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58th Congress \
Id Session t
House of Representatives
Document
No. 474
STATUES
uF
SAM HOUSTON ««rf
STEPHEN F. AUSTLN
Erected in Statuary Hall of the
Capitol Building at Washington
Proceedings in the House of Rep-
resentatives on the Occasion of
the Reception and Acceptance of
the Statues from the State of Texas
Compiled under the direction of the
Joint Cnmmittee on Priming
Washington
Government Printing Office
1905
AN\
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Proceedings in the House 5, 7
Address of Mr. Cooper, of Texas 9
Address of Mr. Richardson, of Tennessee 23
Address of Mr. Burgess, of Texas 40
Address of Mr. Clark, of Missouri 49
Address of Mr. Stephens, of Texas 60
Address of Mr. Gibson, of Tennessee 73
Address of Mr. Field, of Texas $2
Address of Mr. Pinckney, of Texas v9
Address of Mr. Wallace, of Arkansas ioi
Address of Mr. Gillespie, of Texas ill
Address of Mr. Slayden, of Texas 1 27
Proceedings in the Senate 142
3
THE
1
v> so
B1X4. No. 3
ACCE1
TAXCE OF S'
TON AND ST1
'ATUES OF SAM HOUS-
PHHX F. Al STIN.
PROCEEDINGS IN THE HOUSE
MARCH 25, 1904.
Mr. Burleson offered
A concurrent resolution (H. C. Res. 53) that the State
of Texas be, and is hereby, authorized and granted the
privilege of placing in Statuary Hall of the Capitol statues
of Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin — to the Com-
mittee on the Library.
APRIL 2, 1904.
STATUES OE SAM HOUSTON AND STEPHEN F. AUSTIN FOR
STATUARY HALL.
Mr. Burleson. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent
for the present consideration of House concurrent resolu-
tion No. 53, which I shall send to the desk and ask to have
read.
The Clerk read as follows:
Resolved by the House of Representatives 1 the Senate concurring), That
the State of Texas be, and is hereby, authorized and granted the privilege
of placing in Statuary Hall of the Capitol the statues I made by the sculptor
Elisabet Ney, of Texas 1 of Sam HOUSTON and STEPHEN F. AUSTIN, both
of whom, now deceased, were citizens of Texas, illustrious for their his-
toric renown, and that same be received as the two statues furnished and
provided by said State in accordance with the provisions of section 1N14 of
the Revised Statutes of the United States.
5
6 Acceptance of Statues of
Resolved further, Thai a copy of these resolutions, signed by the pre-
siding officers of the House of Representatives and Senate, be forwarded
to his excellency the governor of Texas
The SPEAKER. Is there objection to the present con-
sideration of the resolution?
There was no objection; and the resolution was con-
sidered, and agreed to.
On motion of Mr. Burleson, a motion to reconsider the
last vote was laid on the table.
Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin
PROCEEDINGS IX THE HOUSE
JANUARY 20, 1905
STATUES OK SAM HOUSTON AND STEPHEN F. AUSTIN.
Mr. Cooper of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous
consent for the present consideration of the resolution
which I send to the Clerk's desk to be read.
The Speaker. The gentleman from Texas [Mr.
COOPER] asks unanimous consent for the present consid-
eration of the resolution which the Clerk will read.
The Clerk read as follows:
Resolved by the House of Representatives, That the exercises appropriate
to the reception ami acceptance from the State of Texas of the statues of
Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin, erected in Statuary Hall, in the
Capitol, be made the special order for Saturday, the 25th day of February,
at 3 o'clock p. m.
The Speaker. The question is on agreeing to the reso-
lution. Is there objection? [After a pause.] The Chair
hears none, and the resolution is agreed to.
FEBRUARY 25, 1905.
STATUES OF SAM HOUSTON AND STEPHEN F. AUSTIN
The Speaker. The Clerk will report the special
order.
The Clerk read as follows:
Resolved, That the exercises appropriate to the reception and accept-
ance from the State of Texas of the statues of Sam Houstc pn and Stephen
F. Austin, erected in Statuary Hall in the Capitol, be made the special
order for Saturday, the 25th day of February, at 3 o'clock p. m.
8 Acceptance of Statues of
The SPEAKER. The gentleman from Texas [Mr.
Garner] will please take the chair. [Applause.]
Mr. COOPER, of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I offer the fol-
lowing resolutions.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the
resolutions.
The Clerk read as follows:
Resolved by the House of Representatives [the Senate concurring),
That the thanks of Congress be presented to the State of Texas for pro-
viding the statues of Sam HOUSTON and STEPHEN V . AUSTIN, illustrious
for their historic renown and distinguished in civic services.
Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions, duly authenticated, he trans-
mitted to the governor of the State of Texa^.
Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin
Address of Mr. Cooper, of Texas
Mr. Speaker: All civilized and semicivilized peoples
have made the effort to perpetuate in some tangible form
the- memory of their great and noble dead. This memo-
rial sometimes assumes the form of a monument, some-
times the form of a tomb, or temple, or a pyramid, or a
relief upon the walls of a palace, temple, or tomb.
Often, however, it takes the form of a statue chiseled
from stone or hammered from metal.
Even before the dawn of history, when civilization, as
we know it, first began to lift its head above the hilltops of
ancient Judea and Phoenicia, Egypt, that enigma of the
ages, alreadv hoarv with its untold centuries of civic and
political life, was filled with colossal images of its earlier
kings, whose epitaphs were carved in a language even then
(King with aye. In later centuries the kings of Assyria,
and, still later, those of Persia, followed the example of the
Egyptians and wrought out impressive images of their
kinjrs in metal and marble.
In the ancient temples of India are found statues of un-
known antiquity commemorative of the virtues of Brahma
or Buddha. The totem poles of Alaska, the rude images
of ancient Peru, the primitive attempts at sculpture among
the Aztecs of Mexico, alike attest that even among savages
and semicivilized peoples this custom prevailed, and that it
is born of a universal instinct.
io Acceptance of Statues of
In ancient Greece commemorative sculpture reached its
freest and fullest expression. The ( Greeks at first filled
Athens with the images of every god and goddess, every
faun and satyr, every- naiad and nymph known to their
mythology. But the Greek mind was expansive and origi-
nal. It had repudiated the doctrine of monarchy and
kingly assumption of divine right to rule, and had estab-
lished the first democracy. Recognizing that a good citi-
zen might deserve the gratitude and remembrance of his
countrymen as truly as might a king, the Greeks preserved
memories of their poets, their historians, their philosophers,
and their military heroes.
Rome and the modern world have feebly copied Greece
in thus honoring those whose eminent services to their
country or to humanity have entitled them to such recog-
nition.
The Government of the United States, appreciating the
historical value to future generations of the collection of
the statues of those who were prominent in our earlier his-
tory, has invited each State in the Federal Union to erecr
in Statuary Hall two statues in honor of those two of her
citizens whom it might deem most worthy of that distin-
guished honor.
In hearty compliance with this invitation, the State of
Texas has placed in that hall the statues of Sam Houston
and Stephen F. Austin.
The early history of Texas was stirring and eventful.
