It is told that Franciscan friars of Mexico, exploring the Texas coast during the period 1751-1772, found the stream now known as San Jacinto River so choked with water hyacinths (a mauve species of lily that still abounds in this region) that they could not pass. They called it the “hyacinth stream.” From that name evolved “San Jacinto”—Spanish for “Saint Hyacinth.” Legend has it that Adjutant General John A. Wharton gave the battlefield its name. Santa Anna, shortly after being captured, while conversing with a group of Texan officers inquired concerning the correct name of the field. One officer is supposed to have answered “Lynchburg,” but Wharton suggested “San Jacinto.” The battleground, off the La Porte road, some twenty-three miles from the County Courthouse in Houston, is a State park of 402 acres. It is situated near the confluence of San Jacinto River and Buffalo Bayou—now the Houston Ship Channel—not far from the Bay. It is a spot of natural beauty. The land has a gentle roll, and vegetation is brilliant. Wild flowers here grow in profusion and fairly radiate their splendor. Nowhere else in this section are more luxuriant mossy “beards” to be found than on the huge liveoaks of San Jacinto. The country surrounding the battlefield and nearby Lynchburg—known in the old days as “Lynch’s Ferry”—was one of the early settlements of Texas colonists. The sylvan retreats along the wide stream and adjacent lagoons were once popular as homes of prominent Texans. Across the bayou from the battleground was the home of Lorenzo de Zavala, _ad interim_ Vice President of the Republic. Nearby lived David G. Burnet, _ad interim_ President. Later General Houston had a home on Trinity Bay, a few miles from the battlefield. It is now a Boy Scout camp. Ashbel Smith, minister of the Republic of Texas to England, had his home at about the site of present Goose Creek, not far from Lynchburg. [Illustration: Entrance to monument] Texas Revolution Epitomized The thumbnail history of the Texas revolution, inscribed on the exterior of the monument’s base in eight panels, is as follows: THE EARLY POLICIES OF MEXICO TOWARD HER TEXAS COLONISTS HAD BEEN EXTREMELY LIBERAL. LARGE GRANTS OF LAND WERE MADE TO THEM, AND NO TAXES OR DUTIES IMPOSED. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE ANGLO-AMERICANS AND MEXICANS WAS CORDIAL. BUT, FOLLOWING A SERIES OF REVOLUTIONS BEGUN IN 1829, UNSCRUPULOUS RULERS SUCCESSIVELY SEIZED POWER IN MEXICO. THEIR UNJUST ACTS AND DESPOTIC DECREES LED TO THE REVOLUTION IN TEXAS.