Lone Star Nation (63 page)

Houston died in 1863, in the month of the battle of Gettysburg. He lived long enough to see his dire forecasts of the horrors of civil war come true, but not long enough to see the Union survive its greatest trial, nor to see Texas re-joined to the land of his birth. Though he mourned the losses Texas suffered during the war (his son was gravely wounded at Shiloh), he would have believed that democracy won in the end, as the American people secured popular government against the forces of particularism and disunion. And he would have been gratified to know that the two causes closest to his heart—the Union and Texas—could cohabit again in peace.

He had always thought that Texas and the Union were cut from the same cloth, that the republican principles of 1836 were indeed those of 1776. The lesson of both fateful years was that people must govern themselves, even if—or especially if—self-government required rebellion against forms and institutions received from the past, and even if the people were far from saints. Houston couldn't speak from personal acquaintance of the patriots of '76, but he would have been the first to acknowledge the imperfect pedigrees and mixed motives of those who fought beside him in the Texas revolution. Stephen Austin might have been above reasonable reproach, having lived as a loyal citizen of Mexico till Santa Anna overturned the Mexican constitution and drove him to revolt, but nearly everyone else was an opportunist of one sort or another. William Travis had abandoned his debts and pregnant wife to come to Texas, where he made trouble for the Mexican authorities as a way of making the reputation he had always coveted. James Bowie, having swindled himself into a corner in Louisiana, crossed the Sabine to continue his swindling on Mexican soil. David Crockett hoped to recover in Texas the political career he had lost in Tennessee. And of course Houston himself, crushed by love and dazed by drink, had traveled to Texas to find the man he had been before Eliza broke his heart.

But none of these, nor even most of the latecomers who arrived in response to the bounties promised to volunteers in the Texan army, were
merely
opportunists. They believed in liberty, as they understood the term. They believed in the rule of law and the right of people to govern themselves. Their victory was a victory for democracy, in the dawning age of democracy. If it was also a victory for slavery, this aspect of the triumph proved passing when democracy defeated slavery in the Civil War.

Houston was not religious, placing his faith in the people rather than in heaven. Yet he was forced to concede that the people, no less than heaven, sometimes worked in mysterious ways. The events culminating in the Texas revolution transcended morality, in the ordinary sense. Tens of thousands of Americans came to Texas to seek a better life. Some came legally, many others illegally. No force short of an army at the Sabine could have stopped them, so long as the opportunities in Texas were far greater than those at home. Certainly few of them felt any compunction about bending or dodging Mexican law in pursuit of their dreams. And after making Texas theirs by occupation, they saw no reason not to make it theirs by revolution.

Were they justified in doing so? Sensitive souls—the John Quincy Adamses of the era—complained that they were stealing land from Mexico. And maybe they were. But these were Americans, a people who were in the process of taking far more land from the native peoples of North America than the Texans took from Mexico (which itself, of course, was trying to take Texas from the Indians). If the Texans were guilty of theft, the people from whom they sprang were much guiltier. In any event, the sensitive souls who fretted about such things didn't frequent the frontier, where questions of survival took precedence over nuances of law.

For better and worse, Texas was very much like America. The people ruled, and little could stop them. If they ignored national boundaries, if they trampled the rights of indigenous peoples and of imported bondsmen, if they waged war for motives that started from base self-interest, all this came with the territory of democracy, a realm inhabited by ordinarily imperfect men and women. The one saving grace of democracy—the one thing that made all the difference in the end—was that sooner or later, sometimes after terrible strife, democracy corrected its worst mistakes. For a generation after San Jacinto, even the most ardent supporters of the Texas revolution had difficulty contending that the victory of Houston's ragged band had actually enlarged the area of human liberty. But when the Civil War terminated slavery, and as the American Southwest filled with people pursuing their own versions of the democratic dream, it was hard not to accept Houston's faith that the people ultimately got things right, and that the victory of the Texans was a victory for America.

N o t e s

The notes below cite sources of direct quotations and specific information that is not available in standard reference works. More general descriptions of events and personalities have been drawn from the manuscripts, books, and articles listed (and in many cases annotated) in the Bibliography.