( In the border land between the widely different — often
antagonistic — civilizations of the progressive Saxons and
Sam Houston and Stephen F. .lust in n
the conservative Latin it was first a theater cm which the
scenes of exploration, colonization, oppression, insurrection,
revolution, invasion, and independence were presented in
quick succession. Then for a few perilous years it existed
as an independent republic, threatened by Mexico, courted
bv European nations, but long repulsed by the United
States in its efforts to secure a union with that country.
Then came annexation, followed by a war with Mexico,
which permanently determined its international boundary
and forever fixed its place as a member of the American
Union. Superadded to the incessant activity born of this
stirring social and political life was the necessity of pro-
tecting the country from the repeated raids of the Indians.
These original owners of the soil hovered like a dark storm
cloud over the western frontier, and many a trail of blood
and tire marked their savage inroads across the steadily
advancing line of settlements.
This strenuous life called for and called forth men of
great and versatile talent. The enterprise of the pioneer,
the daring of the scout, the industry and skill of the
farmer, the courage of the soldier, the wisdom of the legis-
lator, the genius of leadership, the talent for organization,
the skill and tact of diplomacy were all needed to shape
the destinies of the young State. There was no lack of
able men, gifted by nature and trained in this practical
school, to supply every social and political need.
Rich in men of the highest type, bewildered by an im-
posing arrav of sons worthy of every honor, our State has
found it no easy task to make the selection imposed by the
12 Acceptance of Statues of
act of Congress, but the task has been simplified by the
reflection that the fame of those not thus selected is in no
degree dependent upon memorials like these, but is secure
in the records of history and in the memories of their ad-
miring fellow-citizens.
Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston! The founder
and the preserver! Each the complement of the other.
Without Austin to build States no Houston would be
needed to liberate them from oppression or to defend them
from aggression; and without the sheltering and conserv-
ing genius of a HOUSTON, vain would be the work of those
who lay the foundations of States amid the solitude and
savagery of the desert. Happy and wise, then, was the
choice that linked these two ^reat characters together in a
common memorial, as the two great originals were asso-
ciated in working out, in different ways, a common destiny
for one of the greatest of the American Commonwealths.
[Applause.]
STEPHEN F. AUSTIN.
The two distinguished men whose statues have been
presented here were born in the same State (Virginia) in
the same year, 1793. Though thus of the same age, yet
Austin's connection with Texas history began many years
before the arrival of his great colleague, and death removed
him from the scene of their common labors more than a
quarter of a century before the career of HOUSTON was
ended. Yet, in the 43 years of his life, he earned as sound
a title as that of any man of his generation to the grateful
remembrance of the people of Texas.
Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin 13
A popular historian, in contemplating the work of this
famous pioneer, said :
If he who, by conquest, wins an empire, receives the world's applause,
how much more is due to those who, by unceasing toil, lay in the wilder-
ness the foundations for an infant colony, and build thereon a vigorous
and happv State! Surely there is not among men a more honorable des-
tiny than to be the peaceful founder and builder of a new Commonwealth.
Such was the destiny of Stephen F. Austin.
No truer estimate than this can be made of the work
of AUSTIN. While he was yet a young man, the dying
request of his father, Moses Austin, led him to come to
Texas t<> complete a scheme of colonization into which
hi- father had entered. Soon after his arrival in Texas,
in the summer of 1S21, changes in the organic form of
the Mexican Government made it necessary for him to
go in person, by the most primitive modes of travel, to
the City of Mexico, more than 1,000 miles distant,
to secure a confirmation of the contract made with his
father. Successive Mexican revolutions brought on
several forms of government, each of which invalidated
the acts of its predecessor; and Austin was thus compelled
to remain at the Mexican capital more than two years.
Such, however, was his diplomatic ability that he suc-
ceeded in securing from each dominant faction, in due
succession, a full ratification of the contract originally
made with his father by the Mexican Government.
Returning to Texas he found his colony rapidly disin-
tegrating through the influence of a lawless element that
had entered Texas during his absence. His contract
with Mexico had conferred upon him judicial and military
powers which rendered him almost independent of the
14 Acceptance of Statues of
local government. This fortunate circumstance not only
gave free scope for the exercise of his great administrative
abilities, but it brought order, peace, and prosperity to
the colony. Violence and lawlessness disappeared under
his rigid but just rule. Industry was encouraged, provi-
dence and thrift were inculcated, trade was fostered, public-
spirit awakened, civic pride developed by his precept and
example. He neglected marriage. He built no home
for himself, but lived among his colonists as a common
guest of the community, heartily welcome at every fireside.
He lived among them as a father and friend, a trusted
counselor in every trouble, a faithful nurse in sickness, a
provider in time of need, a guard in the hour of danger,
an umpire whose ever-just and ever-satisfactory award
settled disputes, a judge whose decision ever found unques-
tioned acceptance among the litigants, a patriarch whose
paternal influence bound together his widely scattered peo-
ple in the bonds of a common brotherhood. [Applause.]
But Austin's diplomatic skill fully equaled his ability
as an executive. At the head of a commission sent by the
.Mexican State of Texas to the Mexican capital, after much
suffering and great trials, he secured such modifications of
existing federal legislation as would secure the people of
Texas in the enjoyment under the Mexican flag of a more
liberal measure of political justice.
At the outbreak of the Texas revolution Austin returned
to Texas, and was at once sent to the United States as a
commissioner to secure the recognition of Texan independ-
ence, and his able presentation of his country's cause paved
Su/u Houston and Stephen /■'. Austin 15
the way, first for the recognition of Texan independence,
and, later, for annexation to the United States.
The organization of a permanent government for the
new Republic of Texas and the conclusion of a treaty of
peace with Mexico divested Austin's mission of its impor-
tance, and he returned to Texas to find, to his great joy,
that the country had at last secured a form of government
which guaranteed its people every right for which its sons
had so valiantly contended in arms. A few months after-
wards he was stricken down and quickly passed away,
amid the lamentations of all the people of the State he
had founded.
His life was indeed that "simple life" of which we have
heard so much in praise, and yet it was one of ceaseless
toil, varied duties, great responsibilities, arduous privation,
dangerous adventure, and frequent disappointment. It
called for great industry, unlimited patience, high diplo-
matic talent, unwearied persistence, a broad sympathy for
his fellow-man, and a sublime effacement of self and self-
interest that he might the more thoroughly consecrate
himself to his noble mission. How well he succeeded the
world knows.
He left no wife and children to perpetuate his name and
race; but a nation wept at the news of the death of their
gentle, patient, sympathic, self-denying friend and coun-
selor; and to-day, after the lapse of three score years and
ten, no name is more fragrant with pleasant memories in
Texan hearts or evokes a more ardent sense of gratitude
and reyret than that of Stephen F. Austin.
16 Acceptance of Statues of
SAM HOUSTON.
The life of Sam Houston was one full of romance,
and yet characterized by seriousness of purpose and
clouded by tragic incident. Born in Virginia in 1793,
he removed to Tennessee in early life and there lived
near the Cherokee Indians. The primitive life of these
simple people made a deep impression on his youthful
mind, and there is little doubt that this influence abided
with him through life.
