Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1892-11-20
lAHLl-HINA'S GRAVE.
SADLY ROMANTIC STORY OF sam
HousToN's LIFE.


10 yon SEQ the little mas. ,,,..,
hra'e uown there by the creel. ., 49,
NY companion. pointing ~ S Vn
ssred,,, OF sage brush bordering lit1n
| That" he continued a., a.
oil sam Houston's ChoTo,,oa w, w grave
sam Houston's Cherol w " >,
shil !, not little surprised u, ~ ~
ialion, And is II fact Thai Uonlt,,,
nlhfred Cherokee woman WILL H.
ns IN the Cherokee nationYi
les, IT'S a fact" continual ,,,.
ii'' ra most certainly ii i, though
We been told thnt Houston's descnnd'
S,ii,. Ttote Always denied il and success
tb ~ iis aI " tnls unwritten chapter out of
ana patriot. Just why they have peraist,
ea IN doing this could never nnJer-
sulhu, Tor could they hive soon tiis
iiur maiden Of the Cherokee. whose
uuIk locks had never been stirred liz
shg ruder air than tho brecges OF provf-
uehce, ana whose rich transparent beam
~, peculiar TO the mixture Of Caucus
~ anu ihuian blood. was unriynled,
even by the fair daughters Of Vienna
they would not have denied her notice
IN the biography Of the Texas hero"
a, we ma by this time reached the lit
We patch of sage-brnsh wherein the
grave had been pointed out to nue. and /
proposed that we dismount nod exam
me the premises. l had before heard
lne story OF Houston aud his romnntic
nlnrringe 10 a pretty Cherokee woman.
but had supposed It more myth. Nog
to be brought face to face with this
convincing proof of the story, aroused
my curiosity TO such an extent that L
was Flau OF an opportunity To find out
all that l could about the matter
MY companion was an intelligent.
well-read, half-brced Cherokee who had
already bcguiled some three hours of
our uresome ride from Muskogee that
morning with his entertaining stories Of
Indian life. He was an ex-judge OF the
supreme court of his nation. with
mind stored with much OF the unwrit-
ten history Of his country. His gray
locks indicated that he had already
lived mans allotted three score years
and ten, and, possessing none OF the
reucent charlcteristics peculiar to
many Of his race. he was ALWAYS ready
when an opportunity afforded itself 10
relate some Of the Interesting Incidents
which happened In the early days of the
Cherokee nation.
After dismounting and hitchng our
horses TO some scruhby black Jacks that
stood by the roadside. we walked TO
the m0ss-grown mound Implanted nc
the head of the grave stood roughly
lFN u ANhANHlNtlt vi HhAlNt AlNlNlts ulfNu
the face of which was carved In an ir-
regular manner, the simple inscription:
"Tahlihina Sleeps Here"
That was all. Why Il more compre-
hensiye epitaph had not been inscribed
my friend could not explain.
Near the neglected grave were the
decaying logs. and tumbled-down chin
npy Of an old house. surrounded hy
brinrs and shumach bushes. Less than
n dozen yards to the east a babbling
brook raced plnyfully on It's downward
course to the Arkansas river half
mile below, blending its cheerful music
with the song of the birds and the mel
nncholy sigh of the tall cottonwood
trees that sdrtcd its banks on either
side.
And there" said my friend after
few moments Of silence, pointing TO the
heap of decnyine timbers, 'are the re-
mains of Sam Houston's house. 1t was
there that Houston and his little wife
with laughing eyes spent one brief year
of tnalloyed happiness. Yes, one short
year, for in the fall following their mar
rage, when the forests had shed their
robes Of summer green and the pralfies
We're brown and dry the young wife sick
eucd and died. Houston laid her forrest
there by the brook and on the eve Of his
departure for Texas he placed that little
tombstone At the head OF her grave"
After n little further examination Of
the lonely grave and It's surroundings, we
our horses aud continued our
journey to Fort Smith Before reach
Ing our destination, however. Judge
Brewer flor such was my fellow-tray-
eler's nnmel told me the following sadly
romantic story Of Houston's life which
he said he had got from Houston him
self and from the near relatives Of his
Cherokee wife, and which l thought
worth recording:
Eyes, / knew them both" he COM
Tier maiden nnGne was Rog-
Rogers and she was n
of one Of our proudest CherO-
kce families, being n niece Of old Chief
Jolly. one of the leading men Of his day.
parents died when she was
an infant and she was raised and cdu-
Gated by Jolly, who. though married,
had no children of his own. He loved
and treated her as he would have done
bis own daughter, sparing neither pains
taking nor money In layishing upon her
The best education that his country at
that time afforded. Sam Houston knew
her In Tennessee before the Chero-
KEGS removed to this country. /,
They grew up together, and young /
sam conceived n most ardent /
iTection for her. They attended school I
Ogetler in the same niue Jog mousse q
sam helping her along all that he could I
n her lessons, and his young heart glad /
Tened with swelling pride rs he saw /
ier learn and her pretty face grow bright |
n than the faces around her. Thus It .
vas that Sam and Tahlihina grew TO be
overs in childhood. aud il Is not at all
Itrange that the Cherokee maiden ever
lfter held warm place IN Houston's
ienrt. Ii was combination OF circnm-
tances that separated them while yet
ii their teens; Sam went away TO COM
,iete his education at college and ere
10 returned TRhlihina had removed with
Ter people to til country"
"Nicnnwhile she never forgot for a
law her gallant and ambitious young ae-
inaintance. and through the long years
which followed their first separation she
,oDtiuued 10 love him with the entire
freurth of a loyal feminine nature
hough nearly score OF summers came
nj went before she saw him again.
.iHouston returned from school, hril-
ant ana promising He entered into
allies and became the friend of Au-
row Jackson. achieved note Ia the war
I'm mo Greeks, and was finally elected
werner OF Tennessee. Then he mar
'e,I-not The woman he really loved,
M n brilliant and accomplished lady
,ifaLla 10 a man OF his rnnk-and they
ppnrcutly had every reason IA lhe "pItI
, be happy. But they were noti re GU
OF love her nor lid she love hlm.
"On the evening OF thrlr WeuninE-
nv Houston entered his wires ro,h
M found her weeplne bitterly re
N.N