One of the most consequential battles in North American history occurred 175 years ago on a field just east of current-day Houston, Texas. In the battle of San Jacinto, on April 21, 1836, a ragtag Texas rebel army of about 900 men defeated some 1,500 Mexican soldiers and won independence. This led to the Mexican-American War in which the United States acquired California and other southwestern states - leading to disputes over the expansion of slavery and ultimately to the U.S. Civil War. The shots fired in 1836 reverberate across the southwestern United States today.
北美洲历史上影响最深远的战事之一，是175年前1836年4月21日发生在今天德克萨斯州休斯敦市东边的圣哈辛托战役。德州900名叛军击败了墨西哥1,500名正规军，赢得独立。这次战役导致美国和墨西哥的战争，使美国获得了加利福尼亚州以及其它西南部各州。当年休士顿的枪声至今还在美国西南各州回响。
Telling the story through re-enactment takes longer than the battle itself. In one of the biggest upsets in American history, the small Texas rebel force led by General Sam Houston swept over the Mexican camp in about 18 minutes.
4月16号，两万多人来到圣哈辛托战役纪念碑周围，重现了当年休斯敦将军率领德克萨斯反叛部队在18分钟内击败墨西哥军队的场景。
The Mexicans had easily won every battle before this one and perhaps were undermined by their own self confidence.
墨西哥军队指挥官安东尼·德圣安那·洛佩斯将军被俘后，命令部队离开德克萨斯。他签署了一份文件，承认这片土地独立。
After being captured, Mexican leader General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna ordered his troops to leave Texas. He signed a document giving the territory its independence, something officials in Mexico said he had no right to do.
At this re-enactment, staged on the ground where it happened, near the San Jacinto monument, Hilario de la Pena, a Mexican-American from San Antonio, Texas, played the role of Santa Anna, who was sent to Texas to restore order.
在这天的活动中，德州圣安东尼奥市的墨西哥裔美国人希拉里奥·德拉朋纳扮演当年奉命前往德克萨斯维持治安的德圣安那·洛佩斯将军。
De La Pena says he sympathizes with Mexico, but that he favors the side that won.
德拉朋纳表示，他同情墨西哥，但是他站在获胜者一方。
"Am I ambivalent? No. I am glad that Texas ultimately won. I was born and raised in San Antonio and so I am glad the way things turned out," said De La Pena.
他说：“我矛盾吗？不，我很高兴德克萨斯获得最后胜利。我生在圣安东尼奥，长在圣安东尼奥，所以我对事件的结果感到高兴。”
Many Mexicans still resent what they view as a land grab by the United States. But some of the rebels, like the famed Juan Seguin, were Mexicans. And De La Pena says their culture endures.
许多墨西哥人仍然对美国占有了这些土地心存怨恨。但有些著名叛军成员，例如璜·塞古因，就是墨西哥人。德拉朋纳说，他们的文化保存下来了。
"You see the Spanish culture still ever, ever present in the entire southwest," noted De La Pena. "And now Hispanic culture is throughout the country of the United States."
“你可以在美国西南部看到西班牙文化，而拉美裔文化更是渗透到美国的各个角落。”
Hispanics are the fastest growing ethnic group in the United States and are likely to become the dominant culture here in Texas and in other southwestern states in the decades ahead.
在美国，拉美裔人口的增长最快。未来几十年里，拉美文化在德州以及美国西南各州可能会占据主导地位。
Elizabeth Elizalde came to the re-enactment with her son Edgar.
伊丽莎白·伊利萨尔德和儿子埃德加尔一同前来观看这次历史事件的重演。
"I am a true Texan at heart; I was born here, so we came to cheer for the Texan side," Elizalde said. "But my parents, who are from Mexico, kind of tell history a little differently than what we learn here."
她说：“我是一个彻头彻尾的德州人。我出生在这里，所以我们为德克萨斯的胜利欢呼。但是我的父母来自墨西哥，他们讲的历史和我们在这里学到的有些不同。”
But she says Texas was separated from Mexico City by more than 1,000 kilometers of mountains and deserts. So even if Santa Anna had won this battle, he would not have been able to maintain control of Texas.
但是她说，德州和墨西哥城之间是上千公里的沙漠和山脉。即使当年德圣安那·洛佩斯将军打赢了，他也未必能住控制德克萨斯地区。
"Maybe there would have been a different battle and they would have lost because Mexico was so far away from this land that they were not able to control it well," Elizalde added.
On the other side of the monument, in the area where most of the heavy fighting happened 175 years ago, High School teacher Scott Griffin shows a group of students around.
纪念碑的另一边是175年前那场大战的主战场。高中老师斯科特·格里芬正在为一群学生讲解。
He grew up in this area and has studied the history all of his life. He says he understands that some people gained and others lost here.
格里芬在这个地区长大，曾经长时间当地的历史。他说，在那场战斗中，有人有所得，有人有所失。
"From the Mexican standpoint today, if I put myself in their shoes, it would be hard to argue that it was not lost territory, something that was once theirs that was lost," said Griffin.
“从今天墨西哥的立场来看，设身处地想一想，很难说这不是他们失去的领土，是他们一度拥有后来失去的领土。”
But Griffin notes that Mexico had very few settlers in what is now the U.S. southwest - including Texas - where warriors of the Apache, Comanche and other American Indian tribes held sway.
但是格里芬老师指出，墨西哥当年在今天美国西南地区，包括德克萨斯，只有很少人定居。印第安人的阿帕奇、科曼奇等部落的武士，控制着这些地方。
"Mexico could not get anyone to leave Mexico and come and live in this part of Texas during that time," Griffin explained. "And that is why Santa Anna opened up immigration to [what is now] the United States."
格里芬说：“那时候，墨西哥无法教任何人离开墨西哥，到这个地区来生活。这就是为什么我们说，是德圣安娜·洛佩斯开启了移民前来今日美国之路。”
Still some Hispanics in Texas trace their lineage back to that time and want to see all perspectives represented at the reenactment.
德州仍有很多拉美裔追溯着自己与那个年代的联系，并希望能够在当年战斗的重演中看到历史的各个方面。
Jessica Torres, 16, wore a Mexico tee shirt for the event.
16岁的杰西卡·托雷斯穿着一件墨西哥T恤衫。
"It is pretty cool to see the Texas point of view and it would also be cool to see the Mexicans' point of view. But I wore the shirt because it matches my pants," Torres said.
他说：“了解德克萨斯的观点和墨西哥的观点，都有很‘酷’的感觉。不过，我穿这件T恤衫只是为了和裤子搭配。”
So, in the years ahead, the story of this battle will be told over and over again, with a new generation of Texans, made up of many races and cultures reexamining history.
在未来的年月里，有关这场战役的故事还将被新一代由许多种族和文化组成的德克萨斯人不断讲述。
Whatever perspectives might emerge, the fact is that because of this battle and the Mexican-American War that followed, the United States doubled in size, became a bi-coastal nation and an important power on the world stage. And it all started here.
不论会出现何种诠释，事实是，这场战役和随后的美墨战争使美国的版图扩大了一倍，成为太平洋和大西洋环抱的国家，成为世界舞台上一个重要强国。 |