The time and place of HOUSTON'S early life concurred
to fit him for the career which subsequently opened up
to him. During his early youth and young manhood
there raged about him and throughout the entire country
a storm of discussion of the meaning and interpretation
of the provisions of the lately adopted Federal Constitu-
tion. Chief Justice Marshall sat upon the Supreme
Bench. Jefferson was still living and teaching the doc-
trines of the Declaration of Independence. Hamilton
had but lately died, but he had left behind him a school
of admirers to echo his advocacy of centralization and
life tenure, his distrust of the people, and his reluctance
to admit them to a full control of the Government. The
Kentuckv and Virginia resolutions and the alien and
sedition laws lashed public sentiment into a fervor of
excitement. The wisdom of the Louisiana purchase was
still in debate. The war of r8i2, the Hartford conven-
tion, and the Government's Indian policy kept popular t
interest wide awake, while looming up into the foreground
of the near future were the Monroe doctrine, the Missouri
Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin 17
compromise, nullification, and 'the United States Bank.
Into this whirlpool of political turmoil had fate cast
Houston's youth and early manhood. His mind grasped,
in comprehensive outline, the salient features of each
question, and his whole public career was characterized
by nigged strength of conviction, clearness 1 if statement
and understanding, and a controlling regard for the
public interest. As a fearless ami faithful soldier for
five vears on the Indian frontier, he gained the
knowledge of the art of war, which no doubt proved
of great value to him when years afterwards upon the
plains of Texas, with an army far inferior in numbers,
discipline, and equipment, he confronted and afterwards
crushed the Mexican army under Santa Ana, the vaunted
"Xapoleon of the West." Resigning from the United
States Army, he chose the law for his profession, and
entered a career seemingly full of promise. He rose
rapidlv to distinction in his profession.
He was the pupil, if not the protege, of Jackson, and his
life-long friend, personally and politically, and from Jack-
son, to some extent, was gathered that spirit of independence
and firmness which strongly marked his whole official life.
Houston" was elected to Congress from the State of Ten-
nessee in 1823 and again in 1S25. He left Congress in
1827 to accept the governorship of Tennessee, to which
high position the people of that State had called him.
Two vears later, under the shadow of a great domestic
sorrow, he resigned his place as governor and sought
seclusion among his old friends, the Cherokee Indians, in
the Indian Territory. From the solitude of his secluded
H. Doc. 474, 58-3 2
iS Acceptance of Statues of
life among the Cherokees he heard the first faint murmurs
of the coming Texas revolution. With his strong sense of
justice he recognized the right of the questions involved in
that revolution, and with characteristic promptness he
removed to Texas in 1832 and espoused the cause of right
and justice.
Within a year from the date of his arrival in Texas he
was made a member of the first (San Felipe) constitutional
convention and placed at the head of the military arm of
the provisional government then and there instituted.
He was also a member of the second convention (New
Washington). This body adopted a declaration of inde-
pendence, and Houston' was again chosen commander in
chief <>f the Texas forces then being marshaled to resist
the invasion of the Mexican army under Santa Ana. The
world knows the history of that campaign, of the battle of
San Jacinto, the annihilation of the Mexican army, the
capture of their commander in chief, and the subsequent
and consequent recognition of Texan independence.
Houston's victory at .San Jacinto was so complete that
even the enemy accepted it as final, and not another gun
was fired on Texas soil.
It would have been strange if, after his eminent services
to his newly adopted State, HOUSTON had not been chosen
as the first President of the new-risen Republic of Texas,
which his generalship had saved from extinction. He
served the Republic in that capacity from 1S36 to 1838.
His policy was marked by the same traits that characterized
his official life in all other stations — economy in public-
expenditures, justice in dealing with the Indians, strict
Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin 19
regard for private right with all classes of citizens, and a
tenacious adherence to whatever course he had once decided
on as right. Men of this character invariably meet with
bitter opposition, and HOUSTON was no exception to the
rule. Yet he retained that thorough respect from his
critics which honestv of conviction always inspires; and the
wisdom of his administration as the first President of the
Texan Republic was attested by the fact that he left the
Republic at peace with the Indians, friendly with Mexico,
and with its treasury obligations at par.
From 1839 to 1841 he was a member of the Texan Con-
gress, was reelected President of Texas in 1841, and during
the dark davs of the Republic's infancy, when it was
encompassed by financial and political dangers and seemed
on the verge of ruin, HOUSTON'S strong personality, his
steadfast faith in his country's future, and his strong per-
sistence saved the Republic from abdicating its place among
the nations and seeking absorption into some European
state.
Foreseeing with prophetic eye the brilliant destiny await-
ing the American Union, and recognizing the superior
political and commercial advantages that would accrue to
the Texan people by the consolidation of their Republic
with its more powerful northern neighbor, he took the first
step toward annexation and remained a steadfast advocate
of that policy until its final consummation.
The new .State of Texas, in prompt and liberal recog-
nition of his distinguished services, sent him to the United
States Senate, where for twelve years he was a central
figure in a bodv of men numbering among themselves
20 Acceptance oj Statues of
some of the ablest statesmen of American political history.
With Calhoun and Webster, Clay and Benton, he discussed
the great questions of that day; and linked with them
in their strenuous official careers during his earthly life,
he now shares with them the full measure of political
immortality.
The closing act of his official life was in strict keeping
with the character of the man. Being required to take the
oath of allegiance to the new Confederacy into which
Texas had entered, he could not stultify himself by casting
lightly aside the fruits of that union with the United States
for which he had long anil successfully labored. He de-
clined to take the oath, resigned his position as governor
of Texas, and retired to the shades of private life, carrying
with him the unstinted respect, the high admiration, and
the profound gratitude of all his fellow-citizens.
In 1863, amid the fierce clamor of that great civil war,
which perhaps forms the most memorable landmark in the
march of the Anglo-Saxon people up the centuries of
political progress, HOUSTON passed into the calm and
peace of that world peopled by the spirits of "the just made
perfect." In a simple grave, devoid of show, lie the re-
mains of the plain man ami citizen who in life shunned
all pretense and display. Around him, spread out in the
golden glory of a southern sun, stretches out in boundless
reaches of plain and prairie and plateau the magnificent
State he helped into being, protected in its infancy, and
ably represented in these halls in its early maturity.
Sam Houston and Stephen /■'. Austin 21
AUSTIN AND HOUSTON.
Mr. Speaker, the generation that knew these men and
loved them and honored them has nearly passed away,
and a swarming population is now building the super-
structure of a mighty .State on the foundations so solidly
laid by Austin and Houston. Two beautiful cities and
two popular counties preserve on Texan soil the names
of her two noble sons, and their statues, chiseled in marble,
perpetuate their memories here; but if, as has been said,
the most enduring monuments are those we build in the
hearts of men, then the fame of Austin and HOUSTON
is indeed secure, for as long as the great Commonwealth
by the southern sea stands as a bulwark of freedom and
a monument of heroic achievement, go long will the
names of these two men endure.
Austin and Houston! The founder and the liberator!
