I'm Welcome back, everyone to 1001 Heroes, Legends, Histories, and Mysteries Podcast.

This is your host, John Haggardorn, and we're glad to have you with us today.

Today, the city of San Antonio, Texas, where this story takes place, is very proud of its heritage

and offers a wide array of hotels, restaurants, sites, and entertainment for those who travel

there.

Over 14 million people visit the San Antonio River Walk each year.

It's actually a park filled with lights, attractions, river rides, concerts, and restaurants,

all set among winding pathways and bridges flanking the San Antonio River

and all the brainchild of a young design genius with a vision.

His name, Robert H. H. H. H. Huggman. It's amazing what one man or woman with a vision can do.

And I say woman, because when Huggman shared his ideas with the women of San Antonio,

who were in charge of oversight and development, That's when the pocketbooks opened and a dream

became a reality. In 1921, the resulting floods from a hurricane had devastated San Antonio,

killing dozens, and setting San Antonio back on its heels financially. Hugman, a young architect,

had lived in New Orleans for three years and was impressed with how they recreated the French

quarter there, combining the cultural heritage of the town with its history and giving the city its

own unique flavor unlike any other. Huggman was able to solve the flooding problem, restore a sense

of pride and heritage in San Antonio, and create a mecca for tourists all in one fell swoop.

The Riverwalk has opened 365 days a year and busy as well. As I write, Christmas of

2021 is now in sight. The holiday lights on the Riverwalk will be dazzling visitors, and weather

permitting, there will be boats packed full of Christmas carolers winding their way past crowded restaurant patios.

Quite a different site than the one Alvar Nunez Cabezza de Vaca, a shipwrecked Spanish explorer,

...