Evening star., 1909-06-27
SAN
ANNA

lieutenant to pull the arrow out. Twice
the lieutenant tried, but the arrow was
lodged too firmly.
TRY again." said Houston, hold,
ing his sword over his head. "and if
you fail this time I'll cut you down.
The lieutenant exerted all his
strength and the arrow came out, out
it left a horrible wound.
A little later Jackson called for men
for a particularly desperate charge.
Houston was one of those to respond.
Seeing how he was wounded, Jackso II
ordered him back. Refusing to obey,
Houston dashed out to lead the charge.
He got close to the Indians before lie
discovered that he was charging alone,
the others not having followed him.
Two bullets struck him in the shoulder
and his right arm was shattered. After
the battle his wounds were pronounced
mortal. One bullet was cut out. but
the surgeon said 1t was a waste of
time to give further attention to aim.
as he was near death and there were
scores of other wounded men to LOOK
after. All night Houston lay where ne
fell. There had been heavy rain, and
he was without cover. In the morning,
much to the surprise of his companions,
Houston was alive. He was put on u
litter and carried seventyfive miles
before he got medical attention again,
and then it was of the rudest sort. The
wounds he received in that battle never
than a skeleton.
X
Houston was promoted to lieutenancy
in the regular army. and by reason of his
influence with the Indians was assigned
to serve as subagent among the Chero-
KEGS. 1t was while he was in this service
that he had. a row with John c. Calhoun
that made them enemies for life Hous-
ton had conducted a delegation of Chero-
KEGS to Washington to present their griev-
ances to the government, and he went
garbed as an Indian. Calhoun, who was
Secretary of War, reprimanded him pub
licIy. Houston thought Calhoun's anger
was caused more by the fact that Hous-
ton had been active in preventing the
smuggling Of slaves from Florida, then
Spanish province, into the southern states
through the Cherokee lands, than by rea-
son of the young officer wearing Indian
attire. Houston resigned from the army,
and from that time forth was the i'm
placable political and personal enemy of
Calhoun.
Determining to be a lawyer. he returned
to Tennessee and began the study of
law. In six months he was admitted to
the bar. In 1919 he was appointed
prosecuting attorney of the Davidson dis
trict and the same year he became ad-
jutant general of the militia of Tennes-
see. In 1891 he became major general of
the militia and in 1923 he was elected a
representative in Congress. He served
two terms. While he was serving his
second term he fought a duel with and
seriously wounded Gen. William White.
In 1927 he was elected Governor of Ten
nessee and early in 1929 he was reelected.
In January. 1922. he married EiiZebath
Allen, daughter of one of the most promi-
nent men in the state, and on April 16,
three months after his marriage, he
caused an immense sensation by resigning
his Office and. turning his back on civil
ization once more, fleeing to the wilder
ness
To appreciate how much of sensation
this action caused 1t must be understood
that Houston was being considered as a
likely candidate for the presidency. An
drew Jackson was in the White House
and was the absolute master of the demo-
cratic party. 1t was expected that when
Jackson retired Houston would be his
political heir. Between the two men there
was an abiding affection, and Jackson
was the only man to whom Houston ever
deferred.
What added to the sensation was the