Show A ck k N A 44 A 7 R a ilk MA V T ON r 0 by ELMO SCOTT WATSON ITH the eyes of the nation turning toward houston Ll texas where the denio demo bratle party will viii soon be engaged sd in choosing its nominee ee for president it Is particularly appropriate that the name of the man for whom this city was named should be rescued from rom the comparative ob scurley which has baa been its fate and that the deeds and importance of this man to in our national history should be made better known to all americans there are thousands of cities and towns in the united states named after men but comparatively few ew of these individuals are worthy of having their names thus perpetuated if ever a man deserved that honor however surely it was san sam rl houston of whom it has recently been said unless old san jacento Jacl nto Is known and understood until he be ts Is given his just dues there can be no clear and proper understanding of the stars that stud the flag leave sam houston tl out of the story and the american chronicle Is a thing of gnps gaps slid and ninny many for not only did lie make history fit at various times imps but in a great critical period he be WAS history although three states slates vie for the honor of calling sam fl houston their own he belongs not only to them but to the whole nation so it li Is appropriate that the name ll houston should be upon the tongue of all americans within the next few weeks it Is also appropriate prop that there should appear at this time a new blo biography graphy of old san jacinto Jacl nto such as george creels creeds sam houston stork A colossus in buckskin recently by the cosmopolitan cook book corporation that sweeping characterization of houston the new biographer justifies fit Iff als tila statement between hernando do soto first to claie a trail through the wildernesses wilder nesses 0 of the now new world and kit carson last ot the great frontiersmen streams an endless procession of 0 tremendous ng fig urs ures homeric in courage and achievement flaming hugely against the dull hacku round of e uniformity yet not in the in whole colorful story of america Is there record of a more amazing career than that of sam houston the colossus in buckskin who won an empire tor for him la country prom from the cradle to the grave he h walked with drama As a boy he b ran way away from rom home bom to liv live 0 in the wig warns of 0 the cherokees Cheroke cs serving under andrew jackson jackcon in the war against the creeks l reeks he led the th charge that carried the indian breastworks receiving wounds wound that stretched him on the th ground tor for dead elected congressman and then governor eo vernor by the acorin adoring g ten nesse esse eans yen even the presidency w was a 8 not no t beyond h his I 1 hopes hope 8 yet that hap happened p en of which sent bent him into exile between t two wo mun guns I 1 seeking refuge with the cherokees cherokee f for or a see second 0 nd time drink and melancholy sank him to a dark level beneath the regard of men entering texas resolved to build a new life in a new land he lifted himself high above his degradation and when the colonists colonist 6 rose in rebellion against the brutal tyrannizes tyrannies tyr annlea annies of a mexican dictator it was a clear eyed indomitable houston who marshaled ragged volunteers conducted masterful retreats and finally rushed crushed santa anna and his army in a der day of slaughter his later years were no less packed with color and high accomplishment As president of the lone star republic ho be beat down the creeds impatience and vagaries of men building firm and enduring foundations under the tottering superstructure of government it was his shrewd statecraft pitting european powers against america that made annexation possible in the men ben ate of the united states although a southerner sou t berner and a slaveholder he braved the hate and anger of the south by an unflinching stand against slavery and secession contemptuous of threats against his life he returned to texas to run tor for governor on a unionist platform and won against overwhelming odds confronted with the necessity ot of declaring allegiance to the confederate states he suffered deposition rather than surrender hla his and walked out of office to the humble cabin that was his home old poor and proscribed but with his head such was waa the career which enables its chronicler to say by way of summary A gigantic towering figure well wall worthy to rank with the illustrious and admired of america yet save in the southwest born of his courage sam houstan Is but a name naine known 1 in detail only to the inquiring few out of the annexation of texas an eldan elon bion important enough in itself came the mexican war that added california now new mexico arizona nevada and utah to the union yet schoolbooks either ignore houstons Hous tons connection connect lop with these epochal events or else confine themselves to casual alii mislead ing mention his entire life Is as a ma matter ater of tact act constitutes s a contribution to americana ax as important as fascinating A soldier in the war of 1812 he 11 lived ye d to see the north and south lock in deadly grap grapple tyle and during the fifty crowded years that lay between he played a loading leading part in the national drama more than that sam houston percas better than any other stands stand 41 as a perfect p a r expression of the frontier cirit and his portrait to Is a composite of those thore amazing men wha rode the forest and plain its aj the vikings rode rod the sem sea reckless rec kloss dauntless indomitable simple as children craftier than the indian a arrogant and invincible in their courage a ge and pride of blood lawless yet curiously law loving and fleeing from civilization only to extend it never was a biography more moire intensely american while the average american way may be but faintly interested tn in the work of 0 houston the empire builder he cannot fall to be ba stirred by the deeds of houston uston the man we can admire the pure grit he displayed when he received that dreadful wound in the assault on the indian stronghold at tohopeka Toh but we must admire more the moral courage he be displayed when he faced a vast crowd of texans deplored their hasty decision for secession and dared to predict defeat for the south for it Is 13 far easier to do something spectacular with all the world applauding than it Is to stand square tor for a principle and to flout the mighty monarch majority small wonder then that three states should claim him as their own virginias claim lies in the fact that he was born march 2 1703 1793 at timber ridge in rockbridge county not far from lexington the son of samuel li houston who served in the revolution as one of daniel morgans stalwart riflemen and one of those flancer mothers who were tall and strong and a fit mate tor for such a man last year virginia with texas operating cooperating co erected a monument at that place and there each year memorial ceremonies are held on april 21 the anniversary or of sarn sam houstons Hous Lious tons greatest victory the battle of san jacinto Jacl nto when the elder samuel houston died in 1807 his wife took her six sons and three daughters daug liters with her over the alleghenies and established them a pioneer home on the borders of the cherokee nation in eastern tennessee so tennessee spreads upon the record of its contribution to national history that she sent sam houston to his first war under the leadership of her greatest hero andrew jackson la in his bli expedition against the creeks that she sent him to represent her in congress and that she later made him her governor texas claim to sara sam houston Is based upon events too well known to need repeating here the events themselves are well known but the significance alfi ance cance of these events and the man responsible tor for then them are not such common knowledge and that Is why the appearance of a new biography of houston houston at a time when it will be easiest for Ms his name to be recalled Is a happy circumstance virginia tennessee and texas may claim sam LI houston for their own but as his contribution to the building of the united states stales bec becomes onies better known these aree states must share him with all their sister common commonwealths weal for this colossus su i in buckskin like all other empire builders belongs to us ua all |