Saluda remembers The Alamo with lecture at soldier’s home

March 7, 2004

By WALLACE McBRIDE Index-Journal senior staff writer

Actor Andrew Barrett brought James Butler Bonham to life this weekend. Barrett is shown here at Bonham’s birthplace in Saluda County. Bonham was killed at The Alamo, and his Saluda County home is the last standing residence for any of the men who died in that historic battle. SALUDA - Not much remains to mark the life of James Butler Bonham. The Saluda County native arrived in Texas near the end of November in 1835, and less than four months later was killed in the fall of The Alamo. Time has marched on, taking with it the physical records of the men killed in the battle. Their birthplaces and homes gradually fell into disrepair, decay and demolition. Bonham’s home in Saluda County is all that remains, the last-standing home of any soldier that participated in history’s most famous last stand. Saturday, Saluda County historians gathered at Bonham’s birthplace to mark the battle’s anniversary. “I was just planning to come and help restore the house, or volunteer at the museum,” said Andrew Barrett, who appeared at the home to lecture - in character and costume - as Bonham. “One thing led to another, and I wound up doing a theatrical performance as James Butler Bonham.” Once believed to be unsalvageable, Bonham’s home has been steadily renovated over the last decade. It was the preservation of the site that motivated the Charlotte, N.C., native to participate in Saturday’s event. A former living history specialist and tour guide at The Alamo, and recently returned to the Carolinas eager to become more involved with regional historical programs. He said he knew little of Bonham’s home before his time at The Alamo. “Growing up, I was told it’s just another old barn,” he said. “But it is the only original house still standing that an Alamo defender was born in.” Barrett is no stranger to historical drama. He has appeared as an extra in movies such as Last of the Mohicans, Gettysburg, Gods and Generals and this year’s The Alamo, which stars Dennis Quaid and Billy Bob Thornton. Marc Blucas, who appeared for three years in the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, plays Bonham in the film. Barrett’s involvement with both The Alamo fort and film was an educational experience on many levels, he said. “It gave me a really good insight into what the real story was all about - not what Hollywood depicts,” he said. It also got him closer to Hollywood’s latest depiction, leading him to give Thornton a private tour of The Alamo grounds. “He was quite unique, he’s quite a character,” Barrett said. “He’s nothing like tabloids of Hollywood depicts him to be. He was made for this part - he’s the new Davy Crockett.”