NPS

Students learn how a cannon works

The battlefield of Palo Alto is much more than just a scene of conflict. The site is also an ideal atmosphere for learning.

The events that transpired on the field in highlight broad themes of history, including American national development and westward expansion, the struggles of early-Republican Mexico, U.S.-Mexican relations, and military practices of the nineteenth century. The battle also opens a window onto the lifestyles, activities, and beliefs of individual participants; some who were famous in their time, some who would achieve later fame, and many who were unknown then and have been forgotten by history.

The prairie known as Palo Alto has its own lessons to offer. The broad field with its surrounding brush and thickets typifies the forbidding, yet often beautiful landscape of south Texas. The terrain is home to a variety of plant and animal species unique to the lower Rio Grande Valley. And, as communities of the region continue to push back this nature, Palo Alto is becoming an enclave where students may experience a landscape that is rapidly disappearing and learn about the changes in the local ecology.

The staff of Palo Alto Battlefield National Historic Site hopes to make this important site into a classroom and laboratory where human and natural history will come alive for students of all ages. As the park has developed, much emphasis has been placed on providing educational programming in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas and throughout the nation.