“It’s amazing the changes that are happening in this state. When I started I practically had to beg to get someone to allow me to tell the story of the Battle of Medina. Now I get paid to come and speak about it.”
Austin historian Dan Arellano, who appears in this month’s Texas Monthly magazine, wants to get the Battle of Medina included in textbooks. He also wants April 6, 1813, recognized similarly to Texas Independence Day March 2. That day in April in 1813 was when the first Texas republic was established.
“The history books are forgetting to tell us that Texas history does not begin with the arrival of Stephen F. Austin and the struggle for freedom did not begin with Davy Crockett and the Alamo. The struggle began way before they got here,” Arellano tells the Rio Grande Guardian.
The Battle of Medina, fought not too far from here, was the bloodiest battle for Texas independence from Mexico. Arellano calls it “the mother of all wars” in Texas. “About 1,000 Tejanos fought against the Mexican Army in the battle, along with 300 Anglos and 200 Indians,” he told the paper. “Yet the battle has been largely swept under the proverbial rug of history.”
Arellano is among a growing cadre of Tejano historians working to amplify and correct the Texas story, long told from an Anglo perspective, to include the contributions of Tejanos.
In San Antonio, Rudi Rodriguez of TexasTejano.com is part of this movement. He’s also the man behind the effort to establish the Hispanic Heritage Center of Texas on the grounds of HemisFair Park.