Republic of Texas’ President, Governor, Senator, Raven and Big Drunk March 2, 2010

Sam Houston's name First word spoken from the Moon

Rather Aristocratic Looking Sam Houston

On This Date in History:  There is only one man in United States history to have been elected and held the office of Governor in two different states.  He was also a member of the House of Representatives, a United States Senator and the President of a Nation.  He also spent a time as a member of the Cherokee Nation.  The Indian name he was given was said to have translated to “Big Drunk.”  He was a military hero, a general and a revolutionary.  His name is attached to the 4th largest city in America and it was the first word spoken by men from the surface of the moon.  On this date in 1793 he was born near Lexington, Virginia but the name Sam Houston is synonymous with Texas.

Relatively Young Sam Houston

In 1807, after the death of his father, the family moved to Maryville, Tennessee but when he was 16, he ran away and lived with the Cherokee Nation who subsequently adopted him under the name Colonneh, which translates to “the Raven.”  19-year-0ld Sam returned to Maryville in 1812 and supposedly opened a one room school house, the first  built in Tennessee.  That is questionable to me and the City of Maryville says the first schoolhouse there opened in 1797.  Anyway, a few years later,  young Samuel Houston served under the command of Andrew Jackson in the Creek Indian wars of the War of 1812.   He had showed great courage and bravado and his willingness to fight despite being wounded several times caught the attention of Old Hickory.  He and Jackson became friends. Jackson helped Houston gain a position as an Indian Agent to the Cherokee.    He resigned his commission, studied the law and was soon elected Attorney General of Nashville.  In 1823, he was elected to Congress from Tennessee.  After serving two terms in Congress, Houston was elected as the 7th Governor of the State of Tennessee at the age of 34. 

Artist Quite Flattering to Tiana

The next stage of his life is sketchy.  He planned to run for re-election in 1828 but he married 18-year-old Eliza Allen.  It is suggested that the marriage was forced by Miss Allen’s father.  Almost as soon as it began, rumors swirled of infidelity and drunkeness.  Houston resigned as Governor and went to the Cherokee lands in Arkansas.  There, he married a widowed Cherokee woman, Tiana Rogers Gentry.  He set up a trading post but apparently drank half the profits because he got a new Cherokee name: Big Drunk.  In 1830, he went to Washington, DC to be an advocate on behalf of the Indians.  He encountered a man from Ohio who opposed then President Andrew Jackson.  

Key Defended Houston After Penning Star Spangled Banner

Ohio Congressman William Stanbery took to the House floor and spoke indirectly against Jackson, by speaking ill of Houston by making accusations that Sam used his influence with Jackson to gain a contract  providing rations to Indians being removed to the Indian Territory on the Trail of Tears.  So, Houston met up with Stanbery on Pennsylvania Avenue and beat him with a cane.  Houston was arrested and pleaded self defense since Stanbery had pulled his pistol.  Now, Stanbery only pulled the weapon after Houston had attacked and, when he fired it into Houston’s chest, the gun misfired and spared Houston’s life.  Sounds like Bill Stanbery was the one doing the self-defending.    Sam hired Francis Scott Key, of Star Spangled Banner fame, as his lawyer but he was found guilty.  Nevertheless, intervention by influential men like future President James K. Polk resulted in just a light reprimand.  Stanbery then took him to civil court where a judge found Sam liable and ordered Houston to pay $500.  Instead of ponying up the money,  Houston fled the country.

General Sam Houston Took Charge

Houston decided to go to Texas, which was then controlled by Mexico.  His wife didn’t want to go but he left anyway.  Later, she married a guy named Sam McGrady.  Tiana died in 1838 of pneumonia.  By that time, Sam had set himself up pretty nicely in Texas and got involved in the independence movement of ex-patrioted Americans.  In 1835, he was made Major General in the Texas Army and a year later, named Commander in Chief.  The defenders of the Alamo gained hero status in the annals of Texas as they held out for 13 days in the small mission at San Antonio de Bexar against a far superior force under the command of General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna.  While Crockett, Travis and Bowie and their men were going out in a blaze of glory,  Houston was building and organizing his army.  In April of that year, Houston surprised the Mexican Army which was camped near present day Houston.  It had been less than 8 weeks since the Alamo and so, with the attackers screaming “Remember the Alamo,” the Battle of San Jacinto lasted just 18 minutes.   Houston forced Santa Anna to surrender and give Texas it’s independence.  The battleground is marked today by the tallest free standing column in the world. It was patterned after the Washington Memorial but a giant granite Texas star was put on the top to make it 15 feet taller. 

