We heard that the water in Galveston Bay was clear, a rare occurrence. Long ago when the grandkids were little they freaked us out by diving underwater and being out of sight in the muddy water. So we went to see for ourselves. and paid a visit to The Bryan Museum.
The Pleasure Pier was closed so we went to Murdoch’s gift shop which extends out over the water (kind of).
The Bryan Museum promised some Texas history. Although we’ve been visiting Texas for decades, we’re relatively new residents. So we got some history lessons.
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- Blue water with the Pleasure Pier in the background and Murdoch’s closer.
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- Some of the 25 ships lined up waiting to get to the port.
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- The war for Texas independence from Mexico had more battles than just the Alamo.
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- The Battle of San Jacinto was the final battle of the Texas Revolution.
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- Led by General Samuel Houston, the Texan Army defeated the Mexican army in a fight that lasted just 18 minutes.
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- General Santa Anna escaped but was captured shortly after. He was forced to sign a treaty after three weeks as a POW.
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- The Alamo. Painted in 1884 by Texas artist S. Seymour Thomas.
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- The art display included Texas’ famous Bluebonnets. Julian Onderdonk, 1919.
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- A reminder that Texas was a Confederate state in the Civil War. This is President Jefferson Davis’ pistol.
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- Confederate Violin Shotgun. Contains a sawed-off, double-barreled 12-gauge Powell shotgun with a violin handle. And a violin-shaped can of powder and caps. There is a music box that plays “Dixie.”
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- Originally a percussion carbine, this Sharps was converted to shoot U.S. Government 50-70 ca. cartridges (mostly for buffalo hunters). This rifle was stamped by the Texas Ranger Armory with the T-Star-S imprint.
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- You can’t talk about Galveston without citing the 1900 hurricane. The Bryan is housed in the former orphanage which took damage from the storm.
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- Crucifix bestowed by Pope Pius IX upon Austrian Prince Ferdinand Maximilian as he became Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico in 1864. Carved ivory crucifix mounted on an ebony cross bearing Maximilian’s crest in gold. The crucifix is exhibited in its original box.
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- Bust of Charles M. Russell by Charles Clarence Cristadoro. Bronze 1931. I stopped to look at this because we have been to the C. M. Russell Museum in Great Falls, Montana.
For more on C. M. Russell, see my past blog post.
Also, Galveston, Oh Galveston and Bishop’s Palace