alamo was to the Japanese Siege of Nagashino Castle in 1575, Shigetaka Shiga commissioned the creation of this monument which bears a poem he wrote that compares the events at the Alamo to the famous Japanese incident.

Within the Convento Courtyard I discover this huge oak tree and an adjacent water well. It looks like the well is a popular place to make one's wishes.

Apparently the oak tree didn't grow here from a sapling. Rather, in 1912 it was transplanted here. Estimated to be about 40-years-old when it was relocated, many people thought it was crazy to transplant such a mature tree because the odds of it surviving were slim. Well, looking at the tree now, I think all the naysayers were quite wrong.