Fellow-citizens of the United States, admit these statues
to their rightful place in this Hall of Fame. Texas
offers them as her' proud contribution to this impressive
symposium of American greatness. As the countless hosts
of visitors from every land pass through this Hall these
memorials will impress upon them the fact that, despite
all our commercialism and love of wealth and show, the
American people still measure men by their merit, and
that thev honor, without respect to birth or class, those
who have served their country well. And if the evil
dav should ever come — in some far-off centurv, if at all,
we hope — when our ideals shall have changed and our
free Republic shall be replaced by the rule of a man or
22 Acceptajice of Statues of
class, may these statues still look clown from their ped-
estals into the upturned faces below and tell in speechless
eloquence of that happy long ago when this circle of
heroes and statesmen and sages lived upon earth and each
gave his life's best work to found and perpetuate a
government which, ruled by right and justice, will reflect
the glory of God and promote the good of man. [Loud
applause.]
Sam Houston and Stephen /■'. Austin
Address of Mr. Richardson, of Tennessee
Mr. Speaker: Texas, imperial in her area and resources,
honors herself when she places the statues of Sam Hous-
ton and Stephen F. Austin in the Memorial Hall of
this Capitol. Others have spoken to-day, and still others
will vet speak of both of these men, but in what I shall
say I shall refer alone to HOUSTON. In the brief time-
allotted reference can be made to only a comparatively
few of the incidents and events in his long, varied, unique,
and sometimes thrilling career, and they can barely be
mentioned, while much, very much, that is of surpassing
interest and importance in his life must necessarily be
omitted. It is peculiarly appropriate that Texas should
honor Sam Houston, for while he was born in \ 'irginia
and grew to manhood in Tennessee, and there won the
verv highest position in the State, and in fact to all
intents and purposes made himself a Tennessean, yet at
last it was in Texas, before and after she became a State
of the American Union, that he reached the zenith of his
fame. It was in Texas that he not only won renown for
himself, but made the very name Texas a synonym for
all that stands for patriotism, courage, and heroism. I
shall not put forth the claim that HOUSTON alone won
this glorious distinction for Texas, for there were other
heroes and patriots, whose names I have not time to
barelv mention here and now, who justly shared it with
24 Acceptance oj Statues oj
him. There is one, however, I am constrained to name,
because he, too, was a Tennessean, a native of that State.
I refer to the immortal Davy Crockett. [Applause.] He
was born in Tennessee, and represented one of her dis-
tricts on this floor for three Congresses. He was at last
drawn to Texas by her thrilling story and the burning
desire to assist her in her heroic struggle for liberty and
independence. At the Alamo he gave his life to Texas.
HOUSTON and Crockett! What a priceless legacy Ten-
nessee bequeathed to Texas in these two men — men whose
names stand for courage, duty, and heroism, and are indis-
solubly associated with both States!
Houston was horn March 2, 1793, in Rockbridge
County, Ya., and was of Scotch-Irish descent. When he
was quite young his father died and his mother removed
with him, when he was only 12 years of age, to Blount
County, Tenn., and located near the line of the Cherokee
Indians. As a boy he spent much of his time with these
Indians, became warmly attached to them, and was
adopted by one of the chiefs. His early life was spent
there in their new home on the banks of the beautiful
stream which gave its name to the State, and he was a
frequent inmate of the wigwams of this Indian tribe. It
was here that he first tasted the pleasures of that romantic
and undisciplined mode of life characteristic of the red
man, and which possessed a strong fascination for him, as
it has often been shown to possess even for those reared in
the lap of luxurious indulgence. At the age of 20 years he
enlisted in the Seventh United States Infantry and fought
with desperate bravery through the Creek war. In the
Sam Houston and Stephen /•'. Austin 25
battle of the Horse Shoe, where he was badly wounded, he
attracted the attention of General Jackson, who caused him
to be commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Regular
Army. His wounds were so severe that he was borne to
the home of his mother in East Tennessee on a litter. In
1 818 he was promoted to be a first lieutenant. Soon after
his promotion, and while John C. Calhoun was Secretary of
War, his conduct in connection with the smuggling of
negroes from Florida into the United States was criticised
by the War Department, and he resigned from the Army.
An investigation was had, and it was conclusively shown
that the charge against him was unfounded; that he had
actually endeavored to prevent the smuggling, and he was
completelv exonerated. He then made his home in
Nashville, Tenn., where he studied the law. In 1S19 he
was elected district attorney ; was early thereafter appointed
adjutant-general of the State, and in 1821 was elected
major-general of State Militia over strong opposition. He
was elected to Congress from the Nashville district, in
which General Jackson resided, in 1823, and was reelected
in 1S25.
During his second term he fought a duel with Gen.
William White, of Nashville, whom he wounded. As a
member of the House he met his old comrade and com-
mander, General Jackson, who was then a United States
Senator from Tennessee, and as they each served on the
Military Committee of their respective Houses, they were
frequently officially brought together. In Congress he
acted with Jackson, and in opposition to the policies of
John Onincy Adams and Mr. Clay, and gave high evidence
26 Acceptance of Statues of
of ability and statesmanship. In [827 he was the suc-
cessful candidate for governor of Tennessee, defeating
Willie Blount and Newton Cannon, both men of much
ability, and each of whom at different times was chosen
governor of the State. In all of these contests he was
the ardent friend and partisan of General Jackson, which
fact doubtless had influence in aiding him in each con-
test to win the victory. While governor of Tennessee,
in January, 1829, nc married Miss Eliza Allen, the
daughter of a highly influential and prominent family in
Sumner County. Three months thereafter he suddenly
separated from his wife, resigned from the office of gov-
ernor, and, without a word of explanation, left the State
and went to the territory west of the Mississippi River,
and again settled among the Cherokee Indians, making
his home with the old Indian chief who had adopted
him in early life. His resignation was highly sensational,
and throughout the State of Tennessee a storm of vitu-
peration was raised against him that was not easily
quelled. Governor HOUSTON, with emphasis, declined to
i^ive to the public any reason or cause for his course,
yet he did not hesitate to say that the cause of the sep-
aration from his wife in no way affected her character.
( >n the date of his separation from his wife he addressed
a letter to the speaker of the senate of the Tennessee
legislature, Mr. Hall, who was to succeed him, under the
law, in the office of governor. This letter has remained
buried in the archives of the Tennessee Historical Society
at Nashville, and I believe was never published until
recently, when a prominent gentleman (A. S. Colyar) at
Sam I {tut stun and Stephen F. . lust in 27
Nashville, a man of ability and literary attainment, gave
it to the public in a valuable work written by himself,
entitled the "Life and Times of Andrew Jackson." He
savs of this letter that "the original is in a small, round
hand, signed in clear, hold hand, without an error in
spelling or punctuation, and would pass for the product
of a man of high literary attainment. In sentiment,
delicate in touching his great family affliction, and beau-
tifully remembering the nation's great soldier who had
been more than a father to him, and in separating from
a people who had so honored him, no attainment in lit-
erature could improve it." I will reproduce this letter,
as it will assist in illustrating the character of this
main sided man. It is as follows:
Executive Office,
Nashville, Tenn.K April /r>. 1829.
Sir: It lias become my duty t<> resign the office of chief magistrate of
the State, and to place in your hand the authority and responsibility, which
on such an event devolves on you by the provisions of the constitution.
