The Upper Presidio Road ran from the Presidio at San Juan Bautista Mission, 25 miles down the Rio Grande from today’s Eagle Pass, to San Antonio and points east, and from about 1807 until the railroad from San Antonio to Laredo was built in 1881 it was the primary route from today’s Mexico to San Antonio. About mid-morning on Sunday, February 21, 1836, General Santa Anna and about 1500 troops passed along this road en route to the Alamo. There they joined other Mexican forces and waited for reinforcements before beginning the attack. The column stretched for miles as the soldiers urged along draft animals weakened by lack of forage and the burdens of a long journey.