Just like America chose General Washington as it’s first president, General Sam Houston became the first President of the Republic of Texas.  Mirabeau Lamar followed him as the chief executive but Houston returned to office in 1841.  Houston engineered the recognition of Texas by the United States and also brought order to the economic and political condition of the fledgling country.  In 1846, Texas was annexed by the United States as the 28th state and Houston was elected to the United States Senate where he represented Texas until 1860.  Houston was a staunch unionist and could not stand having the Lone Star State vote for secession.  Though Houston was a slaveholder, he said that secession was illegal.  Nevertheless, the Texas Legislature voted for secession on February 1, 1861 and Houston was thrown out of office on March 16, 1861 after he refused to take an oath of allegiance to the Confederacy.  General Sam went home to Huntsville, Texas north of the small town of Allen’s Landing…the very town that would later bear his name. 

Sam Stands 67 Feet Tall on 10 Foot Base

Back in 1837, he finally got around to officially divorcing his first wife and in 1840 married Margaret Moffette Lea.  I suppose one could say that he still had an eye for the young girls; he was 47 and she 21.  He was still pretty prolific though because the couple had 8 children.  She brought him to Christianity and he became Baptist.  Supposedly, she got him to temper his drinking ways but it is said he still consumed spirits in the name of medicinal purposes.  He developed pneumonia and died on July 26, 1863. His dying words were said to be “Texas! Texas! Margaret!”  That quote is on his tombstone in Huntsville Texas.  Sam Houston has many monuments to him including a memorial museum, a U.S. Army base, a national forest, a historical park, a university, and the largest free-standing statue of an American figure.  The State of Texas has included his statue in Statutory Hall in the the US Capital and Neil Armstrong put the name Houston in the history books forever when he said “Houston, Tranquility Base Here. The Eagle Has Landed.” 

Sam in Statutory Hall

Just think what might have happened if he had not survived his wounds in the battles with the Creek Indians or if Congressman Stanbery’s pistol had not misfired.  Not sure if it would have changed the fact that Texas gained independence and later become part of the United States, but I do know it would have been different and certainly Texas would have been lacking perhaps the most colorful and decorated man in its long history.  Beside that, Houston sounds much better than Allen’s Landing.  Armstrong might have said, “Allen’s Landing…Tranquility Base Here..The Eagle has landed.”  Just doesnt have the same ring to it.

Weather Bottom Line:  It’s lame.  Upper 30′s, low 40′s Wednesday but we get better as the week ends with sunshine showing up and temperatures moving through the 40′s to upper 40′s by Friday afternoon. Then Saturday its low to mid 50′s.   Maybe some rain Sunday but…it’s a longshot…but I wonder about the potential for t’storms on Tuesday…maybe some tough weather someplace…not a forecast..but something that raises an eyebrow.  Hey..the season is near.

Midwest Flood Videos, 3 Legged Willie and Lady Liberty June 19, 2008

Our weather pattern will remain persistent and that is a good thing.  We’ll see afternoon highs in the low to mid 80′s through Sunday.  Overnight lows will be in the upper 50′s and low 60′s.  A northwesterly flow aloft will bring little disturbances through the flow periodically and they will bring isolated to scattered storms across the area should they move through during daytime heating.  Saturday will be the best chance for scattered stuff with more isolated afternoon storms possible on Friday and Sunday.  Next Wednesday morning a warm front comes through and with it the heat and humidity so enjoy this stretch while you can.

Three Legged Willie Arrived in Texas on this date in 1827.  He was Robert Williamson and his leg deteriorated perhaps from a run-in with infantile paralysis.  So, he stuck a peg leg on the end of his knee and used it as a substitute.  You can see his bad leg bent back on the top of the stump in the photo.  He was a scholarly man from Georgia who could have stayed in the Peach State as a southern aristocrat but instead chose the wildness of Texas.  He set up court in Shelbyville, Texas and used a general store for his courtroom and a dry-goods crate for a bench.  One of his first cases featured a man that slung down a Bowie knife on the bench.  As it stuck in the wood, the man declared that was the law in Texas.  Three Legged-Willie pulled out a pistol and said “this is the Constitution and it overrides all.”  He earned respect though, not through brutal justice like Judge Roy Bean,  but instead by persuading with his knowledge of the law, quick wit and courage.  He became a leader in the Texas Independence movement and is acknowledged today as a Hero of Texas.

Lady Liberty Arrived In New York on this date in 1885.  On America’s centennial in 1876, the French promised to give to the United States a great statue.  Part of the deal was that the Americans would be responsible for the base and the French would take care of the statue.  Trouble was, both sides were short of money.  The Americans didn’t get done with the base until April 1885 and the French didn’t finish the statue until 1884 and arrived on this date in 1885 in 214 crates in 350 sections.  Two of the photos above are from France as it was being constructed and the third is one of it being reassembled on its pedestal in New York.  It was dedicated in October 1886 by none other than our man Grover Cleveland.    The sculptor, Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi, needed engineering help to figure out how to build such a colossus.  So he got the help of Eugene-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Ducand Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel (Eiffel of Eiffel Tower Fame) to design and build the superstructure.  An American Minister ended his prayer at the dedication ceremony by saying in part: “God grant that it [the Statue] may stand until the end of time as an emblem of imperishable sympathy and affection between the Republics of France and the United States.”  I’m guessing he never heard of “Freedom Fries.”

