History Matters
October 2025
. The Battle of Gonzales, October 1835
A small-scale reenactment of the 1775 Battles of Lexington and Concord—which commemorated start of the Revolutionary War—took place 190 years ago this month, in Gonzales, a settlement in the Mexican province of Texas, which was only fourteen years old. But—after a long war—it had finally secured its independence from Spain in 1821—even though the residuals of the conflict remained in Texas; Mexican outposts were nearly rubbed out, and—continuously–menaced by native Indians. In a desperate attempt to restore viability, the nascent Mexican government permitted–and even encouraged—communities of Anglo-American frontiersmen to emerge, led by Stephen F. Austin, who was given the title of empresario.
By the mid-1830s, the permissive Mexican regime dwindled. The government of Antonio López de Santa centralized authority—and aggressively restricted Anglo rights in Mexico—and—their flexibility to import and own slaves. On October 2, 1835, Mexican officer Francisco de Castañeda left San Antonio de Béxar, rode at the head of 100 dragoon cavalrymen to seize a six-pounder cannon held by the Anglo Texans in Gonzales. The Mexican government had provided the artillery piece to the Texans to defend against Indians, but they refused to relinquish it. Instead, they brandished a flag with a motto of defiance: “Come and Take It.” The Mexican dragoons tried to seize it, but they were driven off by the defenders. The skirmish activated the Texan Revolution, aroused the storming of the Alamo—and eventually—the formation of Texas.
For more information about the Battle of Gonzales and the Texas War of Independence, the Grateful American Book Prize recommends Stephen L. Hardin’s Texan Iliad: A Military History of the Texas Revolution, 1835-1836 (1996).
Museum mural of Texian soldiers fighting in the Battle of Gonzales.
The Opening of the Erie Canal, October 1825
George Washington dreamed of a unified country; he believed that a country healthy with an infrastructure of commerce and trade would “fuse” the national interests of the North and South—East and West—into zones of unity and prosperity. Major rivers, connected by canals, Washington thought, would be an exemplary strategy toward achieving his vision. When the Erie Canal opened two hundred years ago this month, it delineated a critical first step towards realizing Washington’s Vision.
Alexander Hamilton would have also endorsed the project, because it was particularly beneficial to his home state of New York.
Surveyed in 1808, approved in 1817, and constructed between July 4, 1817, and October 26, 1825, the 363-mile Erie Canal connected the Hudson River to Lake Erie. It took 50,000 workers, using mostly hand towels and animal power to dig it, clear the land, and build the locks—at a cost of more than $7 million. Heavy machinery and dynamite had not yet been invented. “Erie” recovered its investment, quickly, and generated an upsurge in the commercial network until the 1950s; afterwards, the dynamic gradually cooled. And the Canal turned into a recreational waterway for pleasure boats, canoers, and people who are interested in its history.
For more information about the history of the Erie Canal, the Grateful American Book Prize recommends Peter L. Bernstein’s Wedding of the Waters: The Erie Canal and the Making of a Great Nation (2006).
Aqueduct over the Mohawk River at Rexford, one of 32 navigable aqueducts on the Erie Canal.
Ed Lengel is an author, a speaker, and a storyteller.
History Matters is a feature courtesy of the Grateful American Book Prize, an annual award for high quality, 7th to 9th grade-level books dealing with important events and personalities in American history.
