Just in Time for Texas Independence Day

The photo on the left if of the San Jacinto Monument at the battlefield were Sam Houston defeated Santa Anna. As you can see, it now overlooks the Houston Ship Channel. The story below is related to Texas Independence Day.

WASHINGTON - One of the state's most historic documents is back where it was created.

Four mounted Texas Rangers Tuesday escorted a stagecoach carrying documents penned at the birth of the Texas Republic back to the place where ink was applied to the now yellowing paper.

The Star of the Republic Museum at Washington-on-the-Brazos State Historic Site will display the 170-year-old documents beginning Thursday, which also happens to be Texas Independence Day.

The papers include what is believed to be the first draft of the Republic of Texas Constitution.

The constitution was written in 1836 at Washington-on-the-Brazos as Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna and his troops battled with Texans seeking independence from Mexico.

‘‘This document was touched by patriots,'' Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson said. ‘‘These guys heard the hoofbeats over their shoulders as they drafted this.''

The draft was lost to history until an archivist at the Texas General Land Office identified it two years ago in the agency's collections.

An armored vehicle picked up the historic document from the land office in Austin Tuesday morning to return it temporarily to the historic site on the banks of the Brazos River.

At the historic site, the papers, which were stored in a strong box, were transferred to a stagecoach escorted by four mounted Texas Rangers who took it the rest of the way home.