Client: General Electric. Online and on-site research creating missions for modern day treasure hunting mobile app. GEWonderground.com
Text from the Surrender Tree at the San Jacinto Battleground in Houston, TX:
Pause for a moment of reflection, friend, for here you see the birthplace of the Republic of Texas. What you might not realize is that you may also be looking at the birthplace of chewing gum. After his defeat at the Battle of San Jacinto, Santa Anna still had ambitions. A failed attempt at declaring himself president of Mexico during the Mexican-American War caused him to go into exile. He ended up in Staten Island, New York, where, at the age of 74, he attempted to finance his triumphant return to Mexico by selling chicle, a tree sap, as a rubber substitute. The man he sold it to, Thomas Adams, couldn’t use it as rubber, but realized the sweet sap made a heck of a chewing gum and created some brands you might recognize even today: Chiclets, Blackjack, and Adams Clove Gum. The Adamses made a mint. Santa Anna died destitute.