San Antonio

San Antonio, capital of Bexar county, Texas, and after Dallas the largest city in the state, is on the San Antonio River, 210 miles by rail W. of Houston. It carries on a large trade in the produce of the fertile country around, and has flour-mills, breweries, tanneries, &c. It contains a Roman Catholic cathedral and seminary, an arsenal and a United States government building, court-house, and large park, and still retains some picturesque traces of its Spanish origin. Fort Alamo, just across the river, was the scene of a ruthless slaughter, by Santa Anna, of the American garrison of 188 men, including Crockett and Bowie, in 1836. Pop. (1880) 20,550; (1890) 37,673.