Abbreviations

AP: Austin Papers

CAJ: Correspondence of Andrew Jackson

DCRT: Diplomatic Correspondence of the Republic of Texas

PCSH: Personal Correspondence of Sam Houston

PTR: Papers of the Texas Revolution

SWHQ: Southwestern Historical Quarterly

WSH: Writings of Sam Houston

Part One: The Banks of the Brazos (to 1828)

1. The Promised Land

“As to business”: Gracy, 27.

“The metal is mixed”: Jefferson, 150.

“on the Spanish side”: ibid., 151.

“abominably bad . . . Milk and Honey”: M. Austin, 524–26.

“None but those . . . more agreeable”: ibid., 527–33.

“It is fast improving . . . I have ever seen”: ibid., 535–40.

“In 1802”: Wooten, 1:441.

Eight hundred thousand pounds . . . $190,000: Gracy, 110, 128.

“What have I done”: ibid., 102.

“Would to God”:
AP,
1:333.

“To remain in a country”: ibid., 1:385.

“the agent of three hundred . . . orders given them”: Hatcher, 354–55.

“The proposal which he is making”: McClean, 1:301.

“a mere skeleton”: Gracy, 205.

“full confidence . . . to the Colorado”:
AP,
1:379.

“I returned from St. Antonio”: ibid., 1:384.

“I flattered myself”: ibid., 1:394.

“His fever was higher . . . he had commenced”: ibid., 1:409–10.

2. El Camino Real

“From this employment”: Cabeza de Vaca, 85.

“The food is poor . . . having no hunger”: ibid., 103–5.

“Throughout this region”: ibid., 176.

“Early in the morning”: Hammond and Rey, 242.

“I can assure you”: ibid., 170.

“God knows”: ibid., 174.

“It seemed as if there was a curse”: Weddle, 181.

“No one tells him anything”: ibid., 159.

“If an obscurity . . . make the most of it”: DeConde, 174.

“The business of volunteering . . . enterprise of our citizens”: Warren, 35–36.

“They are a rascally set”: ibid., 42.

“the People of the Province of Texas”: ibid., 52.

“decidedly the best looking . . . dangerous statesmen”: Calderón de la Barca, 65.

“All this is due”: Callcot, 16.

3. The People of the Horse

“Two bands were living”: Wallace and Hoebel, 9–10.

“anyone who wants to fight me”: ibid., 4.

“He makes but an awkward figure . . . fleet and furious”: ibid., 47–49.

“Thus many lives were saved”: ibid., 61.

“For days together”: ibid., 45.

“Each year at [a] certain time”: Kavanagh, 66–67.

“copious number of souls”: Castañeda, 3:341.

“And then began a cruel attack”: Simpson, 88.

“When we reached the mission”: ibid., 55–56.

“We found about twenty tents . . . to punish stealing”: Flores, 66–72, 79–80.

4. Don Estevan

“I hope and pray”:
AP,
1:93–95.

“exemplary and praiseworthy manner”: ibid., 171.

“This is one of the worst eddies”: ibid., 205–7.

“Sheet lead will sell”: ibid., 216.

“I have taken possession”: ibid., 300.

“add another most important item”: ibid., 291.

“My opinion of mankind . . . my family by living”: ibid., 359.

“When the day arrives”: ibid., 335.

“He is not rich . . . pay all off”: ibid., 374.

“I now can go forward”: ibid., 393.

“our intercourse has resulted . . . requires them”: ibid., 397–98.

“The land lies on the Colorado”: ibid., 399.

“This part of the country”: ibid., 450.

“Started from Camp Ripley . . . very black and deep”: S. Austin, “Journal,” 288–96.

“The Spaniards”: ibid., 296.

to give each family 320 acres of crop land and 640 acres of grazing land: Cantrell, 94.

“They must be governed by”: Wooten, 1:472.

“The land adjoining the river . . . beautifully rolling”: S. Austin, “Journal,” 297–306.

“On my arrival here”:
AP,
1:419.

“They are to assist”: ibid., 432–33.

“He was an European”: ibid., 814.

Austin estimated fifty settlers: ibid., 511.

“One night's deliberation”: ibid., 814.

“Fifty Comanches charged . . . going on tomorrow”: ibid., 487.