In dissolving the political connection which has so long and in such a
variety of forms existed between the people of Tennessee and myself, no
private affliction, however deep or incurable, can forbid an expression of
the grateful recollections so eminently due to the kind partialities of an
indulgent public. From my earliest youth, whatever of talent was com-
mitted to mv care, has been honestly cultivated and expended for the
common good; and at no period of a life, which has certainly been marked
by a full portion of interesting events, have any views of private interest
or private ambition been permitted to mingle in the higher duties of public
trust. In reviewing the past I can only regret that my capacity for being
useful was so unequal to the devotion of my heart, ami it is one of the few
consolations of my life, that even had I been blessed with ability equal to
mv zeal, my countrv's generous support in every vicissitude of life has
been more than equal to them both. That veneration for public opinion
by which I have measured every act of my official life, has taught me to
hold no delegated power which would not daily be renewed by my con-
stituents, could the choice be daily submitted to a sensible expression of
28 Acceptance of Statues of
their will. And although shielded by a perfect consciousness of undi-
minished claim to the confidence and support of my fellow-citizens, and
delicately circumstanced as I am and by my own misfi irtunes more than the
fault or contrivance of any one, overwhelmed by sudden calamities, it is
certainly due to myself and more respectful to the world, that I retire
from a position which, in the public judgment, I might seem to occupy by
questionable authority. It yields me no small share of comfort, so far as
I am able of taking comfort from any circumstance, that in resigning my
executive charge, I am placing it in the hands of one whose integrity
and worth have been long tried; who understands and will pursue the true
interests of the State; anil who, in the hot r of success and in the hour of
adversity, has been the consistent and valued friend of the great and good
man now enjoying the triumph of his virtues in the conscious security of
a nation's gratitude.
Sam Houston.
To ( Jen. VVm. Hall,
Speaker of the Senate, Tennesset -
I wish here to emphasize one passage in this letter, as I
deem it worthy of especial notice, and it may be com-
mended to all politicians. It seems to me to be the refine-
ment of delicate sentiment. The clause of his letter to
which I refer is this: "That veneration for public opinion
by which I have measured every act of my official life has
taught me to hold no delegated power which would not
daily be renewed by my constituents could the choice be
daily submitted to a sensible expression of their will."
Houston was of a tall and commanding figure, im-
posing in appearance, pleasant and affable in demeanor,
and of popular manners. Public speaking and political
oratory had not been so fully developed in his day as
now, and yet as tin attorney and in other wavs he had
shown that he possessed oratorical powers of no mean
order. He was, however, more a man of action than of
words. In 1832 he made a visit to Washington on busi-
ness of the Indians. He came clothed in the earb of
Sam Houston and Stephen /■'. Austin 29
the Indian, and was kindly received by almost everyone,
and particularly by President Jackson, who, of course,
kiu-w him well. While in Washington on this visit he
was charged by William Stanberry, a Member of Con-
gress from Ohio, with attempting to obtain a fraudulent
c mtract for furnishing Indian supplies. He felt himself
insulted by Mr. Stanberry, for which he attacked and
beat him severely. He was arraigned for this offense at
the bar of the House, was tried, and was reprimanded
and fined, but the fine was remitted by the President.
His trial before the House lasted for about four weeks,
during which period there was much bitterness shown in
the debates on the subject, the friends of the Adminis-
tration of President Jacks. - usually taking Houston's
side of the controversy. The President himself was out-
spoken in his behalf, and did not find fault with him
for his assault on the Member of the House. It is
alleged that he said that "After a few more examples of
the same kind, Members of Congress would learn to keep
civil tongues in their heads." < m leaving Washington
for his Indian home after this trial he passed through
Tenne->ee. and was received throughout the State
wherever he went with flattering demonstrations of
regard. He was urged to remain in the State, but chose
not to stay, preferring to return to his wigwam in the
Indian Nation. After returning to the Indians and
remaining a while in Arkansas, he determined to leave
that region and remove to Texas, where he was to find
a broader field and wider opportunities for the display
30 Acceptance of Statues of
of the strong and excellent qualities of mind he pos-
sessed, and where lie no doubt thought he would be the
better enabled to accomplish his destiny.
While in Arkansas he met Elias Rector, afterwards
governor of that State, and Albert Pike, both men more
or less resembling himself in spirit and resolution, and
between whom and himself strong ties of friendship were
formed. General Pike a few Years before his death
related the following incident in the life oi Houston:
Houston was leaving Arkansas for his new home in
Texas, and circumstances threw Rector and himself t( -
gether for a ride on horseback of a day or two, when their
paths were to separate, each to go his way. Rector was
then United States marshal c :" the Territory. The horse
upon which he was mounted was a stronger and 1 letter one
than was Houston's. The latter, it seems,, was mounted
on a small pony that had suffered the misfortune of losing
his tail. As they were about to separate, HOUSTON pro-
posed a trade of their horses, because, as he said, his had
no tail with which to defend himself from the flies, which
were a sore pest in the southern country whither he was
journeying, and Rector consented. They dismounted and
proceeded to make the exchange, each keeping his own
bridle and saddle. While on the ground, and as he was
about to hid his friend Rector good-by, he made a little
speech in the nature of an apostrophe to his pony, the title-
to which had passed from him. General Pike said he
could not give HOUSTON'S speech in the exact words he
used, but that in substance it was as follows: "Jack, my
faithful old servant, yon and I must part. We have been
Satn Houston and Stephen F. Austin 31
friends a lon<^ time and have been mutually beneficial to
each other. Yon have been a good servant to me ; but,
Jack, there comes a time in the life of every man when he
and his friends must separate. Though you have served
me long and faithfully, and we have been trne friends, the
time has now come when we must take final leave of each
other. At such a time it is but just, my good old com-
panion, that I should give expression to my feelings. You
are a faithful pony. You are a hardy pony. You are a
sure-footed pony. Rut cruel man has made you defense-
less against the common enemy of vour kind, the peskv
flies. This is the hot season, and where I am iroing- thev
are verv thick. Against these pests the Almighty saw fit
in His wisdom to ^rivt- you defense, but man has taken it
from you, and against them without a tail you are help-
less. I must therefore with pain and anguish part with
you." When he was read}- to mount and leave Rector,
the latter said to him: " Houston, I wish to give you
something as a keepsake before we separate, and I have
nothing that will do for the gift except my razor. I never
saw a better one. They say one ought not to give his
friends an edged tool, as it might cut friendship, but this
one will not cut your friendship and mine." Houston
accepted the razor and said: "Rector, I accept your gift,
and, mark my words, if I have ^ood luck, this razor will
sometime shave the chin of the President of a republic."
[Applause.] The dream of a republic for Texas was even
then in the mind of this remarkable man, and in visions
thereof he saw himself as its President. His friend Rector
probablv thought it was a hallucination of his eccentric
32 Acceptance of Statues of
friend, but he lived to see the dream, if it were a dream,
of HOUSTON a living reality. He went directly to Texas.
It was not long after his arrival before a convention was
called to meet at San Felipe de Austin. It met April i,
1833, and HOUSTON was chosen a member of it. This
convention adopted a constitution, but not until Houston
had had inserted in it a provision forbidding the establish-
ment of banks by the legislature. He was then elected
attorney-general of a portion of Texas, and was chosen a
member of the "general consultation" of 1835 that met to
establish a provisional government. He did not at that
time favor absolute independence, but was elected com-
mander in chief of the army of Texas.
