Revised version of the available one posted below.
Sam Houston (1792-1863) in 1826, when he was 33 years old. (This elegant photo is new to me. See below.)
He led the Texan Army to victory at the Battle of San Jacinto, the decisive battle in Texas's war for independence against Mexico. After the war, Houston won election in the 1836 Texas presidential election. He left office due to term limits in 1838 but won election to another term in the 1841 Texas presidential election. Houston played a key role in the annexation of Texasby the United States in 1845, and in 1846, he was elected to represent Texas in the United States Senate. (Wikipedia)
He is buried in Huntsville TX, in the same cemetery as many of my Rogers ancestors.
Here's a bit more of Texas lore, though it's a modern production of a movie, which included someone playing Sam Houston, of course.
John Wayne and the rest of the cast and crew on the set of "The Alamo" on Happy Shahan's ranch near Brackettville, Texas, 1960. The film cost 12 million dollars to make and required 1.25 million adobe bricks. The set took close to two years to build. John Wayne was to have portrayed Sam Houston, a bit part that would have let him focus on his first major directing effort, but investors insisted he play a leading character. So he took on the role of Davy Crockett, handing the part of Houston to Richard Boone.
Thanks again to Facebook's Traces of Texas. Isn't it neat that he counted the adobe bricks in the same sentence as the dollars?
Today's quote:
“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field. I’ll meet you there.” RUMI
I have never seen that movie, but I remember Davy Crockett.
ReplyDeleteIt's a bit too long, if I remember correctly...and of course we all know how it ends, so how to make a movie with a loss at the end must have been tricky. Haven't seen it in years!
Delete...I visited The Alamo years ago, it's impressive.
ReplyDeleteI visited it as a kid, when visiting my grandmother in San Antonio. THen I took my oldest 2 sons to see it when I went cross country camping with them in the 70s. We visited a great aunt and camped in our van in her parking lot!
DeleteThat's quite a bow tie and fancy lapels.
ReplyDeleteHe did wear some fine looking outfits, including buckskins at times.
DeleteInteresting post on Sam Houston. 12 million for brick seems like a lot of money, at least to me it seems like a lot.
ReplyDeleteTake care, enjoy your weekend!
Ha ha, I imagine having a camera crew, and stars with their own trailers would easily eat up a few million dollars...then there's building a fake Alamo too!
DeleteWe intended to visit the Alamo on my trip to San Antonio, but my friend wanted to visit a museum first. By the time we got there, it was closed.
ReplyDeleteIt's much smaller than I expected, after seeing the movie especially. But it is historic.
DeleteI'm having a hard time imagining John Wayne as Davy Crockett. I never saw the movie so that's part of it, but I'll always see Davy Crockett as Fess Parker. :)
ReplyDeleteI wonder if John wore the coonskin cap, in the Texas sun...ugh. Yes the TV show was very popular.
DeleteThe older picture of Sam Houston defines "a steely gaze." What an interesting photo portrait, and an interesting post.
ReplyDeleteI am surprised that the first one shows him with dark eyes, and then the second one looks as if he had blue eyes. Now I'm going to have to do some research on that!
DeleteI never knew John Wayne played Davy Crockett and I saw a lot of his movies. Didn't see the Alamo though.
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't one of his best, and apparently he tried directing it.
DeleteThat is quite a tie! I moved to Texas when I was 16 and knew the Alamo through film and TV. I sure was disappointed to find it in downtown San Antonio! And smaller than I imagined.
ReplyDeleteYes, that was my first reaction too...small and kind of dirty. Well, a battle site doesn't have to be pristine, I guess.
DeleteSam was quite a character.
ReplyDeleteI just re-read the Wikipedia article about him, and it's incredible how many political jobs he had in his lifetime!
DeleteWow! Old Sam was some kind of handsome young man! Just goes to show ya...
ReplyDeleteI suppose much of the stereotypes of Texans are derived from Sam Houston. His older photo shows a lot of character not unlike a Hollywood star. But his earlier image could not be a photo as in 1826 the camera hadn't been invented yet. Likely a photo of a painting or etching that was "colorized" or toned.
ReplyDelete