Of all the cities in Texas, perhaps none is more Texan than San Antonio. It's where the cultures of our past converge. It's home to the Alamo and Schilo's. It's chili queens and La Quinta prison, Seguin and Maverick, Navarro and Travis.

There are ample beautiful depictions of pieces of San Antonio's history, but this print - a longtime favorite of mine - is the whole enchilada.

Where to begin? 

At the heart of the print are the Spanish missions. The Alamo is depicted in the throes of the March 6 battle, the 1824 flag floating high above the chaos. Rivers and streams draw your eye to the missions.

Arredondo's troops are shown capturing Bexar in 1813. The arrival of Moses Austin in 1820 and Sam Houston in 1833 are vignetted. 

Along the border are:

• the Frenchman St. Denis
• Martín de Alarcón - the first Spanish governor of Texas who established the mission we now call the Alamo
• the Canary Islanders
• Gen. Manuel de Sandoval, Spanish governor of Texas in 1734
• Filibuster Philip Nolan
• La Quinta Prison, where Arredondo imprisoned women suspected of being rebels after the Battle of Medina
• The 1835 Siege of Bexar/Old Ben Milam
• Travis, Crockett and Santa Anna are vignetted in three of the corners

This feast for the eyes comes courtesy an etching in 1935 by artist Fanita Lanier. Educated in Denton and Paris, she lived and worked in Dallas at the time of the Centennial. Her etchings of San Antonio, Houston, and the Three Forks of the Trinity were exhibit at the Centennial Exposition in Dallas. She painted murals in Texas banks and Hall of State in Dallas.

During WWII, Fanita took her talents to Washington, D.C.  where she served as a cartographer for the Army Signal Corps and, later, at the Pentagon. Before moving back to Texas, she was a display artist for the missile program at White Sands. All the while, she showed her range painting ocean scenes and landscapes in oil. 

But her Texas etchings are my favorites. This one tells the complex San Antonio story in clean lines, fine details, and the rich textures only etchings can supply. It stands out. 

To the best of my knowledge, this piece which she titled "San Antonio de Bexar, the Villa and Presidio, 1716-1836," has never been reproduced. 

Physical Details

• 24 by 18 inches - fits in a standard size frame
• Printed in South Texas on fine art watercolor paper
• Limited Edition of 254 hand-numbered copies
  

 
It is printed on acid free fine art paper with an elegant ever so lightly textured finish. This surface allows the inks to 'bite', reproducing the shading and tonality of the original map vividly, beautifully, and exactly. 

The inks are guaranteed color-fast for 80 years, which means you won't need to lay out the extra money for UV glass. You can hang it in direct sun and it will be just as bright when it's passed on to the next generation as the day it ships.