INTRODUCTION
In the world today historical heritage is an essential part of any nation's culture. No one would dare argue against its importance or the obligation to preserve it. This activity, historic preservation, is a very recent phenomenon in the United States, however. In Europe the first state institutions devoted to such a goal were created during the 1830s and 1840s, as a consequence of the damages to historic buildings and the destruction of books and works of art during the Napoleonic Wars and the bourgeois revolutions.(1) The appearance of those institutions did not happen by chance; the nineteenth century was an age of nationalism and, for the first time, the past was considered the very essence of a nation, actual proof of its greatness and achievements. Hence, each country needed a national history to justify its existence, know its past, and proudly show it to the world, especially in a time when the remains of the past seemed more threatened than ever by destruction from war and economic progress. It is not in vain that the nineteenth century is known in Europe as "The Century of History."
For obvious reasons, the United States began to be concerned about its historical heritage much later than European nations. During the first half of the nineteenth century the United States was primarily devoted to its territorial expansion and economic growth. Only the present and future mattered; the past was irrelevant for the triumphant white, Anglo Saxon Americans, proud of the progress of their nation. Since other North American cultures (American Indians and Hispanics, for instance) were an obstacle to their development, their past was not only irrelevant, but it had to be trivialized to open the way for the new America. It was not until progress threatened the beloved physical remains of the white Anglo Saxon past that the necessity for the preservation of the historic heritage arose.
In the case of Texas, the beginnings of a preservation consciousness can be dated to 1883. During that year a San Antonio organization of patriotic citizens called "The Alamo Monumental Society" succeeded in convincing the city government to buy the Alamo chapel, to care for the building, and to repair it. An important change of mind had just taken place. For the people of Texas the Alamo was more than a building, it was the "cradle" of their liberty from Mexico, and they considered it a public disgrace that the scene of the most heroic episode in their war for independence belonged to a private owner who could destroy it. Some physical remains of the past now had to be preserved because of their significance to the community and to its future.
The Alamo was enthusiastically defended because of its nationalistic significance to the people of Texas. Thus, it is not surprising that during the nineteenth century Texans did not attempt to preserve a single Indian campsite. Such sites not only lacked any national significance for the white inhabitants of Texas, but they represented the presence of an enemy opposed to their progress.
Historical heritage is seen differently today. The people of Texas appreciate and recognize the historic heritage of Indian peoples as an essential part of their culture and now demand its preservation. In the same way, we the Alamo is seen differently today. Aside from its patriotic importance, the Alamo is also known as an arsenal of the U.S. Army and as a landmark of the Hispanic heritage of Texas. Any aspect of this record justifies the preservation of a site whose historical significance has transcended the events of 1836 to include a span of more than two centuries extending from its colonial origins to its touristic present. As we can deduce from this example, the concept of what is considered historical heritage has broadened considerably from a century ago. What follows is an effort to explain why and how such an evolution took place.
There are two main reasons to justify the study the development of the concept and practice of historic preservation in Texas. First, historical research usually ignores the circumstances that allow some historical sources to survive and some not. It is true that most of the sources of history survive by chance, but since historic preservation is enforced, objective criteria are employed to consider those things worthy of being conserved. Researchers in Texas history need to be aware that the sources, remains, and monuments of the past that we enjoy and use today, from a Spanish mission to a single written document, are the product of conscious decisions, and that those decisions have affected dramatically the way we see and understand the state's past. The second reason is that, even though there are some partial investigations on limited periods of time or on particular agencies, no single work in Texas historical literature provides a comprehensive examination on the history of the preservation of the state's historic heritage. It is necessary, therefore, to fill such a void.(2)
To provide this general survey, a chronological framework will be employed in chapters one through seven. The intent is to examine as a whole the essential Texas historic preservation laws and organizations, as well as the historic items saved. Chapter one focuses on the three most important private pioneer preservation groups of Texas, while chapters two through seven deal with the state's preservation efforts. These seven chapters supply the basic facts in the histories of these organizations, as well as their overall preservation contributions. Then, to select an individual "tree" from the "forest" of Texas historic sites, chapter eight analyzes the history of Washington-on-the-Brazos State Historical Park as a specific preservation example in the state. Finally, the conclusion summarizes and evaluates the long-term ideas, attitudes, and results that have defined one century of historic preservation in Texas.
FOOTNOTES
1. For instance, France created the Commission des monuments historiques, in 1837, and Spain the Comisiones de monumentos históricos y artísticos in 1844.
2. See for instance Jeffrey M. Hancock, "Preservation of Texas Heritage in the 1936 Texas Centennial" (Master's thesis, University of Texas at Austin, 1962) and Will E. Wilson and Deolece Parmelee, The First Quarter Century (Austin: Texas Historical Commission and Texas Historical Foundation, 1979).