ALAMO — The fort, first known as Fort Texas, was established in 1846 on orders of General Zachary Scott in what is now the Brownsville area. The fort on the northern bank of the Rio Grande River was ordered to set the boundary at the river as the U.S. southern border and to maintain control over the city of Matamoros on the south side of the river. Mexico viewed this as an invasion of its territory and the following year besieged the fort, initiating the Mexican-American War. One of the two Americans killed was Major Jacob Brown, for whom later the ...