Name: Texas Forever
Brand: John M. "Tampico" Allen
Price: 59.95 USD
Availability: InStock

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"TEXAS FOREVER"

You are looking at the rarest of all printed Texas Revolution documents. Under that bold declaration is a call for men to come to the aid of the Texian cause, plus a pretty accurate account of the Alamo under siege.

It is also something of a mystery, so we had to do some detective work.

Where did it come from? The typeface used does not match that of any newspaper in New Orleans, Nashville, or Natchez, which were the printing hubs of the South in 1836. That means it was probably printed by a small jobber. The verbiage and circumstances point to New Orleans, and an eleven day window in which it was printed.

The New Orleans Bee reported the Alamo was under siege on March 17, 1836 (the siege had begun on February 23.) Eleven days later, on March 28, it reported the Alamo had fallen, three weeks after the fact.

Another clue to its origin is the offer of 800 acres. That number comes from Sam Houston's proclamation of December 1835. That document announced the Provisional Executive and General Council of Texas had approved a grant of that size to those who would serve Texas in the coming conflict with the Mexican central government.

That proclamation did not have wide distribution, and indicates TEXAS FOREVER was the work of some person or persons in New Orleans with intimate knowledge of Texas happenings.

So who done it? The evidence points to Captain John Melville "Tampico" Allen, who was ordered to New Orleans on a recruiting mission by General Houston.

Why is it so rare? Most printed documents that survive from the Texas Revolution are broadsides. That means they were larger in size meant to be posted on walls. Texas Forever was a handbill. That means it was smaller (about 10 by 12 inches,) and was handed out on the streets. It got folded, tucked into pockets, and discarded with the day's debris. That's a big part of why only one copy is known to exist today.

This first ever reproduction is larger than the original. 18 by 24 inches to be exact. That means it displays big and bold on your wall. Plus it fits in a standard sized frame, so there is no need for expensive custom framing.

Texas Forever feels like a modern phrase. It's a sentiment that captures in two words what it means to be a Texan... at the dawn of Texian independence and to this day.

Physical Details

18 by 24 inches
On 100% cotton watercolor paper
Limited Edition of 254 copies

This is a high quality fine-art print.

It is printed on acid free heavyweight 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 your map in direct sun and it will be just as bright when they are passed on to the next generation it is the day it ships.

It's an instant heirloom. Get yours before they're gone...and get one to give to a friend. He'll owe you!