April 21, 2018 (Saturday )
On this day we celebrate the 182nd anniversary of the Battle of San Jacinto, in which Texas won independence from Mexico. Sam Houston was Commander-in-Chief of the Texas armies.
Houston was born in Virginia in 1793, but grew up in Tennessee. In those mountains, he learned to know and appreciate the Cherokee Indians and their customs. He later married into the “Cherokee Nation.”
He joined the military in the War of 1812, was wounded in the Battle of Horseshoe Bend, and rose to the rank of first lieutenant before resigning in 1818 to study law. He became a United States Senator in 1823 and governor of Tennessee in 1827. Afterwards he lived with the Cherokee until 1832, when he moved to Texas, where he became active in the movement for independence, and in 1836 was put in charge of the armies of Texas.
His soldiers defeated Santa Anna at San Jacinto (where he was wounded again), and he was elected first President of the Republic of Texas in October 1836. When Texas became a state in 1845, he was elected to the U.S. Congress for the third time. In 1859, he was elected governor of Texas, but was removed from office in 1861 because he opposed secession. He then moved to Huntsville, where he lived until his death in the summer of 1863.
A giant statue of Sam Houston captures your attention as you drive by Huntsville on Interstate 45. Drag mouse over statue. It is fitting that the statue makes you think, “bigger than life,” because that phrase describes the man himself.
Visit the San Jacinto Battleground.
BLOG REPUBLISHED FROM APRIL 21, 2014
Words and music by W. Lee O’Daniel, 1933.
You’ve all read the beautiful stories
Of the countries far over the sea
From whence came our ancestors
To establish this land of the free
There are some folks who still like to travel
To see what they have over there
But when they go look
It’s not like to book
And they find there is none to compare
To beautiful, beautiful Texas
Where the beautiful bluebonnets grow
We’re proud of our fore-fathers
Who fought at the Alamo
You can live on the plains or the mountains
Or down where the sea-breezes blow
And you’re still in beautiful Texas.
The most beautiful place that I know.
You can travel on beautiful highways
By the city, the village and farm
Or sail up above on the skyways
And the beauty below you will charm
White cotton, green forests, blue rivers
Golden wheat fields and fruit trees that bear
You can look till doomsday
And then you will say
That Texas has beauty to spare
Oh! beautiful, beautiful Texas
Where the beautiful bluebonnets grow
We’re proud of our fore-fathers
Who fought at the Alamo
You can live on the plains or the mountains
Or down where the sea-breezes blow
And you’re still in beautiful Texas.
The most beautiful place that I know.
In this song about beautiful Texas
There is one thing we just have to say
About six million people
Who’re proud that they’re here to stay
It’s great to be healthy and happy
And that seems to be our good fate
So let us all smile
For life is worthwhile
When we live in this beautiful state.
Of beautiful, beautiful Texas
Where the beautiful bluebonnets grow
We’re proud of our fore-fathers
Who fought at the Alamo
You can live on the plains or the mountains
Or down where the sea-breezes blow
And you’re still in beautiful Texas.
The most beautiful place that I know.