Presidio La Bahia Award

The Presidio La Bahia Award, administered by the Sons of the Republic of Texas, was established on April 22, 1968, through the generosity of Kathryn Stoner O'Connor, as an annual literary award. The Kathryn Stoner O'Connor Foundation was also responsible for restoring the Presidio La Bahia near Goliad as a museum and a Texas shrine. The purpose of the award is to promote suitable preservation of relics, appropriate dissemination of data, and research into our Texas heritage, with particular attention to the Spanish Colonial period. Material may be submitted concerning the influence on Texas culture of our Spanish Colonial heritage in laws, customs, language, religion, architecture, art, and other related fields.

A total of $2,000 is available annually for winning participants in the competition, with a minimum first Place prize of $1,200 for the best published book. At its discretion, the SRT may award a second Place book prize. Beginning in 1993, the SRT established a separate category with a prize for the best published paper, article published in a periodical, or project of a non-literary nature.

Published writings must be submitted in quadruplicate to the SRT Office. Galley proofs are notacceptable. For submission of projects other than writings,contestants should furnish the SRT Office a description of the proposed entry, so that the chairman of the judging committee may issue specific instructions.

Research writings have proved in the past to be the mostsuccessful type of entry. However, careful consideration is givenother literary forms, as well as art, architecture, andarchaeological discovery. Competition is open to any person interested in the Spanish Colonial influence on Texas culture. Entries are accepted each year during the four months from June 1 through September 30. All entries become the property of the SRT, and none are returned.

The SRT President General designates the chairman of the Presidio La Bahia Committee each year and serves as an ex-officio committee member. The chairman then selects recognized authorities on Texas history to serve on the judging Committee.

The Presidio La Bahia Award is presented to the winner(s) in person on the first weekend in December of each year, in the Chapel of Our Lady of Loreto, at the Presidio La Bahia near Goliad, in keeping with the annual observation of the Signing of the Goliad Declaration in 1835.

Winners of the PRESIDIO LA BAHIA Award 2000-Present
2007	1st Place: Jeffrey D. Murrah, *Texans Always Move Them* Periodical: Joe E. Ericson, "Texas Indians and Spanish Missions in Colonial Texas"
2006	1st Place: Jean A. Stuntz, *Hers, His & Theirs, Community Property Law in Spain and Early Texas*
2005	1st Place: James E. Bruseth and Toni S. Turner, *From A Watery Grave*
2004	1st Place: Dr. Ana Carolina Castillo-Crimm, *DeLeon, A Tejano Family History* Periodical: *The 1780 Cabello Map*
2003	1st Place: Graham Davis, *Land!* 2nd Place: Alex D. Krieger, *We Came Naked and Barefoot, The Journey of Cabeza De Vaca Across North America*
2002	1st Place: Jacinto Quirarte, *The Art and Architecture of the Texas Missions* 2nd Place: John L. Kessell, *Spain in the Southwest*
2001	1st Place Newton M. Warzecha, (Video) *Presidio La Bahia and It's Place in the History of Texas* 2nd Place: Robert S. Weddle, *The Wreck of the Belle, The Ruin of LaSalle* 3rd Place: Allen G. Hatley, *The Indian Wars in Stephen F. Austin's Texas Colony 1822- 1835*
2000	1st Place: Donald E. Chipman and Harriett D. Joseph, *Notable Men and Women of Spanish Texas*