Speeches And Statements
September 27, 2000

GONZALES --`LEXINGTON OF TEXAS'

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Statement of
HON. RON PAUL
OF TEXAS

[Page: E1607]

  • Mr. Speaker, in the town of Gonzales, Texas, on October 2, 1835, the first shot for Texas Independence was fired from a cannon by colonists waving a flag which proclaimed `Come and Take It.' Gonzales became known as the `Lexington of Texas. '

  • The Little Cannon has been recognized by many as a true and proper memento of our glorious past and has appeared in no less historic sites as the Alamo and the rotunda of the Texas Capitol, and is forever enshrined in The Great Seal of Texas.

  • Exactly 165 years after the shot was fired, on the afternoon of October 2, 2000, the City of Gonzales will accept the `Come and Take It Cannon' from the estate of Dr. Patrick J. Wagner.

  • The Little Cannon will be an ever-present reminder to the citizens of Gonzales of the courage of those who stood at the `Lexington of Texas' and first cried, `Come and Take It!'