83S20600 BPG-D
By: Branch H.R. No. 150
R E S O L U T I O N
WHEREAS, July 26, 2013, marks the 150th anniversary of the
death of Sam Houston, a towering figure in Texas history; and
WHEREAS, Born in Virginia on March 2, 1793, Houston emigrated
to eastern Tennessee with his family after the death of his father,
and as an adolescent, he left home to live for a time among the
Cherokees; he joined the United States Army at the age of 20 and
fought the British under Andrew Jackson's command in the Battle of
Horseshoe Bend, receiving three near-fatal wounds; and
WHEREAS, Houston subsequently studied law and opened a
practice in Lebanon, Tennessee; with General Jackson's
endorsement, he was named adjutant general of the state militia,
and he was later elected attorney general for the District of
Nashville in 1818; he went on to become major general of the state
militia and then served two terms in the United States House of
Representatives before becoming governor of Tennessee; and
WHEREAS, In the wake of a brief, disastrous marriage, Houston
resigned from office and went to live among the Cherokees in what is
now Oklahoma; he took an active role in Native American affairs,
working as a peacemaker among tribes and serving as a tribal
emissary; after moving to Mexican Texas in 1832, he practiced law
and became involved in the Anglo-Texan movement for independence;
he served as a delegate from Nacogdoches to the Consultation of
1835, which appointed him major general of the Texas army; and
WHEREAS, In February 1836, Houston helped negotiate a treaty
with the Cherokees as a commissioner for the provisional
government; the following month, he served as a delegate from
Refugio to the convention at Washington-on-the-Brazos, where the
assembly adopted the Texas Declaration of Independence and
appointed Houston commander in chief of the Texas army; Houston set
high standards for his troops, and he ultimately led them to victory
over the Mexican army at the Battle of San Jacinto on April 21,
1836; and
WHEREAS, Acclaimed as "Old Sam Jacinto," Houston became the
first regularly elected president of the Republic of Texas; the
town of Houston, which was named in his honor in 1836, served as
capital of the Republic for most of his first administration;
because the constitution barred him from succeeding himself, he
represented San Augustine in the Texas House from 1839 to 1841
before returning to serve a second term as president; and
WHEREAS, When Texas joined the Union, Houston became one of
its two United States senators and served for 13 years in that
capacity; he was considered presidential material, but at home, his
staunch commitment to the Union became increasingly controversial;
although he was a slave owner himself, he drew the wrath of
proslavery elements by supporting the 1820 Missouri Compromise, the
1848 Oregon Bill, and the Compromise of 1850, all designed to limit
slavery north of latitude 36 degrees 30 minutes; in 1855, the Texas
Legislature officially condemned his opposition to the
Kansas-Nebraska Act, which repealed the Missouri Compromise, and
his future in the U.S. Senate was doomed; he met defeat in an 1857
gubernatorial campaign but was returned to the Governor's Mansion
two years later; and
WHEREAS, Houston vehemently opposed the swelling secession
movement during his term as governor, warning that civil war would
lead to the destruction of the South; desperate to avoid bloodshed
within Texas, however, he ultimately acquiesced to the secessionist
tide, but he refused to take the oath of loyalty to the Confederate
States of America and was removed from office; two years later, at
the age of 70, he succumbed to pneumonia at his home in Huntsville;
and
WHEREAS, A proud Texan and a prominent, fiercely loyal
American, Sam Houston played a monumental role in founding the Lone
Star State and setting the course of its future, and his colorful
life and extraordinary record of public service have continued to
fascinate and inspire Texans to the present day; now, therefore, be
it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 83rd Texas
Legislature, 2nd Called Session, hereby commemorate the
sesquicentennial of the death of Sam Houston.