History ETDs

Publication Date

6-4-1968

Abstract

Benjamin Rush Milan (1788-1835) is one of the many Texas notables who achieved a legendary status. Milam participated in the Empresario System, as well as in the Mexican Revolution of 1810 and the Texas Revolution. He first appeared in Texas as a trader; later he ventured into Texas as a leader in the James Long Expedition in 1819. Milam was active in the affairs of Texas until his untimely death at the successful siege of San Antonio. With his death, Milam emerged as a symbolic figure in legend, literature and history. The purpose of the study was to separate the myth from the reality which emerged as a result of Milam’s death under unique circumstances which catapulted Milam from a position of obscurity to prominence as a commendable hero. The dark days after the fall of the Alamo was not the objective Texans desired to achieve in their independence movement. The Texans needed a solution for their dilemma of devbelpoing a group consciousness in the face of the returning Mexican armies. Newspapers and other media began to disseminate patriotic poems. The themes which were used were the heroes of a fabricated past. Ben Milam was among the heroes which were “used.” He emerged as a hero to be looked upon and the actual Milam story became clouded by what the Texans of the Republican Period wanted to believe. When the smoke of war cleared the need for a fabricated past diminished. Nationalism emerged as a guiding force to perpetuate the legends as fact. It must be noted that historians and novelists played a part in distorting Milam’s actual place in history. The facts concerning Texas heroes became fiction which have been perpetuated to the present. Also, the role of the Milam family in contributing to the Ben Milam legend is discussed in the study. Today, remnants of the legend exist in monuments, place-names, historical markers, text books, and various incidents which tend to recall the legendary Milam. Texas found a way of rewarding her heroes. To mention some of the honors bestowed on Milam there is Milam Street, Milam Park, Milam Building, Ben Milam School—all in San Antonio. In other parts of Texas there is Milam County and in Houston and Dallas there are two hotels named after Milam. It is hoped that this study will open the way for other studies on the role of legend in history.

Level of Degree

Masters

Degree Name

History

Department Name

History

First Committee Member (Chair)

Donald Colgett Cutter

Second Committee Member

Illegible

Third Committee Member

Sabine R. Ulibarrí

Language

English

Document Type

Thesis

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