A convention of which he was a member met at New
Washington and adopted a declaration of absolute inde-
pendence March 2, 1S36, which also reelected him
commander in chief. Following this action oii the part
of Texas came war with Mexico, in which HOUSTON took
a prominent and highly honorable part. The Mexican
army, commanded by Santa Ana, invaded Texas and
achieved several important and bloody victories, but on
April 21, 1S36, their army, 1,800 strong, met the Texans,
750 strong, under Houston, on the banks of the San
Jacinto, and after a fierce conflict the Mexicans were
totally routed, losing 650 killed and 730 prisoners, their
general, Santa Ana, being among the captured. When the
numbers engaged are taken into account, history does not
record a more brilliant achievement. Houston himself
was wounded by a shot in his ankle, which fractured the
bone. The result of this battle was the complete rout of
Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin 2>3
the Mexican army, and it gave independence to Texas.
The Republic of Texas was promptly recognized by
England, France, Belgium, and the United States.
Houston, by reason of his physical condition, was taken
to New Orleans for medical treatment. The election
of the first regular president of Texas was appointed for
the first Monday of September, 1836. The candidates
were Sam Houston, Stephen F. Austin, and Henry
Smith. Houston was elected, receiving 4,374 votes out
of 5.014, the whole number cast. He at once appointed
his two late opponents. Austin and Smith, to the principal
offices in his cabinet. During his term of office he set to
work to secure the admission of Texas into our Union of
States. He placed her financial affairs on a healthy basis,
her paper was at par, she was at peace, not only with
Mexico, but with the Indian tribes. When he retired
from the Presidency, he served two years in the Texas
Congress, and in 1841 was again elected President of the
Republic.
Although he had been out of the Presidency for only
about two years, he found important errors of his predeces-
sor to correct. By unwise and unfortunate management
strife and conflicts with the Indians had been stirred up,
and the public debt, which was insignificant when HOUSTON
retired two years before, had increased to nearly S5, 000,000.
He enforced while in office the most rigid economy; reduced
all salaries, including his own, about one-half; abolished all
offices not strictly required for the service, and permitted
no appropriation to be made except those necessary for the
existence of his government, and at the same time restored
H. Doc.474, 5S-3 3
34 Acceptance of Statins of
amicable relations with the Indians. In June, 1842, the
Texas Congress passed a bill declaring him Dictator, and
voted 1 (.1,000,000 acres of land to resist the threatened
Mexican invasion. HOUSTON vetoed these measures, and
the trouble with Mexico was averted by him. While Presi-
dent he ]>ut into effective play some of his powers as a
diplomat. He was sincerely desirous of having Texas
annexed to our Union, and had allowed no opportunity to
escape him while serving Texas to advance this project.
He was a farsighted statesman, and realized in its fullest
importance the advantages of having the protecting arm of
our Government extended over her. He was acquainted
with her vast resources and knew that under the benignant
rule of this Government, with her genial climate and her
fertile soil, she would be speedily developed, and that the
interest likewise of the United States would be promoted
by annexation.
As a means of inducement to the United States to
give encouragement to him and his colaborers in their
efforts for annexation, he began coquetting in a diplo-
matic way with France, England, and Spain. He knew
that the pronounced opposition of the United States to
the intrusion of any European nation into American
territory could not be overcome, and in diplomatic fashion
he availed himself of this feeling and prejudice to
quicken the sense of this country in favor of annexation.
At the time of which I speak the question of the
annexation of Texas was becoming a burning issue in
the political parties of this country. The efforts of those
favorintr annexation with us, and those in Texas who
Sam Houston and Stephen /-". Austin 35
followed the lead of Houston were successful, and on
December 29, 1845, Texas entered our Union as a State.
By this action, the second time in her history, she
became a part of the United States. She had been once
before under our flag, and had been unwisely or improvi-
dently ceded away to a foreign power, but now she was
in the Union as a sovereign State, and in to stay. This
was the first instance in our history that a State has
been admitted as such without having gone through a
probationary term as a Territory. This accession to our
territory was under President Polk's Administration, and
it was characterized by him as a bloodless achievement.
He said no arm of force had been raised by the United
States to produce the result; that the sword had no part
in the victory; that we had not sought to extend our
territorial possessions by conquest, or our republican
institutions oyer a reluctant people. It was the deliberate
homage of each people to the great principle of our
federative union.
If we ci insider the extent of territory involved in the
annexation, its prospective influence on America, the
means by which it has been accomplished, .springing
purely from the choice of the people themselves to share
the blessings of our Union, the history of the world may-
be challenged to furnish a parallel. And he said, in con-
templating the grandeur of this event, it is not to be
forgotten that the result was achieved in despite of the
diplomatic interference of European monarchies. Even
France, the country which had been our ancient ally,
the country which has a common interest with us in
36 Acceptance of Statues of
maintaining the freedom of the seas, the country which, by
the cession of Louisiana, first opened to us access to the Gulf
of Mexico, the country with which we have been every
year drawing more and more closely the bonds of suc-
cessful commerce, most unexpectedly, and to our unfeigned
regret, took part in an effort to prevent annexation and to
impose on Texas, as a condition of the recognition of her
independence by Mexico, that she would never join herself
to the United States. We may rejoice that the tranquil
and pervading influence of the American principle of self-
government was sufficient to defeat the purposes of British
and French interference, and that the almost unanimous
voice of the people of Texas has given to that interference
a peaceful and effective rebuke. From this example
European Governments may learn how vain diplomatic
arts and intrigues must ever prove upon this continent
against that system of self-government which seems natural
to our soil, and which will ever resist foreign interference.
And he bespoke for Texas at the hands of Congress a
liberal and generous spirit in all that concerns her interest
and prosperity, to the end that she should never have cause-
to regret that she had united her " lone star " to our
glorious constellation.
HOUSTON was one of her two first United States Senators,
taking his seat in March, 1846, and serving until 1859. He-
was warmlv attached to the Union of the States, as is shown
by his votes and speeches in the Senate. He opposed the
repeal of the Missouri Compromise, the Kansas-Nebraska
bill, and voted against the Uecomptou constitution of 1857,
Sam Houston and Stephen F. .ius/hi 37
which provided for slavery in Kansas, and in this displeased
many of his southern colleagues. He advocated the admis-
sion of California as a free State, and the construction of
the Pacific Railroad through Texas. He was always the
friend of the Indians and of measures in the Senate that
tended to the betterment of their condition. It was a
favorite expression of his that "no treaty made and carried
out in good faith had ever been violated by the Indians."
He was popular with both of the great political parties, as
shown by the fact that he was considered available by
members of each as a candidate for President. Votes were
cast for him for the presidential nomination by delegates
in the convention of the Democratic party in 1852, and in
that of the American partv in 1856. In the convention of
the Union or Whig partv in i860, at Baltimore, in which
John Bell, of Tennessee, received the nomination for Presi-
dent, Houston was his chief opponent. The delegates
from Tennessee placed Mr. Bell forward, while those from
Texas presented HOUSTON, wdio was supported also by the
delegation from New York. In this convention the cry
was union against disunion. ( >n the second ballot Mr.
