Finally, in San Antonio, my visit also coincided with the Fall of the Alamo
(March 6, 1836, actually but they celebrated it over the weekend I was
there). I have read a fair amount about that event and one thing every
author comments on is the sounds of Mexican trumpters, playing the Mexican
Army bugle call for "No Quarter" trying to discourage the defenders (for me,
being one of 182 guys looking out on a beseiging army of over 4,000 would be
enough - I wouldn't need any damn bugle calls to be discouraged). Anyway, I
was out for a walk Friday evening at dusk, walking behind the Alamo when I
heard the distant call of a bugle playing that exact call. It was eeiry. I
walked around to the front and there were 3 Mexican buglers and a drummer,
dressed in Mexican Army period uniforms, playing their challenge to the
Alamo's defenders, now long dead. For someone like me, with an abiding
interest in American frontier history, it just doesn't get any better than
that!