GOLIAD, Tex., city, county-seat of Goliad County, on the San Antonio River and the Southern Pacific Railroad, about 45 miles from the Gulf and 168 miles southwest of Galveston. There are interesting ruins of the ancient Span ish mission, a courthouse and a public library. The city contains several cotton gins and is the centre of a cotton growing and stock raising district. Goliad gets its name from Hidalgo (q.v.), the patriot priest of Dolores, who in 1810 led the revolution in Mexico against Spain. When Goliad was founded the people did not dare to name it Hidalgo, so dropping the silent H and transposing the letters, they made the word Goliad. This place was the last site of the ancient mission of La Bahia del Espiritu Santo (1749). This mission was first founded at the place where La Salle. built Fort Saint Louis in 1685. Goliad was the scene of a bloody contest (1812) between the so-called "Republican Army of the North," under Magee and Gutierrez, and the Mexicans. Here Magee died, evidently assassinated. In the Texas revo lution (1835) Goliad was a point of strategical importance to the Texans. It was captured by
Ben Milan and Collingsworth and became the base of military operations. The independence of Texas was declared here 20 Dec. 1835. Ira Ingram and Philip Dimmit were the leaders in formulating this declaration, and at the meeting there were 92 soldiers and all the citizens of the town. The official declaration of independ ence was made at Old Washington, 2 March 1836. In Goliad, on Palm Sunday, 27 March 1836, the Mexican commander, Urrea, caused to be slaughtered 300 unarmed men who had sur rendered, Fannin (q.v.) and his command. These defenseless men had been promised life and liberty before being marched out in squads and shot down like dogs. Urrea claimed he acted under orders from Santa Anna (q.v.). Afterward a rallying cry of the Texas troops under Sam Houston was ((Remember Goliad' In 1902 Goliad was visited by a disastrous cyclone which swept away almost the whole town. Pop. 2,250.