Читать книгу Texas Got It Right! - Sam Wyly - Страница 27

with many Americans of Scots-Irish decent, Hous-

ton’s family history can be traced to Ulster, Ireland,

then across the Atlantic to Pennsylvania, to the

farms of the Shenandoah Valley, to Virginia, and

later to the mountains of East Tennessee. His Pres-

byterian upbringing engendered in him a respect

for the common man and for democratic ideals, and

his early life acquainted him intimately with the

value of hard physical work.

Abandoning a job at his family’s store in

Maryville, Tennessee, Houston left home at sixteen

to live with the Cherokee Indians on an island in

the Hiawassee River. To the Cherokees he was

known as the Raven. He adopted their language,

customs, and dress. Throughout his life, and espe-

cially in times of personal pain and uncertainty,

Houston turned to his adopted family for support

and guidance. His support for Indian nations put

him in conflict with his mentor, Andrew Jackson,

but Houston always held firm. “I am aware that in

presenting myself as the advocate of the Indians and

their rights,” he proclaimed to Congress, “I shall

stand very much alone.” But standing alone was not

something Houston feared.

That’s probably a big part of what drew him to

Texas in 1832. There was the lure of free land, sure,

but there was also the promise of building a future

unobstructed by conventional viewpoints and hierar-

chical political systems. Like so many others, Houston

was immediately caught up in the enthusiasm of the

Texas Revolution. Never hesitant to use strong words

or to take up arms for a cause, Houston became com-

mander-in-chief of the Army of Texas. In that capacity

he issued his eloquent and effective Call to Arms

against the Republic of Mexico in December 1835.

Years later, as a senator, Houston foresaw the cat-

aclysm that would become the Civil War. He urged

his fellow legislators to support the Compromise of

1850. In a stirring speech he invoked the scripture

with the words “a nation divided against itself cannot

stand.” It wasn’t until eight years later, as the nation

hurtled toward the disaster Houston had tried to

avert, that Abraham Lincoln made those words

famous for posterity. In short, Houston was a man of

arms who deemed keeping the peace the noblest deed

of the mighty.

Opposite: Sam Houston circa 1861. This page, left: This flag was

flown at a fort near Goliad before being destroyed during the

massacre there. (Houston had initially ordered his troops to

retreat, but he was not heeded until too late.) Right: The 576-foot-

tall San Jacinto Monument is the world’s tallest column, taller than

the Washington Monument. Its 220-ton star commemorates the

site of the Battle of San Jacinto.

TEXAS GOT IT RIGHT!

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