Bill Text: TX HCR62 | 2013-2014 | 83rd Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Designating October 2 as "Come and Take It" Day for a 10-year period beginning in 2013.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-05-06 - Referred to Administration [HCR62 Detail]
Download: Texas-2013-HCR62-Introduced.html
| 83R5798 JGH-D | ||
| By: Kleinschmidt | H.C.R. No. 62 | |
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| WHEREAS, In the autumn of 1835, the citizens of Gonzales | ||
| bravely defied the authority of the Mexican government and, by | ||
| their action, set Texas on an irrevocable course toward | ||
| independence; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Established in 1825 near the confluence of the San | ||
| Marcos and Guadalupe Rivers, Gonzales was the westernmost Anglo | ||
| settlement in Texas at the time; in 1831, the Mexican government | ||
| loaned the town a six-pounder cannon for protection against | ||
| Indians, but four years later, as tensions grew between Texans and | ||
| the Mexican government, the military commander at San Antonio de | ||
| Bexar, Colonel Domingo de Ugartechea, sent a corporal and five | ||
| soldiers to retrieve the cannon; the residents of Gonzales refused | ||
| to return it and took the soldiers prisoner; and | ||
| WHEREAS, On September 27, 1835, Colonel Ugartechea sent | ||
| Lieutenant Francisco de Castaneda and 100 dragoons to take back the | ||
| cannon; when Lieutenant Castaneda arrived on the west bank of the | ||
| Guadalupe, his forces were denied passage across the river by 18 | ||
| Texan militiamen; more Texans arrived over the next several days, | ||
| and at sundown on October 1, Lieutenant Castaneda moved his men to | ||
| another camp upriver; that same night, the Texans crossed to the | ||
| west side of the river with their cannon and followed him; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Early on the morning of October 2, the Texans | ||
| launched a surprise attack on the Mexican forces; during a lull in | ||
| the fighting, Lieutenant Castaneda and a party of Texans led by John | ||
| Henry Moore met for a parley in the middle of the battlefield; when | ||
| Lieutenant Castaneda asked for the return of the cannon, the Texans | ||
| gestured to the weapon 200 yards behind them and said, "There it is, | ||
| come and take it"; when fighting resumed, the cannon was fired, | ||
| killing one of Lieutenant Castaneda's men, and the Mexicans | ||
| withdrew; and | ||
| WHEREAS, With this fateful encounter, the Texas Revolution | ||
| began; Gonzales became known as the "Lexington of Texas," and a | ||
| banner fashioned from a silk wedding dress by the women of the town, | ||
| which featured the defiant slogan "Come and Take It!" and an image | ||
| of the cannon, became the first Texas battle flag used in the | ||
| conflict; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Today, the citizens of Gonzales continue to honor | ||
| their community's important role in the struggle for independence | ||
| with their three-day "Come and Take It" festival every October, and | ||
| this important date in the history of the Lone Star State is truly | ||
| deserving of special recognition; now, therefore, be it | ||
| RESOLVED, That the 83rd Legislature of the State of Texas | ||
| hereby designate October 2 as "Come and Take It" Day; and, be it | ||
| further | ||
| RESOLVED, That in accordance with the provisions of Section | ||
| 391.004(d), Government Code, this designation remains in effect | ||
| until the 10th anniversary of the date this resolution is passed. | ||
