The Other Side Of The Alamo

This is section 37) in the compound posting "Investigations", December 2018.

The Alamo, in San Antonio, has a special place in American history. Even though the siege there was when Texas was in the process of declaring independence from Mexico as a republic, and would not join the United States for ten years after the famous siege of the Alamo.

The defenders of the Alamo were ultimately overcome and killed by a much larger Mexican force. But their bravery, and refusal to surrender, inspired ultimate victory for Texas, revolving around the battle cry, "Remember the Alamo".

But there is another side to this story that should get more attention. The reason that it doesn't get the attention it deserves is that it involves the villain of the Alamo.

Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna was actually the president of Mexico. But his decision to centralize power led several regions of Mexico to attempt to break away, of which Texas was one. American settlers had been allowed into sparsely populated Mexican Texas, in an attempt to counterbalance hostile Indians.

Santa Anna himself led the force that overwhelmed and killed the defenders of the Alamo. Although he was later defeated and captured by the Texans, who were so inspired by the Alamo, at the Battle of San Jacinto.

The power dynamics in Mexico later changed and Santa Anna went into exile. He spent some of his later years in exile in New York City, before ultimately returning to Mexico.

Santa Anna used to chew a natural gum called chicle. He brought a large shipment of it to New York, thinking that he could make money by starting an enterprise making buggy tires out of chicle.

The idea never got far, as vulcanized rubber proved to be superior. The great story is that this ended up launching the modern version of manufactured chewing gum.

But it was Santa Anna's American assistant, Thomas Adams, who got the credit for the idea of manufactured chewing gum, originally based on chicle. It was true that Santa Anna only intended to use chicle for tires, not for gum, but it never would have gotten started without Santa Anna's bringing in chicle.

It didn't help, of course, that Santa Anna was remembered for leading the force that ultimately overwhelmed, and killed, the defenders of the Alamo.

Whenever you chew gum, or are in a checkout aisle surrounded by gum, let's remember the Other Side Of The Alamo.

In fact, isn't it about time for a brand of chewing gum named for the Alamo?