Midwest Flooding Videos I found a link to a sight that is a treasure-trove of Midwest flooding video.  Some is from Network sources while others are from individuals.  It looks like that its updated often so come back and click on it from time to time to see the updates.

Flooding Video

Rain, Storms and the Republic of Texas March 3, 2008

Late Sunday the SPC identified an area well to our south for a moderate risk of severe weather for Monday night through early Tuesday. The map above is from Sunday evening. We are not in the slight risk. As I’ve been telling you for days, an area of low pressure will form along the front in East Texas. As it moves our way, rain chances will increase. We will probably get in the neighborhood of 1-3 inches of rain. In other words, its developing just as we’ve been saying for the better part of a week. There may be some minor flooding with this event. On down the line, we may need to keep an eye on the Ohio River as rain and snow melt early this week will cause a water rise toward the end week. Snow will be minimal and basically worthless as ground temperatures will be too warm to support much accumulation. We will have a fair amount of wind energy aloft that may come down to the surface in scattered t’storms late Monday, most likely Monday night or early Tuesday. That is why we are in the 5% range but not the slight risk. We will get so much rain that it should dampen our chances for rough weather and the best dynamics will be to our south. My guess is that the areas in the lower Mississippi Valley that had the biggest thumping from tornadoes on Feb 4 will be under the gun again. Our biggest threat will come from gusty winds and perhaps some hail. Rain amounts will be problematic in our area. Stay tuned to newschannel 32 for updates Monday on how this thing shakes out. Jay will really nail it all down for you.

On This Date in History: On this date in 1836, about 187 men were huddled in a mission at San Antonio de Bexar in the Mexican Republic. They were a band of Texicans…mainly expatriated Americans living as Mexican citizens. The Mexican government under the rule of General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna who had welcomed the new residents provided that they lived under Mexican law. Trouble was, these settlers to Texas were an independent sort and wanted to do things their way, which was often the American way. At that time, many Americans had slaves and these Texicans wanted to keep their slaves but Mexican law forbade slavery. This was one of the issues the Texicans had with the Mexican government.

Santa Anna had sent various armies into the region to restore order and make certain the settlers were well healed. But, his surrounding and siege of the Alamo put the Texans to the test.

On March 1, the leaders of the region got together and in one day wrote a declaration of independence. It was signed on this date in 1836 by many men, included Sam Houston. The former United States Senator from Tennessee and potential United States presidential candidate was put in command of the fledgling Texas Army and was made General. But he needed time to raise and train his army. So the men at the Alamo, with Texas heroes such as David Crockett, James Bowie and William Barrett Travis held out instead of retreating. Just 4 days after Texas declared its independence, the Alamo fell as the victorious Santa Anna gloated over the death of all 187 defenders.

The Texans got their revenge though because in April of that year, after weeks of retreating and running, General Sam Houston led his men to a site on Buffalo Bayou near the city that today bears his name. The Mexican Army was resting at its camp with Santa Anna said to have been in his tent with the famous spy, the Yellow Rose of Texas. Though far outnumbered, Houston’s Army defeated the Mexican Army and captured Santa Anna in just 26 minutes. Santa Anna was forced to capitulate and sign papers recognizing Texas’ Independence. Not to be a poor sport, Houston allowed Santa Anna to return to Mexico City. But, just like the Brits didn’t really accept America’s independence until the War of 1812, Santa Anna didn’t really accept the terms of Texas’ independence until he was defeated in the Mexican War of 1846 which was fought in a dispute between the US and Mexico over the boundaries of the then 28th state of the Union.

Prior to that date, Texas was an independent nation for ten years. It’s president…..Sam Houston. After becoming a state, Sam Houston served as a Senator; the only man to serve in the United States Senate from two different states. Houston then was elected governor of Texas but resigned at the outset of the Civil War after Texas seceded. Texas joined the Confederacy and lost the father of the country…just for a time. Today, Texans proudly recall the exploits of Sam Houston, who along with others Texas patriots, declared his independence on this date in 1836.

The flag above was the one flown at the Alamo. The 1824 was a reference to the United States of Mexico as recognized by a liberalized Constitution in 1824. The Texicans, or Texians, were initially in support of a larger revolutionary movement throughout Mexico that said its aim was to force the largely totalitarian government of Santa Anna to follow the Constitution.

Snow White says this sounds too much like a textbook and too much Texan-like. I say, so what…It’s Texas Independence Day!!!