Ruiz-Herrera Cemetery

The alcalde buried here saw the end of the Alamo up close. Francisco Antonio Ruiz, called Don Pancho, was alcalde of San Antonio during the siege and was held under house arrest until the fort fell; Santa Anna then ordered him to identify the fallen leaders and dispose of the dead, and he left one of the most vivid eyewitness accounts. He opposed annexation, and in 1845 went to live among the frontier Indians as his father once had. Blas María Herrera, also buried here, scouted toward Laredo and escorted the Tejano signers to Washington-on-the-Brazos.

What the plaque says

Ruiz-Herrera Cemetery Started in 1840's; still used by founding families. Graves include those of Texas patriots Francisco Antonio Ruiz, 1836 acting mayor, whose father and uncle signed Declaration of Independence; and Blas Herrera, who alerted the Alamo defenders to Santa Anna's approach. (1967)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• San Antonio Missions National Historical Park — 10.0 mi
  Four working parish churches on the Mission Trail south of downtown, with the visitor center at Mission San Jose, the Queen of the Missions, and the descendants who still worship there.
• Mission Espada and the Espada Aqueduct — 10 mi
  The southernmost San Antonio mission and the oldest Spanish aqueduct in the United States, still carrying river water over Sixmile Creek to the fields after nearly three centuries.
• Mission San Juan — 10 mi
  The mission near the river bend where the San Antonio got its name in 1691, with an unfinished church foundation and farm fields still watered by an eighteenth-century acequia.
• Mission Concepción — 11 mi
  A stone church dedicated in 1755 that has never fallen into ruin, its convento ceilings still painted, and the ground where the Texas Revolution's fight for San Antonio began.

More markers nearby

• Enoch Jones Farmstead — 1.7 mi
• The Rev. John Wesley DeVilbiss — 4.1 mi
• Oak Island Methodist Church and Cemetery — 4.1 mi
• Rambie-Lewis Family Cemetery — 5.4 mi