No One Told Me There’d Be A Tractor!

Past Matters, Summer 2026, Published 6/12/2026

By: Traci Anderson, Friends of the Texas Historical Commission

“Are we keeping everything on the property or is the seller taking it all, because there’s a tractor!” Scott McMahon’s enthusiasm over the possibility of gaining a tractor was infectious. “I don’t know,” I told him, “But I can find out!”

McMahon is the Site Manager at Presidio La Bahía State Historic Site, and the tractor did convey with the land purchase made by the Friends of the Texas Historical Commission (FTHC). Those 81 acres encompass one of the three known sites of the Goliad Massacre, a pivotal event in the Texas Revolution. This acquisition has expanded the footprint of the Presidio complex, and the Texas Historical Commission (THC) is able to protect a critical historical, cultural, and archeological resource for posterity.

Helping to facilitate the purchase of a historically significant massacre site wasn’t something I ever imagined I’d be doing, yet here I am.  In the past two years I’ve assisted with a handful of property acquisitions and, while they don’t all hold the gravitas of the purchase in Goliad County, each grows the historic site it borders, allowing the THC to broaden those places where Texas history was made, and to share them with each of us.

But the FTHC doesn’t just buy land. Off-beat services and purchases occur with startling regularity. Over the course of a month we might provide a travel grant so school children in the panhandle can visit sites along the El Camino Real, pay for 2,000 pounds of clay in preparation for Texas Archeology Month, order 90 yards of period-authentic moleskin fabric for reenactors, purchase 100 pounds of cannon grade black powder, or fund a contingent of camels at a festival or two.

Well, honestly, it’s not might, it’s did. We did do all of those things.

The way the FTHC supports the work of the THC rarely fits into a neat box. But each purchase, grant, and project serves the same purpose: doing our part to help share the stories that make Texas unique. By supporting the things needed to bring history to life, we provide flexibility and resources that allow the THC to seize opportunities, solve challenges, and ensure that future generations can experience Texas history as something tangible, accessible, and alive.

And sometimes that means they get to keep the tractor.

We are grateful for your continued support!

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