Brownsville acts to preserve Resaca de la Palma battlefield

The city fathers of Brownsville, helped along by Congressman Solomon P. Ortiz Sr., are working to save a small but valuable piece of history. It's a history shared by both sides of the border. The object of this conservation effort is a grassy field in the center of the city where Mexican and American troops clashed in the second engagement of the Mexican-American War.

Thirty three Americans and 154 Mexicans lost their lives in the Battle of Resaca de la Palma on May 9, 1846, one day after American and Mexican armies had clashed at Palo Alto a few miles away. The battles were the opening salvos in what was to lead to the invasion of Mexico by American forces and the capture of Mexico City.

It's noteworthy that a community that is predominantly of Mexican descent is willing to go to bat to preserve a memory of a war that some would consider a shameful bit of history.

That &quot;shameful bit of history&quot; logic was behind the derailment of a plan to make Artesian Park in Corpus Christi a historical landmark. The park occupies part of the area that was the staging ground for the American troops who would later fight at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma. The people of Brownsville and Rep. Ortiz have a better idea and that is to embrace the history and preserve it because it tells us how we arrived at where we are today.

The Brownsville Community Foundation purchased the land to keep development from encroaching on it. Ortiz introduced legislation to expand the Palo Alto Battlefield National Historic Park so that it includes Resaca de la Palma and the burial ground there.

&quot;They are still there. There are ancestors of both sides who are still living there. It's like hallowed ground,&quot; said Diane Garza, a foundation member.

History ought to be preserved, not to nurse old wounds, but to serve as a guide to the future. Mexico and the United States have histories that intersect many points. One is at Palo Alto and another is Resaca de la Palma. Brownsville is right to remember its place in that parade of history.

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