Where Texas became Texas

Near the banks of the Brazos River sits Independence Hall, where Texas rebels drafted and signed their Declaration of Independence from Mexico.  (Jay Jones / Handout)

The 570-foot tall San Jacinto Monument is topped by a 220-ton star.  (San Jacinto Museum of History / Handout)

The 570-foot tall San Jacinto Monument marks the spot of the decisive battle that won Texas its freedom from Mexico.  (Jay Jones / Handout)

Texas rebels working on the drafting of their Declaration of Independence in a mural at the Star of the Republic Museum.  (Jay Jones / Handout)

Bruce Wardlow of the Barrington Living History Farm guides oxen Slim (left) and Shorty through a field outside the home of Anson Jones, the fourth president of the Republic of Texas.  (Jay Jones / Handout)

A large mural depicting the Battle of San Jacinto is seen at a tank farm along Independence Parkway, not far from where the historic battle took place 180 years ago.  (Jay Jones / Handout)

Ragtag Texas troops charge Mexican soldiers in a re-enactment of the historic Battle of San Jacinto on the land where the 1836 battle to secure Texas’s independence was fought.  (San Jacinto Museum of History / Handout)

The land (foreground) on which the decisive Battle of San Jacinto was fought is seen from the observation deck of the monument from a window looking east toward the Gulf of Mexico.  (Jay Jones / Handout)