"Site of the First Shot of the Texas Revolution" Monument - Gonzales, TX - Relief Art Sculptures on Waymarking.com

The monument, faced with Texas gray granite, measures 16' 2" in width, 13' 6" inches in height, and 3' 10.5" inches in extreme depth. The great bronze bas-relief plaque (and the decorative figures carved in granite) was designed by Waldine Amanda Tauch, and is listed in the Smithsonian Art Inventory Catalog. It depicts Texan soldiers in battle surrounding a cannon. One of the soldiers raises a sword over his head with his proper right hand; another carries a flag; another carries a rifle. One soldier kneels behind the cannon. The relief is inset into the front of a granite marker, with allegorical female goddess figures carved in relief niches flanking each side.

The monument marks the site where the Texans fired the first cannon shot against the Mexican army during the Texas Revolution of 1835-1836. The commission created by the Texas legislature in 1935 to oversee Texas' Centennial allocated $10,000 for this memorial. It was erected a year later, in 1936.

The wording below the bas-relief states:

"Near here on October 2, 1835 was fired the first shot of the Texas Revolution of 1835-36 -- the shot heard round the world. At Gonzales the Texans defied the Mexican government and refused their demand for the Gonzales cannon with the "come and take it" challenge until reinforcements arrived from other parts of DeWitt's Colony and from the colonies on the Colorado and Brazos. They then pursued the Mexicans from Gonzales to near this point and fired upon them with this cannon, driving them back to Bexar. This shot started the revolution and was directly responsible for adding more territory to the United States than was acquired by the freeing of the original thirteen colonies from England. (Erected by the State of Texas 1936)"

Your impression of the sculpture?: Date Sculpture was opened for vewing?: 01/01/1936 Website for sculpture?: [Web Link] Where is this sculpture?: On US 97 just 1/2 mile East of Cost, TX Gonzales, TX USA 78614 Sculptors Name: Waldine Amanda Tauch

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Date Logged Log User Rating   02/11/2019 WayBetterFinder visited it 10/02/2018 iconions visited it 08/12/2017 WalksfarTX visited it 02/16/2013 Raven visited it

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