“The country from the River Medina”: ibid.

“the fountain head . . . perfect harmony prevails”: ibid., 504–5.

“I make a tender of my services”: ibid., 519.

“There has been and still is”: ibid., 561.

“Comrades!”: Callcott, 25.

“avenge themselves”: ibid., 21.

“Veracruz!”: ibid., 26.

“I cannot restrain my excessive joy”: ibid., 34.

“without extending to me . . . to my nation its freedom”: Santa Anna,
Eagle,
16.

“Go and put Veracruz”: ibid., 257 n. 8.

“Long live Anthony the First!”: Wharton, 20–21.

“the spark of liberty”:
AP,
1:588.

“Don Estevan F. Austin”: ibid., 590.

“with all my business . . . its being permanent”: ibid., 631.

5. The Three Hundred

“On this river . . . this wandering mode of life”: Dewees, 9–16, 21–23.

“We were several months . . . expenses had been paid”: ibid., 23–27, 29–36.

“I have just had the pleasure . . . on the Brazos River”: ibid., 42.

“Since my return from Mexico”:
AP,
1:695.

“There have been a great many . . . down their pale cheeks”: Dewees, 43–44.

“They are an exceedingly fierce . . . curdle in my veins”: ibid., 39–41.

“all the settlers able to bear arms . . . or on the river”:
AP,
1:715.

“Found at this encampment . . . Cannibal Creek”: ibid., 886.

“It is not our wish . . . suspicion on either part”: ibid., 930–31; also Cantrell, 138.

“To prevent such outrages . . . compelled to resort”:
AP,
1:702.

“We must be vigilant”: ibid., 682.

“I expect to spend my life”: ibid., 728.

“happy experience of many years . . . direction to the Federal party”: ibid., 657, 668–69. Cantrell, 128–29, discusses Austin's influence.

“On my arrival in the colony . . . this part of the Province”:
AP,
1:727–28.

“The most unequivocal evidence . . .
no black sheep in our flock
”: ibid., 716–17.

“I will receive any kind”: ibid., 680.

“I was one of the first men . . . apply to that authority”: ibid., 1076–7.

“I came to this colony . . . as any other man”: ibid., 1094.

“You should listen with attention and confidence”: ibid., 754.

The fee for a league was reduced to $192: ibid., 795; also Barker,
Life of Austin,
101; Cantrell, 154.

“Look at the difficulties . . . motives of self-interest”:
AP,
1:811–24.

“A report has been in circulation”: ibid., 872.

“I have done everything in my power”: ibid., 901.

“I am sorry to hear”: ibid., 868.

“You ask how I am getting on”: ibid., 869.

“If they do not do this”: Barker,
Life of Austin
, 152.

“Independence, Liberty, and Justice”: ibid., 168.

“The Americans in this end of the Province”:
AP,
1:1550.

“I am a Mexican citizen”: ibid., 1540.

“When I knew him in Missouri”: ibid., 1528.

“Great God”: ibid., 1539.

“They can send 3000 men”: ibid., 1557.

“I know that the Cherokees”: ibid., 1565–66.

“It is a duty which every good man”: ibid., 1588.

“tranquility is fully and firmly established . . . it ever did before”: ibid., 1610–11.

Part Two: Ravenous Democracy (1828–1834)

6. Love and War

“the wild liberty of the Red Men”: Lester, 22.

“Shoot him! Shoot him!”: Remini, 1:211.

“It is impossible to conceive”: ibid., 1:214.

“many of the enemy's balls”: ibid., 215.

“Our candidates for President”:
AP,
1:848.

“So you see the
Judas
of the West”: James, 442.

“I never saw such a mixture . . . what a pity”: Remini, 2:177–78.

“The canker worms”:
WSH,
1:13–14.

“The Greeks are struggling”: ibid., 21–22.

“My own confident opinion”: ibid., 25.

“The individual who was manifestly”: ibid., 27.

“literary bureau”: James, 56.

“I am charged”:
WSH,
1:106.

“Your friends here”: ibid., 1:72.

“I have not in my life”: ibid., 74.

“My firm and undeviating attachment”: James, 64.

“General, you have killed me . . . injured no worse”: ibid., 66–67.