Bell was nominated, receiving 68 ' _. votes, while Houston
received 57 votes. In that emergency it so happened that
the vote of Tennessee was decisive of the result. It was
east for Mr. Bell, and it defeated HOUSTON. One delegate
from Tennessee did break away from his colleagues and
voted for HOUSTON; and it is eertainlv true that Mr. Bellj
who was the idol of his party in the State, was the only
man who could have received the vote of Tennessee over
him.
,vs • leceptance of Statues of
In the election for governor of Texas in [857 he was
defeated, but in [859 he was again chosen to that office.
This time he became the seventh governor of Texas, as he
had been the seventh governor of Tennessee. As I have
already indicated, he was warmly attached to the union
of the .States, and while he greatly deplored the election
of Mr. Lincoln as the result of the national contest in
[860, he declared that in his election alone he saw no
grounds for secession. After the secession of the .State
of Texas, in r86i, he refused to take the oath of office
to the Confederate government and was deposed from his
office as governor of the State. The Government at
Washington thereupon offered to assist him, but he firmly
declined such aid. On May 10, r86i, he spoke publicly
at Independence, Tex. In this speech he entered upon
the defense of his position and that of those who acted
with him in their conduct toward the war. He said,
" The voice of hope was weak, since drowned by the guns
of Fort Sumter. The time has come when a man's
section is his country. I stand by mine. Whether we
have opposed this secession movement or favored it, we
must alike meet its consequences. It is no time to turn
back now." And thus, like main' others of which he was
only the type, however devoted and ardent was their love
and veneration for the union of the States, the guns of
Port Sumter silenced their opposition to the efforts of their
States to separate from the Union, and henceforward they
submitted, as he did, silently to the inevitable, while many
others who felt as he did in the beginning drew their
swords and went forth to battle to defend their section
Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin 39
from what they considered the unconstitutional, unwar-
ranted, and unjustifiable assault made upon it. Houston
took no active part in public affairs after retiring from the
office of governor. ( hi July 26, 1863, at Huntsville, Walker
County, Tex., he died. The marble shafts set up in yonder
hall in commemoration of Sam Houston and Stephen F.
Austin will perish and molder into dust long before their
acts and deeds, and those of their colaborers, in behalf of
Texas shall be forgotten; and longer still will it be before
the results of those acts and deeds shall cease to be felt and
shall cease to bring rich and countless blessings to their
posterity. [Loud applause.]
4o Acceptance of Statues* of
Address of Mr. Burgess, of Texas
Mr. Speaker, the act of Congress creating Statuary
Hall as a place in which each State of the Union could
place the statue of two of its citizens is grounded upon a
wise patriotism, in that it tends to both State and national
pride, to the uplift of our national character, to the
increased tension of "the mystic cords of memory stretch-
ing from even- battlefield and patriot grave to every liv-
ing heart and hearthstone all over this broad land." The
place selected is one of the most appropriate to further
the purpose; namely, the old Hall of the House of
Representatives.
That gifted writer, who has so often entertained and
instructed us by his articles in the Washington Post —
Savoyard — recently says of this Hall:
This Hall is tile famous echo chamber, according to Captain Kennedy,
the chief of the National Capitol Guides, the most perfect in the world.
It was in this Hall that some , .;' the most illustrious men in all parlia-
mentary history engaged in forensic combat. Here Clay was five times
chosen Speaker. Here was debated the issues represented by Jefferson
and the elder Adams. Jackson ami the younger Adams, alien and sedi-
tion, embargo and war. the tariff of 1S2S, the force bill of 1S31 and the
compromise of 1S32, the Mexican war and the Wihnot proviso, the com-
promise of 1S50 and the Kansas-Nebraska bill, the Dred Scott decision
and Lecotnpton, secesssion and the war of 1861 — all these were here
debated, and numberless other kindred political issues that necessarily
arise in a free country, where parties have their genu in the individualism
of the citizen or the paternalism of the government.
Volumes might be written of the men who made this old Hall historic
and illustrious. Here Randolph lorded it as has no other man, and here
Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin 41
the younger Adams earned the title "old man eloquent." Here he
assailed Webster and was assailed by Evans. It was here that Marshall
and Wise encountered the old statesman in debates on the twenty-first
rule, and flew at each other's throats in discussions of the vetoes of Presi-
dent Tvler. And here Douglas fleshed his nearly maiden blade in a dis-
ussion of the Texas boundary with the veteran who. as Secretary of State
in Monroe's cabinet, had claimed all Texas. It was here that S. S.
Prentiss made the most eloquent speech Congress ever heard, if we are to
believe tradition.
Mr. Speaker, Texas has availed herself of the privilege
of this act and has caused to be placed in this Hall statues
of two of her most illustrious citizens — Sam HOUSTON
and Stephen Fuller Austin.
Perhaps no Commonwealth owes a deeper or wider debt
of gratitude to other States and other lands for the gift of
splendid sons and daughters to uplift and adorn her citizen-
ship than does the State which, in part, I have the honor
here to represent. Almost every State in the Union, and
almost everv civilized country in Europe, has contributed
to the best of the citizenship of Texas, and we have,
doubtless, the most commingled blood on the face of the
earth. The deepest debt of gratitude, perhaps, she owes
for such gifts is to those two splendid Commonwealths —
Tennessee and Missouri. [Applause.] For the first gave
her Sam Houston and the second Stephen F. Austin.
It is not my purpose to speak at length as to the
character and capacity of these two illustrious men or to
recount in detail the heroic events in which each bore so
potent and conspicuous a part.
Sam Houston had a most remarkable, a most romantic,
a most successful career. He was governor of Tennessee;
he was commander in chief of the Texas revolutionary
42 Acceptance of Statues of
army, the first President of the Republic of Texas, gover-
nor of the State of Texas, and a Senator from that State
in the Senate of the United States. In all these posi-
tions he filled them to the fullest measure of patriotic
duty. The memory of his life, his character, and his
services to our State constitutes the chief link in quite
a long chain that binds together the hearts of all Ten-
nesseeans and Texans in bonds of affection.
STEPHEN F. Austin was also a man of verv fine
ability and of spotless character. His father was a
native of the State of Connecticut, emigrated to Virginia,
and thence to Missouri. While a resident of that State
he conceived the idea of securing colonial grants of
land in the territory now known as Texas, and this
idea so possessed him that he undertook what in those
times was a long and perilous journey in furtherance
of this plan. He traveled to Texas, and in December of
the year r820 he reached Bexar. Here he discussed the
purpose of his journey with Baron de Bastrop, whom he
had previously known at New Orleans, and he was intro-
duced to Governor Martinez, to whom he explained his
desire. A memorial was drawn Up, and, after approval
by the local authorities, was forwarded to the commander
of the northeastern internal provinces. This memorial
asked for permission to colonize 300 families. This
commandant-general, Hon Joaquin Arredondo, then re-
sided at Monterey, and the distance required considerable
time for an answer to be returned. Austin, leaving the
matter with the Baron de Bastrop to act as his agent,
Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austi)i 43
set out cm his return in January, [821. He traveled
back home, doubtless with bright hopes of the good
fortune that awaited him and his posterity in this
beautiful land through which he had journeyed. But
it was not to be. By cold and exposure on this trip he
sickened and died. A few days before his death, how-
ever, he received the welcome news of the approval of
his application to plant a colony in Texas, and he died
leaving both as a deathbed injunction and as a glorious
inheritance as well to this son of his this enterprise
which he had so successfully inaugurated. The son
was seized with the same ardor which possessed the
father, and he journeyed down to Texas and founded a
colony under the first colonial charter by which white
settlement was authoritatively made in Texas. This
grant to found a colony in Texas bore date January 17,
182 1, and it provided that the colonists should be Roman
Catholics, or agree to become such before they entered
Spanish territory; that they should furnish evidence of
their good character and habits and take oath of fidelity
to the King to defend the government and political
constitution of the Spanish monarchy.
