Dac Crossley's Western Blog

That Remarkable Sam Houston

Come with me back to Texas in March, 1836. It was a rainy Springtime. I'm sure the Bluebonnets and all were a-bloom. And those early Texians were fleeing from Santa Ana's army.

The fall of the Alamo set off a mad scramble that Texans recall as the "Runaway Scrape." Take what you can carry and scurry off to Louisiana where you'll be safe. General Sam Houston was among them, along with soldiers who would eventually become his army.

The new Government of the Republic of Texas happily appointed Sam Houston as General of a nonexistent army. That Government, on horseback themselves, directed him to turn and fight. The soldiers wanted to fight but General Sam kept them moving away. Toward Louisiana? Sam never revealed his plans. Yet it was clear that his rabble couldn't defeat Santa Ana's troops.

As a boy, Sam Houston ran away from home to live with the Indians in the Tennessee River Valley. It's a tale well told by Lucia St. Clair Robson in her novel, "Walk in my Soul," the story of Houston's Indian wife Tiana Rogers. That novel is a must-read! Sam took the dollar off the drum and went to fight with Andrew Jackson at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. Later elected Governor of Tennessee, he resigned when his young wife ran home to her mother. Sam caught up with Tiana in Oklahoma and lived with the Indians again. They called him "The Raven" at times. Other times he was "Big Drunk."

In March, 1836, General Houston rested among the settlers at Groce's Plantation on the Brazos. He tried drilling his troops, frontiersmen who didn't like discipline. It must have looked hopeless. Off they marched in the direction of the Sabine River and Louisiana.

Did Sam Houston intend to flee to US territory? He never said, but that's a good guess. Then -- fate intervened. Stay tuned.

Dac Crossley
March 24, 2019

"Americans believe that death is optional." -- Woody Allen.

Looking Back Down the Trail

When I check in with friends of my age, I can't help but take note of the relics they feel obliged to preserve. Mother's silverware and china, tucked away in a glass-front cabinet. Used maybe once a decade on some occasion or another. But a burden assumed by the surviving child, in full recognition that no grandchild will have a use for those souvenirs. The world has changed.

For me, it's Dad's cameras. They sit in a glass-front cabinet also. Relicts, now. You have a better camera in your cell phone.

You can still buy digital cameras in the big-box store, if you feel the urge for specialized photography. Old-fashioned film and photo paper is out there, on-line. Dad's film cameras aren't quite obsolete, not yet. When I gave Dad a digital camera he shut down his darkroom. He accepted the future.

We still have professional photographers, wielders of Hasselblads or Nikons, digital to the core. Still, I predict that's a vanishing profession. Like radio repairman, or TV repairman for that matter. We have grandchildren who've never seen a vacuum tube. Or owned a Brownie camera, or shot a roll of film in one.

No complaints. I have passed the torch to a swifter runner. Thanks for your tolerance when I trot out my old stories. Still, it hurts when I see a typewriter or a slide rule displayed in a museum case.

Dac Crossley
March 13, 2019

"Art and love are the same thing: It's the process of seeing yourself in things that aren't you." Chuck Klosterman.

March the Second, 1836

March 2, 1836, marked Sam Houston's 43rd birthday. You can bet he tossed back a few to celebrate. Former Governor of Tennessee, Old Sam had a lot of livin' yet to do, down there in Texas.

March 2 was also the date on which the Texas Declaration of Independence was signed in Washington-on-the-Brazos. A Committee headed by one James Childress took but one day to write the Declaration. Probably Childress already had it in his pocket. It Listed a host of grievances against Mexico. A few copies were printed and the Convention got right to work on a Constitution. A rush job because Santa Ana had his sights on them. Two weeks later the Committee adjourned and dispersed.

And Sam Houston? He was immediately appointed Commander-In-Chief of the Military Forces of the Republic of Texas. Where was that army anyway? Houston trekked down to Gonzales to gather what soldiers he could find, and there weren't many of them. On March 6 the Alamo fell to Santa Ana's army. Gonzalez was in Santa Ana's cross-hairs. General Houston began a retreat back to the north.

Yes, he was disappointed. The army he led was undisciplined. The men were anxious to fight but were no match for a Mexican army. And civilians packed up also and joined them in the midst of their retreat. Texans call this the "Runaway Scrape." They took what they could carry, burned the rest and headed off for the Sabine River and Louisiana.

Houston had his work cut out for him.

Dac Crossley
March 2, 2019

"I want a man who's kind and understanding. Is that too much to ask of a millionaire?" — Zsa Zsa

Gabor.