DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker for the City of Pasadena tells it — and friend, this one's worth the telling. This stretch of Harris County has worn a lot of different faces over the years. Indian territory first, then pioneer ranch land, and today — space-age Pasadena, home to oil and chemical industries that would've made those early settlers drop their jaws clean into the dirt.
But let's go back to the beginning of the story we know. The Vince brothers were members of Stephen F. Austin's original three hundred settlers — that first wave, the ones who came before coming to Texas was fashionable.
They developed this area as ranch land, and their name would end up attached to one of the most consequential moments in Texas history. The year is 1836. The armies of both Sam Houston and Santa Anna traveled through what is now Pasadena, both of them heading toward San Jacinto to decide — and I do mean decide — the future of Texas.
Now, a man known as "Deaf" Smith destroyed a bridge on the Vince ranch. The reason the marker gives you is stark and simple: to block a possible escape by the Mexican army. The battle was brief.
Brief. And yet when it was over, Santa Anna himself — commander of the Mexican forces, the man who'd seemed so certain of his destiny — was on the run. He slipped away from the victorious Texas army on a horse.
A stolen horse, as a matter of fact. Stolen from Allen Vince. Here's where the story turns real quiet and real tense.
All that — the battle won, the bridge burned, the getaway horse — and Santa Anna was captured approximately one mile from this very marker. One mile. The signs to the north will take you to the site of the bridge and the capture both, if you want to stand on that ground yourself.
Now the land rests. Time moves on. By 1850, surveyors for the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railroad came through and looked around at what they saw — and they called it "Land of Flowers." That's a name that carries a certain softness, a certain promise.
That promise wasn't lost on Colonel J. H. Burnet, a land developer out of Galveston.
In 1895, he founded Pasadena. And he didn't do it quietly — he declared, "Pasadena will be the hub of a vast rich agricultural area." Bold words. The kind a man either lives down or lives up to.
He lived them up. By 1908, Pasadena was boosting — and I'm using the marker's own words here — "delicious strawberries, figs, oranges and vegetables." The area had been known for its strawberry patches, and for a good long while, those patches were the pride of the place. From Indian territory to ranch land to "Land of Flowers" to strawberry country to the oil and chemical capital it is today — Pasadena has been a lot of things.
But it was always, it seems, exactly where the action was.
What the marker says
This area has progressed from Indian territory to pioneer ranch land to space-age Pasadena. Known at one time for its strawberry patches, it is now acclaimed for its oil and chemical industries. The Vince brothers, members of Stephen F. Austin's original 300 settlers, developed area as ranch land. The armies of both Sam Houston and Santa Anna traveled through what is now Pasadena in 1836, to San Jacinto to decide the future of Texas. "Deaf" Smith destroyed a bridge on the Vince ranch to block possible escape by the Mexican army. After the brief battle, Santa Anna eluded the victorious Texas army on a horse stolen from Allen Vince. He was captured approximately one mile from this marker. Site of the bridge and capture may be seen by following signs to the north. In 1850, surveyors of the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railroad called the area "Land of Flowers." Col. J. H. Burnet, a land developer from Galveston, founded Pasadena in 1895. He said, "Pasadena will be the hub of a vast rich agricultural area." The area fully justified his vision, for by 1908, "delicious strawberries, figs, oranges and vegetables" were the boast of Pasadena. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1967