“Houston stood six feet six”: ibid., 68.

“I will not court”:
WSH,
1:5.

“I am making myself”: James, 28.

“overwhelmed by sudden calamities”: ibid., 79.

“publish in the Nashville papers”: ibid., 84.

“About one o'clock”: Haley, 59–60.

7. To Defend the Revolution

“General Santa Anna acted without instructions”: Callcott, 55.

“My beloved friend and companion”: ibid., 69.

“I am going to send him”: ibid., 76.

“The buildings, though many are of stone”: Sánchez, 257–58.

“Ciudad de Béxar”: Berlandier,
Journey,
2:290–91.

“The character of the people”: Sánchez, 258.

“For months, and even years”: ibid.

“I have witnessed”: Berlandier,
Journey
, 2:291.

“The beauty of this country”: Téran, 45.

“On the eastern bank . . . to come inside”: ibid., 45–46.

“He is quite urbane . . . they seem happy”: ibid., 53–54, 217.

the colony's annual corn crop . . . the cotton crop at 240,000 pounds: ibid., 56–58, 218.

“The reason for the emigration . . . in the ports”: ibid., 56.

“I will remember for a long time . . . oozing lymph”: ibid., 62, 70.

“There is a crudely built cabin”: ibid., 74.

“A great number of the foreigners . . . to escape punishment”: ibid., 79.

“As one travels . . . their abject condition”: ibid., 97–98.

“the only one where they try . . . to bring his family”: ibid., 133–35.

he currently had 30,000 pounds: ibid., 144.

“This settler, despite the vast assets . . . they enjoy abundance”: ibid., 144–45.

“well-behaved people . . . is spent traveling”: ibid., 149–50.

“Nature tells them . . . unless measures are taken soon”: ibid., 32.

“On the frontier . . . just a few years”: ibid., 38–39.

“The department of Texas . . . many humiliations”: ibid., 178–79.

8. What Will Become of Texas?

“A more impolitic measure”:
AP,
2:405.

“They were becoming”: ibid., 405.

“They are well calculated”: ibid., 383.

“The idea of seeing . . . always be so”: ibid., 415.

“My objects in coming to Texas . . . To be destroyed!!!”: ibid., 380–81.

“No embarrassments . . . government on earth”: ibid., 417–18.

“I will die . . . strength this fall”: ibid., 416.

“Thou Shalt Not Muzzle the Ox”: McDonald, 48.

“my personal acquaintance with Mr. T.”:
AP,
2:711.

“At some of these houses”:
Visit to Texas
, 210.

A witness recalled him shouting: Davis, 270.

“Mexicans have learned . . . prosperous duration”: ibid., 273–74.

“He was young . . . ride alligators”: Bowie, 380.

“We continued to follow”: ibid., 381.

“Had Wright not been rescued”: ibid.

“twisted it to cut”: Davis, 215.

His balance sheet was impressive: ibid., 293–94.

They had nearly reached: This account of the San Sabá fight follows ibid., 299–304.

“I write to inform”:
AP,
2:832–33.

“I find myself”: Callcott, 84.

“Should I obtain a majority”: ibid., 87–88.

“I would not be a lover”:
AP,
2:811.

“On my arrival . . . liberty of the nation”: ibid., 825–26.

“The colony and all Texas”: ibid., 2:821.

“indulgence with mistakes . . . of the people”: Callcott, 96.

“I am not engaged”: Morton, 171.

“I have come to be”: ibid., 174.

“A great and respectable . . . What God wills”: ibid., 182–83.

he fell forward and took his life: Some contemporaries (and later some historians) suspected murder, probably at the behest of Santa Anna. Morton, 179–81, weighs this possibility and persuasively finds it wanting.

9. A Conspiracy of Volunteers

“Liberty and Union”: Peterson, 178.

“The Union of the States . . . I can reach”: Remini, 2:235–37.

“Those who told you . . . the first victims”: ibid., 3:23.

“The next pretext”: ibid., 43.

“I have with much pride . . . Sam Houston”:
WSH,
1:274–76.

“the most unhappy man . . . supply nature's wants!!”: ibid., 132–33.

“I am very feeble”: ibid., 140.