Excavations at the Alamo Shrine [page 18]

Continued excavations in the southeast corner of the Well Court near the church uncovered other features of interest. A cement-covered pipe, possibly a sewer facility for the Hugo and Smeltzer store (1886), was uncovered. Beside the pipe, in deposits cut by the pipe trench, was a thin zone of artifacts, including sherds of white-paste earthenware, musket balls, and cannon ball fragments. This material might date to the partial destruction of the mission buildings by the Mexican Army in 1836, following the battle.

Also uncovered in the same area were the remains of a brick-paved surface. The handmade bricks are adobe-like in construction, laid in a coarse sandy mortar with light pink mortar between the bricks. After they had been laid, the bricks were coated with a thick, dark red slip. Probably this surface was a patio or walkway built during the Spanish period.

In 1970, excavations were carried out north of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas (DRT) Library building by the Texas Archeological Survey under the direction of William M. Sorrow (1972). Uncovered were 19th century structural footings and part of the old mission period acequia, called the Alamo ditch, which ran on the east side of the church (Fig. 7,b).

Mardith Schuetz (1973), then with the Witte Museum, did some extensive excavations in the North Court (second patio) in 1973, providing additional structural information for that area. She uncovered what were believed to be the remains of the original walls on the north and east sides of the convento patio, and also structural remains of what appears to have been the wall footing of four rooms on the eastern side of the patio (Fig. 7,c). She has suggested that these were the rooms for weaving and fabric storage mentioned by Fray Mariano Francisco de los Dolores during his inspection of the mission in 1762.

In 1973, Thomas R. Hester, of The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), carried out excavations east of the museum and souvenir building, testing on each side of the ditch which approximately follows the old mission period acequia (Adams and Hester 1973). These tests not only verified the location of the old ditch, but also uncovered considerable debris from several late 19th and early 20th century commercial structures which once stood on that part of the Alamo grounds (Fig. 7,d).

In summer 1975, Anne A. Fox and Feris A. Bass, Jr., with CAR-UTSA, directed excavations in Alamo Plaza, within the small park in front of the Alamo Shrine (Fig. 7,e), in an effort to locate the mission quadrangle south wall (Fox, Bass, and Hester 1976). Although all of the south wall of the original compound had been destroyed, the excavations revealed the damaged remains of the wall footings and other structural remnants.

During the early mission period at San Antonio de Valero (between 1724, when the mission was relocated to its present location, and for sometime after the 1756 inspection by Fray Ortiz), there does not appear to have been a wall around the mission. However, in the 1762 report by Fray Dolores (Schuetz 1966), he describes a wall (including a gate with a tower) which was built around the plaza. This was added to provide better protection from Indian raids, which were becoming more frequent. The area outside of this wall, particularly around the gate, appears to have been a trash dumping area.