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The
first people who lived in this lush river valley called
the area Yanaguana (refreshing waters). In 1691, a brigade
of explorers from Querétaro in New Spain arrived
on St. Anthony's feast day. They called the place San
Antonio.
Since then, their settlement has played a central role
in the history of North America.
For
over 100 years, San Antonio was the capital of the Spanish
Province of Texas.
The Alamo, one of several missions established along the
San Antonio River in the 18th century, was the site of
a dramatic battle (in 1836) between México and
Texas.
In the 19th and 20th centuries, San Antonio became a major
center of agricultural trade and international business.
Today, San Antonio is the eighth-largest city in the U.S.
and a major component of economic development in the Western
Hemisphere. Its world-class health-care and high-tech
research institutions generate new knowledge and adventurous
insights. The Riverwalk, near the Alamo downtown, is a
meandering, enchanting fiesta of dining, nightlife, and
shopping year round. And the city's art adventures, theme
parks, music, and theater showcase the bi-lingual, multicultural
life of the southwest's most cosmopolitan city.
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San
Antonio is one of the most fascinating cities in
America -- not simply because it has a Latin heritage,
but also because its mix of Latin- and Anglo- American
is like a dense, delicious cake, multilayered,
with unexpected flavor combinations."
--Daisann McLane, The New York Times |
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