Phil Collins Brings Alamo Artifact Collection Back to Texas

[Mr.Jerry]

From Reuters- The singer has remembered the Alamo since he was a child

Phil Collins recently brought his Alamo artifact collection back to its original San Antonio home, a site the 63-year-old has been fascinated by since he was young.

The In the Air Tonight singer said he became fascinated by the U.S. historical site ever since he saw the 1955 film Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier as a child in London, according to Reuters. The British rocker has since amassed a large collection of artifacts from the 1836 Battle of the Alamo, when Mexican troops attacked the Alamo Mission, a chapel built to spread Christianity to those living in the region. The Alamo’s defenders sought revenge, and later defeated the Mexican Army to establish the Republic of Texas, which would be later become a U.S. state.

Collins’ collection will be housed temporarily at a building near the Alamo before they are moved into a $100 million museum called the Phil Alamo Collins Collection.

“This completes the journey for me,” Collins told Reuters. “These artifacts are coming home.”

The artifacts include a leather pouch that Davy Crockett, who died at the Battle of the Alamo, brought from his home state of Tennessee to Texas during the Texas Revolution. Collins also owned one of only four remaining rifles that were owned by Crockett, and an original Bowie knife owned by Jim Bowie during the Battle of the Alamo, where he also died.

 

[1canpara]

That's very cool, who would've thought that an English rock star would play a major role in preserving artifacts from one of the most famous and historic battles in American history!

 

Thanks for posting this Jerry!

 

Rick

[Der Finn]

Thank you, Mr. Phil Collins! What a magnificent gesture!

[Mitch]

Thanks Jerry for a reminder. Phil also wrote a book highlighting his treasures. I think there a few threads here discussing the book and later his donations to the museum. I think there was a video somewhere here too. Maybe a few links would bring it all together here.

Regards, Mitch

[Garandomatic]

Personal effects of this magnitude are absolutely mind-numbing!

[Bob Hudson]

That's very cool, who would've thought that an English rock star would play a major role in preserving artifacts from one of the most famous and historic battles in American history!

 

 

 

Since it was a revolt by residents of Mexico, including Mexican citizen Jim Bowie , that probably should be "one of the most famous and historic battles in Mexican history," although we could also call it "North American history" too. The Republic of Texas that emerged from that Mexican revolution did not become part of the United States of America until about 10 years after the battle.

[bobgee]

Mr. Collins is a class act! Bobgee

[tarbridge]

A nice thing for him to do and we appreciate and respect him for this gesture. ..now if he would only tell us what "Sussudio" means...

[swmdo]

What a nice thing to do. He should be made a Texan.

[Terry K.]

I read about this. WOW! He should be made an honorary citizen of Texas.

[MAW]

The Daily Mail had a nice write-up about this.

 

Very generous of him to do this project....and I would love to see what they have.

 

I do wonder about the provenance of all of this stuff. How do you prove that something was there or belonged to a particular person, when much of it is not military issue and dates to the early 19th Century?

 

I'm curious to see more of it.

 

I always liked his music, growing up in the 80's....and it's cool that he devoted the effort to collect these items from American history.