Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-12-31
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
I. C. M.

THE RAVEN: A Biography Of Sam
Houston. Marquis James. The
Bobbs-Merrill Co.
It is readily imaginable that Marquis
James set out upon the enterprise Of
Sam Houston" with no soldier reason
at the start than that his imagination
had been captured by this spectacular
figure, 1t would be. Sam Houston was
that kind OF man. The pursuit once
begun, though, broadened and deep
ened until, having caught up with his
quarry, Mr.. James discovered that an
/ important period of American history
stood revealed afresh by way Of the
personality and power, by way of the
| public career of this eccentric citizen
of the United States.
More of Job than it had looked
not only to project the man himself,
but to reset him validly in the big
matters that encompassed him. Mr..
| James, however, got himself good and
ready" for it, as the children saw. He
searched, and researched, every avail
able source of authentic fact concern
| ing the 70 years of Sam Houston'S
stormy passage from there to yonder.
He weighed Houston's public life in the
| fair scales of national service, or dis
service. And all this was only ma
terial, only part of the getting ready
facts unassailable, the recorded judg-
| mentS OF time, James own hold on
historic values. Months and years went
into this business of collecting and
| weighing.
These preliminaries over, then only
did the actual work begin. Nothing
less, this, than that of recreating q
man, that also Of setting this man
down, alive, in the midst of events
destined to stand as part of our ma
| tional foundations. And these events,
| as well, were to be re-embodied in their
| true substance, in their true signif1-
canoe. A very special piece of work,
calling for very special sort of man.
| Here he Is. A student first. A
dramatist next, advancing from minor
climax to the great finale by way of
q climbing series of incidents and
events-pauSe, suspense, then on again.
| A keen sense of fitness also Is q part
of this writer's equipment. And this
implies, along with weightier effects, a
feeling for humor, for the many humors,
and for the pathos also, that persistent
| ly ran along beside the main course of
| Sam HouSton'S life. Then, too, Mr..
James has a way Of his own with
words-a way that fits the spirit of
topic and theme, much to the readers
advantage and delight. Clipped talk;
the swift turn; the smiling satire upon
some special absurdity of the man in
the case; the ready running out to
meet oncoming incident or event with
| sympathy and gusto; the line of sound
Judgment, the point of Arm decision.
| The whole rounded to vitality and Sus-
tanned interest.
And, so, readers-meet Sam Hous-
, ton!
A man out of the past century whose
personal and political alliances, whose
| powers and whose weaknesses, identify
him as component part Of the period
in which he lived-a period that is set
OF, sharply, from our own. Sam Hous-
ton died while the Civil War was vet
unfinished. The war and its immedi-
ate settlements closed, in effect, the
original pioneer age of this country
| The new age, ours is also of the pioneer
spirit, but its field is in the domain of
science applied to the miracle of mod
ern existence. The older pioneer day
fought the wilderness, tanned the
Astounding wild life, conquered the In
dian, formed political parties and enun-
ciated theories to meet the need Of the
the present is, but from a different
standpoint and outlook. Sam Houston
was part of that earlier breed of pioneers
And what a figure he cut! How intense
were the hatredS that he inspired
How deep the loyalties that he drew to
himselfl
Representative; Governor of Tennes-
| see: OF to Texas as a soldier, Gen.
Houston, taking to his heart, and arms,
the political cause of Texas; hero of San
Jacinto and, thereby, the deliverer of
| that great Commonwealth; president of
this new republic; deposed by the voice
of the people when the Civil War put
the question of union or secession up to
the head of the State. Died in-well,
no matter. Everybody dies. Few, how
ever, lead up to that incident of in
dividual life by anything like the career
that Sam Houston won from time and
chance.
can old man under an cifOtree, smok-
| ing and thinking, still on the bourne of
the dream world that had drawn him
into the forest, boy with book and a
| rifle-the half mystic, half Snowman;
half poet, half sage"
This little sketch near the end Of the
! days Of Houston. Couldn't get along
with regular schooling. Plenty of boys
couldn't, and can't. Liked to read, to
sprawl and read all day long and half
! the night. So young Sam gave up
school. Taking his beloved book, the
Had, and his rifle, he went of into the
woods to live. He came into the camp
of the CherokeeS and stayed there. He
liked them. They liked him. He took
their dress. No half measures with
this lad. And always, because he
dressed and thought and behaved in
character, any character that he had
| adopted, correct people called him the
| Snowman" the maSquerader, the actor
Well, he was Of theatrical Stripe-but
what of 1t! A mere external that had
nothing to do with the mans patriotism
or fundamental good intent. However,
| these queer" ways piled up enemies
| for Sam HouSton'S undoing when the
| tide of popularity began to ebb. Then,
too, he damned himself with the
deadly sin of being unconventional,
different from the common run. That
first marriage Of his, SO suddenly
and speedily repudiated. left q mystery
Of sinister implication around the
satisfied the ravening curiosity of
the public concerning It, Then, too
when Houston had become q full
fiedged Cherokee he took to himself
Tiana, the Squaw wife. Unthinkablel
That all his life, this daring and au-
dacious man, fought the cause Of the
Indians against the iniquities Of Gov
eminent representatives, who cheated
and f1eeced them on every hand,
seemed hardly to count at all, when
set off against the sheer degrade
ton of being a Squaw-man. 1t is
terrible for a wicked man to try
to live even in q world of righteous
ness. So Sam Houston found it. A
good friend, faithful to death, he was
deserted by those for whom he had
labored. A man of ability and political
acumen, he was avoided because, for
Sooth he liked to parade In RaudY or