Why Come and Take It Photography
In 2014, when I began to think of a name for my photography business, I knew I wanted something that was catchy, easy to remember and fit with my personality. What to pick?
Something Aggie related? Something related to Texas? Some clever photography pun?
I am a proud Texan, I wear boots every day, I read and watch westerns, I love Texas Red Dirt music, the beauty of the land, bluebonnets, armadillos and well to quote the great Jerry Jeff Walker sang, “I could tell you...but it would take all night long..”
So I started thinking of Texas names and themes, Deep in the Heart of Texas, nah to wordy. Lone Star, nope taken. Hmmm. Maybe something from Lonesome Dove? Hat Creek Photography, but would people know that reference and would it be catchy enough? Would they get the “We don’t rent pigs” sign?
Growing up in Texas and being a lover of history, I frequently made trips to many of the historical locations around Texas. Through trips to places like the San Antonio Missions, Goliad, the San Jacinto Battleground, and of course the Alamo I came to love Texas history. Maybe I could come up with a reference to that.
Remember the… no that wouldn’t work.
Come and Take It Photography, you know that could work. I come and take your photo. Its easy to remember, Its Texas. Oh and the logo could be the flag with a Canon camera silhouette instead of a cannon. Too bad I am sure that someone has that already used it, I mean anything Texas I have checked all have already been used.
As I got on the State of Texas website to look at name of companies I was shocked to see it wasn’t taken.
Come And Take It Photography was coined.
But what does it mean. Well if you look back in history that phrase has been used several times. First in 480 AD by the Spartans, and later during the American Revolution. But if you are from Texas you know that during the Texas revolution the phrase was used by the Texans.
In early January 1831, Green DeWitt wrote to Ramón Músquiz, the top political official of Bexar, and requested armament for defense of the colony of Gonzales. This request was granted by delivery of a small used cannon. The small bronze cannon was received by the colony and signed for on March 10, 1831, by James Tumlinson, Jr.[1] The swivel cannon was mounted to a blockhouse in Gonzales and later was the object of Texas pride. At the minor skirmish known as the Battle of Gonzales—the first battle of the Texas Revolution against Mexico—a small group of Texans successfully resisted the Mexican forces who had orders from Colonel Domingo de Ugartechea to seize their cannon. As a symbol of defiance, the Texans had fashioned a flag containing the phrase "come and take it" along with a black star and an image of the cannon that they had received four years earlier from Mexican officials. This was the same message that was sent to the Mexican government when they told the Texans to return the cannon; lack of compliance with the initial demands led to the failed attempt by the Mexican military to forcefully take back the cannon. [2]
The cannon eventually was taken to San Antonio and the small mission called the Alamo where along with 20 other cannons was used for 13 days before the Alamo finally fell. The bronze Gonzales cannon was buried with other captured Texan cannons inside the Alamo compound. It was unearthed by Samuel Maverick in 1852, and sent to New York by his widow Mary Maverick in 1874, where it was recast into a bell that hangs in the belfry of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in San Antonio. [3]
So know you know how it came to be and the history behind it. #capturehistory #comeandtakeitphotography
References
[1] Lindley, Thomas Ricks, "GONZALES COME AND TAKE IT CANNON", Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association, retrieved June 2012
[2] "Come and Take It Cannon Exhibit". Gonzalesmemorialmuseum.com. Archived from the original on 2012-10-30. Retrieved March 2013.
[3] Handbook of Texas Online, Thomas Ricks Lindley, rev. by James Woodrick, "GONZALES COME AND TAKE IT CANNON," accessed August 01, 2018, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/qvg01
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