Sam Houston Biographical Sketch The politics of the Texan republic revolved largely around Houston.
Texans elected
Born in Virginia, Sam Houston (1793-1863) became a lawyer, congressman and
senator in Tennessee. After moving to Texas in 1832, he joined the growing conflict
between U.S. settlers and the Mexican government and became commander of the
local army. On April 21, 1836, Houston and his men defeated Mexican General
Antonio López de Santa Anna at San Jacinto to secure Texan independence. He was
voted president in 1836 and again in 1841, then served as a senator after Texas
became a state in 1845. Despite his pro-slavery views, he believed in preserving the
Union. He became governor in 1859, but was removed from office after the
secession of Texas in 1861.
The traits that distinguished Sam Houston in Texas would be evident well before he
settled there. He spent time among the Cherokee as a youth in East Tennessee,
acquiring his distinctive familiarity with Indians. His service during the War of 1812
demonstrated his military ability and attracted the attention of Gen. Andrew
Jackson. Houston became a Jackson protégé, and, later, a Jacksonian politician. He
represented Tennessee’s Seventh District in Congress for two terms before being
elected governor in 1827. Resigning suddenly in 1829 after the collapse of his
marriage, Houston spent several years with the Cherokee in Indian Territory. It was
at this time that Houston met and married his second wife, Tiana. The place of their
marriage is not known, but many suspect they were married at the Indian village in
the presence of Chief Oo-loo-te-ka. White society disapproved of the marriage.
They claimed it was not legal since Houston's first wife, Eliza Allen declined a
divorce. However, they were united in marriage according to Cherokee law.
The Raven and Tiana either bought, or built a large log cabin and named it "The
Wigwam Neosho" where Houston set up his famous Trading Post. The location of
The Wigwam is described as being, "near the Neosho River, a little above
Cantonment Gibson, and thirty miles from the lodge of Oo-loo-te-ka." Here
Houston engaged in trading, entertaining friends, and planting his apple orchard.
Several years later, Houston being a restless soul, took off to liberate the Republic
of Texas. He asked his Cherokee wife to go with him, but Tiana wanting to settle
down, refused to leave The Wigwam.
After armed struggle commenced in 1835, a provisional Texas government
appointed Houston commander of its army. He was at Washington on the Brazos
when independence was declared on March 2, 1836. Shortly thereafter, the fall of
the Alamo compelled the small force Houston led to retreat eastward from
Gonzales, trailed by panicked civilians. But at San Jacinto on April 21 his men
secured Texas independence by destroying a Mexican army and capturing its
commander, Mexican president Santa Anna.
him to nonconsecutive presidential terms (1836-1838, 1841-1844). In the interim
he served in the legislature. As president, Houston avoided open warfare with
Mexico, despite provocations on both sides, and reduced governmental
expenditures. He halted warfare upon Indians. The degree to which Houston shared
many Texans’ enthusiasm for American statehood is unclear. After the United
States spurned annexation in 1837, Houston courted England and France, hoping
either that American anxieties over European encroachment would encourage
annexation or that Europe would guarantee Texas independence. The Tyler
administration finally moved to annex Texas during Houston’s second term.
The annexation of Texas and the winning of territory in the consequent war with
Mexico accelerated divisions over the future of slavery in America. But, as Texas
senator (1846-1859), Houston was a leading voice against sectional agitation.
Although an unapologetic slave owner, Houston, like his mentor Jackson, insisted
that the Union in all cases be preserved. He was the only southern senator to vote
for every measure of the Compromise of 1850 and was one of only two to oppose
the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Increasingly at odds with other southern Democrats, even
in Texas, Houston gravitated toward the Know-Nothings. Attracted by their
unionism, he also endorsed their nativism. Houston’s fortunes hit bottom in 1857
when his gubernatorial bid failed and the legislature voted not to return him to the
Senate.
Houston managed to win the governorship in 1859. But his hope that sectional
tensions might be diffused and his own career advanced by the establishment of a
protectorate over Mexico came to naught, as did an effort to secure the
Constitutional Union party’s presidential nomination. Over Houston’s opposition, a
state secession convention met in January 1861. After a popular vote endorsed
secession, Houston accepted Texas’s leaving the Union but rejected any affiliation
with the Confederacy. The convention deposed him and, rather than accept federal
military support, Houston retired. He died in Huntsville, Texas.
The following resources were used in creating this sketch of Sam Houston:
History.com: https://www.history.com/topics/sam-houston
Cherokee Wife of Sam Houston:
https://sites.google.com/site/paradisetexashistory/articles/cherokee-wife-of-sam-
houston