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 1990-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*
1999	1st Place: Gregg Cantrell, *Stephen F. Austin, Empresario of Texas* 2nd Place: William C. Foster, *The LaSalle Expedition Into Texas, the Journal of Henri Joutel* Periodical: Ed Bradley, "Fighting for Texas: Filibuster James Long, the Adams-Onis Treaty, and the Monroe Administration"
1998	1st Place: John Miller Morris, *El Llano Estacado:Exploration and Imagination on the High Plains of Texas and New Mexico, 1536-1860* 2nd Place: Richard V. Francaviglia, for *From Sail to Steam:Centuries of Texas Maritime History, 1500-1900* Periodical: Adam Benavides, Jr., "Archival Investigations for Mission Nuestra Senora De Los Dolores De Los Ais, San Augustine County, Texas"
1997	1st Place: William C. Foster, *Texas and Northeastern Mexico, 1630-1690* 2nd Place: William A. DePalo, *The Mexican National Army, 1822-1852* 3rd Place: Tamra L. Walter, "The Dynamics of Culture Change and its Reflection in the Archeological Record of Espiritu Santo de Zuniga, Victoria County, Texas" published by the South Texas Archeological Association
1996	1st Place: Charles Cutter, *The Legal Culture of Northern New Spain, 1700-1810* 2nd Place: Gerald Poyo, Editor, for *Tejano Journey, 1770-1850* 3rd Place: Dr. Felix Almaraz, "Texas Governor Manuel Salcedo and the Court-Martial of Padre Miguel Hidalgo, 1810-1811"
1995	1st Place: Jesús F. de la Teja for *San Antonio de Béxar: a Community on New Spain's Northern Frontier* 2nd Place: Tina Juárez for *Call No Man Master* 3rd Place: Craig H. Roell for a booklet, "Remember Goliad!"
1994	1st Place: Andrés Tijerina for Tejanos & Texas under the Mexican Flag, 1821-1836 2nd Place: Joe S. Graham for El Rancho in South Texas 3rd Place: Adán Benavides and Elizabeth A. H. John for an article, "Inside the Comanchería, 1785:The Diary of Pedro Vial and Francisco Xavier Chaves" Special Award: Heather K. Hardy, Timothy Montler, and Sylvia Sylestine for Dictionary of the Alabama Language
1993	1st Place: Cathryn A. Hoyt and Helen Simons, editors, for Hispanic Texas 2nd Place: Jack Jackson for Flags along the Coast: Charting the Gulf of Mexico, a Reappraisal of the Period 1519-1759 3rd Place: Rice Design Alliance for an article, "Regional Cultures of the Texas-Mexico Border," published in Architectural & Design Review
1992	1st Place: Donald E. Chipman for Spanish Texas: 1519-1821 2nd Place: Robert S. Weddle for The French Thorn 3rd Place: Robert H. Thonhoff for El Fuerte de Cibolo
1991	1st Place Gilbert M. Hinojosa and Gerald E. Poyo for Tejano Origins in Eighteenth Century San Antonio 2nd Place: Jack Jackson, Winston de Ville, and Robert Weddle for Mapping Texas and the Gulf Coast: The Contributions of Saint-Denis, Olivan, and Le Maire
1990	Adan Benavides for The Bexar Archives (1717-1836): A Name Guide