Francisco Antonio Ruiz

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Francisco Antonio Ruiz (ca. 1804–October 18, 1876) was the alcade of San Antonio during the Texas Revolution and was responsible for identifying the bodies of those killed at the Battle of the Alamo.

Ruiz was born between 1804 and 1811 in San Antonio, then part of the Mexican province of Coahuila y Tejas. He was the eldest son of Jose Francisco Ruiz and Josefa Hernandex.[1]

Ruiz supported the Texian cause during the Texas Revolution, when he was the alcade of San Antonio. General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna did not trust Ruiz, and when the Mexican army entered San Antonio to begin the siege of the Alamo, Santa Anna placed Ruiz under house arrest.[1] At the conclusion of the battle, Santa Anna ordered Ruiz to identify the bodies of Davy Crockett, James Bowie, and William Barret Travis and to dispose of the dead.[2] He later "left one of the most vivid eyewitness accounts of the fall of the Alamo."[1]

From 1837 until 1841 Ruiz served as an alderman in San Antonio. He strongly opposed Texas's annexation to the United States and believed that only those who had served during the Texas Revolution should be able to participate in making that decision. After the annexation was complete, Ruiz left San Antonio and lived for several years amongst the Indians.[1]

He later returned to San Antonio. After his death on October 18, 1876, he was buried in the Ruiz-Herrara family cemetery in Bexar County.[1]

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ a b c d e Gomez, Maria O., Francisco Antonio Ruiz, Handbook of Texas, <http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/RR/fru31.html>. Retrieved on 10 September 2007 
  2. ^ Hopewell (1994), p. 124.

[edit] References