Goliad State Park

                   GOLIAD STATE PARK IN TEXAS

We arrived at Goliad State Park on December 9th, 2009.  We choose to stay here because it was further south and were hoping for warmer weather. This park also had Full Hookups and allowed us to stay 3 weeks.  This way we didn't have to move during the holidays.

The Goliad area is rich is history. Spain first claimed this land in the late 1700's into the early 1800's. When the Spanish came into Texas they established Missions along the coast. However, the Karankawa Indians were not friendly. Therefore, the Spanish moved the missions inland.  Located in the state park is Mission Espiritu Santo. It was directly run by Franciscan missionaries who  ruled with a gentle hand. The friars vowed to protected the Indians and assisted the Spanish Crown.  It is at this mission that the friars provided the Aranama Indians a place to stay, food to eat and protection against unfriendly Indians. They required the Indians to go to school where they taught them the Spanish language and taught them different skills such as weaving, building,cattle branding and farming. (Goliad is where Texas cattle ranching was born.) Before the missions arrived the Indians were mostly hunters and gathers.  They ate what they killed and used the resources off the land for food and other things such as medicine and clothes.  The Indians taught the Spanish what they knew and for awhile this was a profitable arrangement.  One thing that the Native Americans didn't like was that they had  to work, eat, worship, and sleep by the sun. They were introduced to "time". There is a bell at the mission that they rang each day to let the Native Americans know when it was time for worship and other activities.  One of the main things that the Spanish wanted to do was "Christianize and civilize" the Indians and often the native people were unwilling.

This mission closed in 1830 due to declining Indian population, lack of money, and political turmoil in Mexico. (It was around this time that Mexico was trying to separate from Spain.)

A few miles down the road from the State Park is Zaragoza Birthplace State Historic Site which has an reconstructed birthplace and statue. It was Zaragoza that led a Mexican volunteer militia against French army. He was victorious at the Battle of Puebla outside the Mexican city of Puebla. This victory is still celebrated in Mexico and the American Southwest as Cinco de Mayo. In the same area is Presidio La Bahia. This is a fort that was designed to protect the mission and guard against French encroachment on the land held by the Spanish. Gen. Fannin occupied the fort in the 1830's until he heard that the Mexican forces where approaching. After he surrendered, thinking his life would be spared, the Mexicans brought him and his men back to the fort. On March 27th, 1836, Fannin and his men were excuted in front of the fort in what is now known as the Goliad Massacre. The reconstruted fort and a working Catholic church is open for tours.  We toured the Presidio La Bahia but did not find it worth the money.  They didn't offer a brochure or guided tours that detailed the fort, grounds, church, or outlining buildings. It was $3.00 per person 12 and up and $1.00 for ages 6 and up. (I found out later that we could have organized a tour ahead of time.)

A few miles east of Goliad is Fannin Battleground. In 1836, this was the site of the Texas defeat in their struggle of independence during the Battle of Coleto Creek.  A monument marks the site of this defeat.
We learned a lot about Texas and their fight for independence while staying at Goliad State Park.

Oh, one thing that I forgot to mention is that the state park has a museum that details the history of the area and the park rangers are very helpful.

We enjoyed our stay at Goliad State Park. The children had plenty of room to roam around and there were several hiking trails. The bath house was clean and warm.  We did encounter several critters while bathing but that is to be expected.

While staying at Goliad we met several others campers. With 7 children and a converted school bus we are hard to ignore.  We loved meeting and socializing with Eli, Donna, and Cierra.  Hopefully, we can meet again someday. Also, we appreciated Mr. Gerald, his wife and grandchildren giving us advice on the area and the time we spent with them. We met the Park Host and enjoyed their interpretive class.  We truly enjoy getting to know people and sharing with them what Jesus has done for all of us.  It is amazing how God puts people in our path that need to hear His message and how he puts people in our path to minister to us. We leave Goliad State Park having celebrated Jesus and His birth in several ways.

Below are pictures that were taken during a weaving class that we attended.