Rocker Phil Collins has been cleaning house at his home in Switzerland, and Texas history is about to benefit.
Collins was scheduled to the Alamo on Thursday to announce that he is donating his collection of artifacts from the Alamo to the former mission and Texas revolutionary fort.
The 63-year-old singer-drummer wants to find places for some of his material legacy and wants to keep his Alamo collection together, said Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson.
"We're both at an age where we're starting to think, `What do you do with your stuff?' He just has a lot more important stuff than I do," Patterson told the San Antonio Express-News.
Some of the artifacts could be placed on display at the Alamo within a year, Patterson said.
The Texas General Land Office manages the downtown San Antonio shrine to Texas independence, and Collins is said to have the world's largest private collection of Texas Revolution artifacts, Patterson said.
The General Land Office is developing plans for an Alamo visitors' center to provide more space to exhibit artifacts about the fort and the 1836 battle that made it famous.
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Collins has said he owns "hundreds" of cannonballs, documents and other artifacts from the Alamo, with his most prized item being a receipt signed by Alamo commander William Barret Travis for 32 head of cattle used to feed the Alamo defenders.
Collins' interest began in his youth as he was a 5-year-old English lad who saw actor Fess Parker portray Davy Crockett in a 1950s Disney miniseries. Parker, whose hits include "In the Air Tonight" and "One More Night," has said he has passed on his appreciation for the Alamo lore to his five children.
