Goliad
Goliad, Goliad County, Texas
Marker Inscription
One of the three first Texas municipalities. Old Aranama Indian village called Santa Dorotea by the Spanish. Presidio La Bahia and Mission Espiritu de Zuniga established 1749. Here early events leading to the Texas Revolution were expeditions of Magee-Gutierrez, 1812; Henry Perry, 1817; James Long, 1821 Name changed Feb. 4, 1829, from La Bahia (the Bay) to Goliad. Honoring (in anagram) Mexican patriot (H)idalgo. Capt. George Collingsworth, Ben Milam and 48 men took Mexican garrison Oct. 8, 1835. Goliad Declaration of Independence signed Dec. 20, 1835, and Goliad flag unfurled. Defender Capt. Philip Dimmit succeeded by Col. James Walker Fannin, Feb. 7, 1836. On order of Gen. Sam Houston to evacuate Goliad, Fannin on Mar. 19, moved toward Victoria. Overtaken 9 miles out by a large Mexican army, Fannin and his men battled until night, surrendered next morning. From La Bahia Prison they were marched out, massacred and partially cremated on Palm Sunday, Mar. 27, 1836. After Texas won independence, Gen. Thomas Rusk's army gave them military rites and burial, June 1836. Goliad County Seat since 1836. Incorporated 1840 and built on present site. Received 4 leagues of land in grant signed by President Sam Houston, 1844. (1965)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Goliad ranks among the three oldest municipalities in Texas, rooted in the Aranama Indian village the Spanish called Santa Dorotea and anchored by the Presidio La Bahía and Mission Espíritu Santo, established in 1749. Renamed Goliad in 1829—an anagram honoring the Mexican patriot Hidalgo—it became a crucible of the Texas Revolution. In March 1836, Colonel James Fannin and his men, taken prisoner after the Battle of Coleto, were marched from the La Bahía presidio and executed on Palm Sunday in the notorious Goliad Massacre.
Why it matters
From Spanish presidio to the site of the Goliad Massacre, this ground holds three centuries of Texas history, and "Remember Goliad" became a rallying cry that helped win Texas independence at San Jacinto.
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Related people
- · James Walker Fannin
- · Sam Houston
- · Philip Dimmit
- · Ben Milam
Related events
- · Goliad Massacre
- · Goliad Declaration of Independence
- · Texas Revolution
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Goliad County
Goliad, TX
First known to Spanish settlers as a mission and presidio in 1749, this place — La Bahía del Espíritu Santo — became a strategic fort under Spanish, Mexican, and Texan control before its name was changed to Goliad in 1829. In 1836 it was the scene of the massacre of Fannin and his command, a rallying cry of the Texas Revolution. Organized as a county that same year, it later sent several companies to the Confederate army.
J. W. Fannin
Goliad, TX
Raised in 1885, this monument honors Col. James W. Fannin and the men who died with him in the Goliad Massacre of March 27, 1836, when hundreds of Texan prisoners were executed on Santa Anna's order weeks after Texas declared independence. Its faces bind together the rallying cries "Remember the Alamo, Remember Goliad" with the dates that independence was declared and, at San Jacinto, finally won.
Santa Anna's Surrender Ratified
Goliad, TX
After Texas forces shattered Santa Anna's army at San Jacinto on April 21, 1836, the Mexican second-in-command, Gen. Vicente Filisola, marched his surviving troops southward toward Mexico. Texan couriers overtook him near Goliad, and at Mujerero Creek on May 26, 1836, Filisola and his fellow officers signed the ratification of peace with Texan representatives — a quiet creekside act that helped seal the outcome of the revolution.
Mission Nuestra Senora del Espiritu Santo de Zuniga
Goliad, TX
Founded in 1722 by the Aguayo Expedition to guard Spanish territory against French and Indian threats, Mission Espíritu Santo de Zúñiga was paired with the Presidio La Bahía and named in part for a viceroy of New Spain. After two relocations it settled here on the San Antonio River in 1749, where it grew into a ranching powerhouse — vast cattle herds supplied settlements in Mexico and missions across Texas, and roughly 180 people lived at the mission and fort by 1758. Secularized in 1830, it fell to ruin before being partially restored in the 1930s.