Beneath the dust and legend of The Alamo, where history remembers cannon fire and last stands, another story has long been whispered—one not of battle above, but of hidden passageways below.
In 1909, a Pennsylvania newspaper published a curious account: a network of tunnels stretching beneath San Antonio, linking the Alamo to distant missions and forgotten ruins. If true, these passageways may have offered escape or concealed something far more mysterious. Their existence, the article claims, was known only to the Franciscan fathers who built the missions, and were kept secret even as the famous siege unfolded overhead.
What follows is that account, printed over a century ago, when the line between history and rumor was often blurred, and when the shadows beneath the Alamo still seemed very much alive.
The Mysterious Tunnels of the Alamo
The mysterious tunnel with leads in two directions from beneath the ancient Alamo building in San Antonio has never been explored. It is known that one branch of the tunnel runs south for at least two and a half miles, to the old Concepcion mission, and that another branch extends north from the Alamo to the ruins of the antiquated stone block house, which stands in what is now San Pedro Park. It is about two miles from this block house to the Alamo.
The early accounts of the string of ancient missions which are situated along the San Antonio River make no reference to the system of tunnels which was evidently constructed about the time the buildings were erected.
It is evident that the existence of these tunnels was not known to the early settlers. It is certain that had the brave American defenders of the Alamo known that two passageways led from beneath the floor of the structure at the time they were being besieged by the forces of Santa Anna they might have escaped the horrible massacre that befell them at the hands of the Mexican horde.
When the American garrison of the Alamo were surrounded by the Mexican troops they knew of no way of escaping the death that surely awaited them. So well did the Franciscan Fathers who built and inhabited these missions keep the secret of the existence of the tunnels that this knowledge did not even come to the early Mexican settlers of San Antonio. It was not until about 20 years ago that the discovery was made that a tunnel led from the Alamo to the Concepcion mission and then it was quite by accident that the underground passage was found.
Louis Toborah was digging a well at his home on South Presa street when the picks of the workmen struck a hard substance that proved to be adobe plaster such as the Franciscan Fathers taught the Indians of this section to make in the early days.
A few strokes of a pick made an opening in this concrete wall and a cavern was exposed to view. Toborah and the laborers who were digging the well descended into the opening and found that it was not a cave, as they supposed, but was a tunnel, with a width of about five feet and a height of seven feet.
The concrete layer of two or three inches in thickness formed the walls and arched roof, while the floor or bottom of the passageway was of dirt. The tunnel was explored by Toborah and others for distances of several hundred yards in both directions. Further progress was blocked by cave-ins which had occurred, filling the passages with dirt and debris.
One end of the explored tunnel crossed under the San Antonio River. In order to get a safe distance under the bed of the stream the tunnel was lowered several feet at the crossing point, flights of stone steps connecting the two levels.
It is thought that the tunnel runs in an almost direct line between the block house on the north to the Concepcion mission on the south, by way of the Alamo, and if this theory is correct the river crosses above it no less than a dozen times.
The opening into the tunnel in the Alamo is situated in one of the cells of the monks. Centuries of disuse have caused it to fill with debris, and no effort has ever been made to clean it out and conduct an exploration so far as known. The same condition is true of the entrances beneath the block house and at Concepcion mission. Since the discovery made by Toborah, the tunnel has been encountered at several other points on its course. While excavating for the out fall sewer that leads south out of the city the tunnel was broken into and considerable difficulty was experienced in building the brick sewer across it. It not infrequently happens that the tunnel is struck while excavating for the foundations for houses.
It is curious that now systematic exploration of tissue ancient relic of the Franciscan Fathers has ever been attempted. It is believed that the tunnel does not stop at the Concecion mission, but tat it extends all the way to the San Francisco de la Eapada mission, situated none miles south of San Antonio, connecting en route the San Jose and the San Juan missions.
All these ancient structures are built close to the San Antonio River, and are surrounded by little villages of Mexicans. These mission buildings were erected nearly two centuries ago and it is supposed that the tunnel, which probably connects all of them, was constructed about the same time. The block house in San Pedro Park was built at a later date, and it is considered likely that the branch tunnel which leads to it was built some time after the passageway to the missions was finished.
There is much speculation as to the original object of the system of tunnels. The Franciscan Fathers had little to fear from the Indians. They were beloved members of the tribes who inhabited this part of the country in the early days…
An exploration and rehabilitation of this ancient system of tunnels might lead to many interesting discoveries, it is thought. In the imaginative minds of some persons the treasure room of the Franciscan monks is situated at some point on the line of the underground passageway, and perhaps it may still contain a store of vast wealth.
Source: The Star. Reynoldsville, Pa. July 14, 1909.
