But in the last year members of the group, the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, have found themselves besieged and divided. Dissidents have accused the leaders of caring more about building a $36 million library and theater nearby than about preserving the site?s old church and priest?s quarters, the only buildings remaining at the Spanish mission where at least 189 Texan rebels died fighting the Mexican Army in 1836.

The cracked roof of the church, known as the shrine, continues to leak nearly four years after engineers recommended it be repaired or replaced, lending fuel to the criticisms. Calls to install underground barriers to keep moisture from destroying the famed limestone walls have also gone unheeded.

This summer, the attorney general began an investigation into the group?s finances and business practices, seizing thousands of documents. As the inquiry has gone on, donations have plummeted and speculation has grown that the state may take control of the site in downtown San Antonio. Editorials in The San Antonio Express-News and on local television have supported that idea.

?There is a kind of mini civil war going on within the organization,? said Richard Bruce Winders, the historian and curator of the Alamo. ?Unfortunately, the Alamo is caught in the middle.?

But beyond the controversy over maintenance is a larger debate over the future of the shrine and battleground, an emotional touchstone for many Texans. More than 2.5 million people visit it each year.

With 7,000 members, many from prominent Texas families, the Daughters, as they are known here, remain a political third rail no one wants to touch. State Senator Leticia Van de Putte, whose district includes the Alamo, says it would be politically impossible to remove the Daughters as custodians without hard evidence of wrongdoing.

?Until the attorney general makes his report, politicians will tread very carefully because the Daughters are so beloved in the state,? she said. ?But it?s not about them. It should be about the shrine.?

Still, Gov. Rick Perry clashed publicly this year with the Daughters over their attempt to trademark the words ?the Alamo? to generate more revenue from souvenirs, and he has signaled he might consider switching custodians. ?If the Legislature would like to consider exploring alternate ways to continue to preserve this Texas treasure, we would certainly be open to their recommendations,? said Lucy Nashed, a spokeswoman for the governor.

One sign of the governor?s wavering support for the Daughters has been his slowness to approve their plan to seal the roof with an acrylic sheath. Aides say he has delayed the plan pending further engineering studies and a review of other options.

The roof has become the focus for those calling for new management. Their complaints reached a peak last February when a patch of plaster fell from the ceiling and forced the closing of two rooms in the church. An engineer?s report in July said the building was safe, but recommended ?the roofing over the entire Alamo shrine be repaired or replaced.?

The group?s leaders have a vision: to build a three-story annex that would hold their organization?s library of historical documents, a theater, a recording studio and office space. The proposed building, next to the square where the battle was fought, would cost about $36 million.

?They came up with a big plan of all the grandiose things they want to build, and that?s what they need the money for,? said Sarah Reveley, a former member whose lengthy complaint to the attorney general?s office prompted the investigation. ?The preservation of the Alamo was also in the master plan, and they just ignored it.?