b'S an Antonio is the oldest municipality in Texas, originally es- military pilots were trained in San Antonio than anywhere in the world, during the tablished as a colonial outpost in Spanish Texas, in 1718, andfirst world war, and many of Americas greatest heroes of the war were native Texans.chartered as a civil settlement in 1731. Spain would rule TexasAmericas biggest military town boomed after World War II, but the prosperity was for another century, until the 1821 Mexican Revolution, fol- not as widely distributed as it was on the coasts and in the major Midwestern cities.lowed by the 1836 Texas Revolution during which the Battle of the Alamo would be lost by the rebel Texians, who wouldThe 40s and 50s were a controlled era in San Antonio with very little industrial prevail over the Mexican army only a few months later. competition and low wages. Civil rights meant a time bomb of demographic unhap-The economy of the San Antonio region after the Civil Warpiness, explained Henry Cisneros, the Mayor of San Antonio from 1981-1989, and was built on farming and ranching, mining, and later, oillots of oil. Around theUnited States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 1993-1997, under turn of the 20th Century, Central Texas became a most popular destination for thou- President Bill Clinton.sands of German immigrants, so much so that a new dialect known as Texas GermanHenry Gabriel Cisneros was born into a well-respected and prominent family on San emerged as a language. A city that was officially a little more than half Hispanic orAntonios Mexican-American West Side. His grandparents fled Mexico for San Anto-Latino in 1970, is today almost two-thirds. nio amid the failed 1926 Mexican Revolution, also known as the Cristero War. Cisne-ros grandfather, Jos Rmulo Mungua, was a legend in Mexicos printing and pub-San Antonio, like most cities in South and Central Texas, started off as a militarylishing industry, having organized the countrys first printing trade union and having outpost for one or more of the six regimes that have ruled the territory since it wasearned notoriety as an activist journalist and organizer. His grandmother, Carolina named Tejas by Spanish colonialists, around 1700. Teddy Roosevelts Rough RidersMalpica Mungua, was equally ambitious in the couples shared pursuit of justice for regiment, who led the Americans to victory in Cuba during the Spanish-Americanthe poor and everyday laborers.War, was based in San Antonio. In 1910, Lt. Benjamin Foulois flew the U.S. ArmysCarolinassuccessasthefirstMexicanwomantohostaradioshow,thatbeing very first airplane from Fort Sam Houston, marking the birth of military aviation.Estrella, which aired on San Antonios signature station KONO, in its very early As World War I raged in Europe, Kelly and Brooks Fields were established for thehistory, led to the formation of Mungua Printers with her husband in the 1930s. new Aviation Section of the Armys Signal Corps, based at Fort Sam Houston. MoreThe old headquarters of the printing business on Buena Vista Street in San Antonios HemisFair 1968 San Antonio Bursts Onto the World SceneTop Row Left to Right: Monorail and Tower of the Americas constructed for HemisFair; President Lyndon Johnson arriving in San Antonio for the fair; Princess Grace of Monaco on the Riverwalk.Bottom Row Left to Right: Texas First Lady Nellie Connally greets Lady Bird Johnson; Big HemisFair crowds; Promotional painting; Country star Glen Campbell performs; HemisFair carnival.TheCoastalBend.com THE COASTAL BEND MAGAZINE41'