European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - April 21, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Daily Magazine a portrait of Sam Houston who was a . Senator from Texas from 1846 to 1859. Culver pictures remembering Sam Houston National geographic using a skill he had Learned from his Indian friends Sam Houston held his ear tithe Earth. Not the faintest rumbling disturbed the morning Calm. He knew the guns had ceased at san Antonio. The Alamo had fallen. It was March 1836. Houston on his 43rd birthday had just joined other delegates on the Banks of the Brazos River in putting his name to a declaration of Independence for the new Republic of Texas. Then As commanding general of a Texas army he had set off to try to save the defenders of the Alamo. To no Avail. The troops of mexican despot Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna swarmed Over the Alamo s defenders and forced Houston and his army into a strategic Retreat. The Retreat paid off on april 21 with a historic Triumph. Remember the Alamo cried Houston s troops As they charged into the siesta stilled mexican Camp on the Banks of the san Jacinto River. Surprise was Complete. Twenty minutes later the carnage ended in total Victory for the texans. Sam Houston Lay in prideful pain beneath an Oak tree his right leg splintered by a Bullet. Santa Anna surrendered to him there. He had been captured while trying to escape disguised in civilian clothes. His Fine monday april 21, 1986 underwear had Given him away. Houston was elected president of the fledgling Republic. It was but the latest achievement for one of America s most extraordinary figures. Born in Virginia in 1793, reared in Tennessee a hero in Texas Houston cast a giant and colourful Shadow Over the history of his country until the civil War. As texans celebrate their 150th year of Independence in 1986, they recall a Man too Large for a single state. They remember the dual nature of Sam Houston a Man by turns coarse and courtly cautious and reckless a Man famed for ornate oratory and Mystic silences texan Bart Mcdowell wrote in the March National geographic. At age 15, Houston began a lifetime of championing Indian rights when he ran away for three years with a band of 300 cherokees. The tribesmen gave him the title of Colo Neh or Raven. Thereafter Houston regarded the Raven As his Talisman. Houston stood six feet six inches in his socks. A remarkably Well proportioned Man and of. Gallant bearing a contemporary wrote. His Shell shattered leg was t his Only War wound. As a Young officer in the War of 1812, Houston was struck by bullets and an Arrow while fighting Creek indians in the Battle of Horseshoe Bend in Eastern Alabama. His commander was Andrew Jackson. Jackson went on to win the Battle of new Orleans against the British without his wounded lieutenant but old Hickory s admiration for Sam Houston was fixed for All time Mcdowell writes. Under Jackson s Tutelage Houston became a . Congressman from Tennessee when he was 30 and governor when he was 34. After a Brief and unhappy first marriage in 1829, he resigned As governor sailed West on the Cumberland River rejoined his Cherokee friends and opened a trading Post in what is now Oklahoma. He drank heavily of ardent spirits As liquor was called. This brought him a new sobriquet from the indians of tse tee a Dee Tah Skee or big drunk. A few years later on a trip to Washington with a Cherokee delegation he found dramatic use for his Hickory Cane. He used it to whack an Ohio congressman William Stanberry who had accused him of dishonesty. In the ensuing fight Stanberry Drew a pistol pressed it against Houston s Chest and pulled the trigger Mcdowell writes. The charge did not explode. Houston disarmed the congressman then lifted Stanberry s feet in the air and struck him elsewhere As a witness delicately  Houston s leadership in Texas which was then part of Mexico began in 1832, when he bought land there and resumed his Law career. As president of the new Republic of Texas Houston faced daunting tasks. Texas was embattled and broke and its president lived in a Shack. Toward the end of his first term Houston again turned to liquor. Then Fortune smiled on him. At age 47, Houston married an alabamian Margaret Lea 21, and became an exemplary family Man. He was overwhelmingly re elected president of Texas. Eventually the Houston had eight children. When Texas joined the Union As the 28th state in 1845, Houston became one of its first two senators. Although he was mentioned As a possible presidential candidate he was dogged by his anti secession convictions. When he voted against the Kansas Nebraska act permitting the Westward spread of slavery his enemies were enraged. He defied them and ran for governor of Texas in 1857. Shirtless on the stump he bellowed was it for this i bared my bosom to the Hail of Battle to be branded a traitor in my old age he was trounced. But in 1859 he ran for governor again and won. Mark me he said in a Campaign speech the Day of secession will be written. In the blood of humanity. But secessionists were Busy and Houston had to take to the stump in 1860 to fight a secession ordinance. His oratory was hardly heeded. Only 18 Texas counties voted to remain with the Union 104 voted for secession. When the secessionist convention summoned him to renounce the Union Houston sat alone in the Capitol basement whittling on a stick. A Clergyman watching him heard the summons the Call thrice repeated Sam Houston Sam Houston Sam Houston but the Man sat silent immovable. Whittling steadily  the stars and stripes Page 13