From that time to the date of his death, with untiring
zeal, with the loftiest patriotism, with the greatest con-
servative ability, he labored to build up that territory in
the best interest of all the colonists who flocked not only
to his standard but to the standards of main- others who
followed in his wake. His wise counsel was ever a tower
of strength to the struggling colonists through all that
44 Acceptance oj Statues of
storm}' period which led t<> the establishment of the
Texan Republic. Yoakum, who wrote one of the earliest
and best histories of Texas, says of AUSTIN:
Although Austin's powers were almost absolute, he governed with
parental mildness. His soul was absorbed in the great business of
the successful completion of his enterprise. He was esteemed by
each colonist, not so much .is a ruler as a father and friend. By example
and precept he inspired them with the love of order and industi
The same historian pays his memory this beautiful
tribute:
If he who by conquest wins an empire and receives the world's
applause, how- much more is due to those who. by unceasing toil, lav in
the wilderness the foundation for an infant colony, and build thereon a
vigorous and happy State' Surely there is not among men a more lion-
or. 1 ile destiny than to lie the peaceful founder and builder of a new
empire. Such was that of the younger AUSTIN,
About these two men — HOUSTON and Austin — cluster
a series of events as remarkable as any recorded in the
history of the world.
These two great men are gone. If they could return
n<>w to the scene of their heroic action and behold the
State which tltey founded and for which they fought,
what joy would animate them ! Now they would behold
a great State of the Union, inhabited by more than
3,000,000 people, cultivating more acres of land than any
State of the American Union : the greatest agricultural
and stock-raisin"- State in this Union ; a State annually
bringing into the channels of American commerce more
gold from Europe than any other State ; a State whose
population is more happily distributed than any other
territory in the world ; a State whose internal goyerument,
whose low taxation, whose educational funds and institu-
tions, whose administration of justice, are second to none.
Sam Houston and Stephen /■'. Austin 45
And, standing in the proud present, thinking of the glo-
rious past, the contemplation of the future would stagger
even these far-seeing intellects. For no human vision can
foretell what the resistless sweep of civilization and prog-
ress shall accomplish in the coming years in the State of
the Lone Star, with a territory comprising so much fertile
soil, of such various adaptability to all the forms of agri-
culture possible on the Western Continent ; with a great
Gulf coast upon which mouths to the open sea are calling
for the commerce of so vast an area to pour it out into
the markets of the world, and which invite in return so
much of imports to so large a section. When the Gulf
of Mexico becomes, as it surely will, the Mediterranean of
the Western Continent, and factories mingle with agricul-
ture, a progress and a power will be ours far beyond our
ken. Those of us who live there pray that our patriotism
and that of our posterity may he equal to the discharge of
all the great tasks that our great future will hold for us.
May the spirit of our fathers fall with tender benediction
and inspiring purpose upon us and our children forever.
Texas has not only a glorious but a unique history.
She comprises the only territory upon the surface of the
globe which has a historv that parallels in patriotic
purpose, struggle, and achievement that of the thirteen
colonies of America. Those thirteen colonies were peopled
by lovers of liberty, who came from almost every section
of the Old World to find in the New a religious and civil
liberty which they yearned for, but could not secure in
the Old. Oppression and tyranny gradually followed them
across the Atlantic, and laid the "mailed hand" with
(.6 Acceptance <>/ Statues of
ever-tightening grip upon them and their descendants.
That spirit of liberty, which is immortal, was so widel) dis-
seminated among the colonists as that resistance to oppres-
sion became the birth cry of revolution. Those brave spirits,
whose splendid capacity was often excelled bv their unself-
ish courage, formulated in the open, wrote and signed a
bold, defiant declaration of their independence, and suc-
cessfully achieved it by a war never excelled in privation
and patriotism. They ordained a constitution for the
preservation of that independence they had achieved and
tlie conservation of that libertv which they loved. They
selected a flag typical of the Government which they
thus established, and in its bine field they pinned thirteen
stars, one for each State in the great Republic which they
had organized. In that war they had their Lexington,
which gave tongue to the revolution; Saratoga, which
brightened their hopes, and Yorktown, which brought
assurance of success. They had their Hunker Hill, Mon-
mouth, and Trenton, and the pathetic privations of Valley
Forge, where the soldiers of tlie Revolution verily trod
the Yallev of the Shadow of Death — all memorable in
those glorious annals which record the struggles of patriots
to secure liberty.
Some years after, away down by the Gulf of Mexico,
in as fair a land as ever was kissed by the rays of the
sun, brave, adventurous spirits went to settle, to make
homes for themselves and their children. From the ter-
ritory of the «reat Middle West, from the shores of the
Atlantic, from almost every State and Territory of the
Union, thev came to this fair land and settled in what
Sam Houston and Stephen /■'. Austin 47
is now known as Texas — what was then Mexican terri-
tory. They settled originally under the fairest promises
of just treatment by the parent Government with respect
to all the rights which affected their life, their liberty,
and their property. But here, too, the hand of tyranny
was laid upon them, as had been the case with the thirteen
colonies. The same love of liberty, the same reckless
devotion to human rights, throbbed in the bosoms of these
colonists that had been so potent among those of the thir-
teen colonies. Revolution came here as the result. These
colonists met in the open and they wrote a declaration of
independence, and achieved it by a short, desperate, but
decisive war. They ordained a constitution, they selected
a flay typical of the Republic which they had founded.
This flay had a blue field, wherein gleamed a lone star,
which stood for the sovereignty of the Republic for which
they had sacrificed so much. They had their Gonzales,
where the first shot was fired in resistance to tyranny and
lit a fire of freedom that could not be quenched ; their
Alamo and Goliad. The desperate valor of the one and
the merciless butchery of the other made the glory of
their San Jacinto possible, for they gave that battle cry
" Remember the Alamo and Goliad" to Sam Houston's
army — the most stirring, vengeful, animating war cry that
ever fell from patriot warriors' lips since the dawn of
history.
As I believe, in the providence of God the time came
vi hen the people of the United States and the people of
the Republic of Texas agreed to unite under one flag of
the United States, and the Republic of Texas took its
[8 Acceptance of Statues of
lone star from the flay of its republic and pinned it in
the blue field with the stars of the States of the Union,
to mingle with them in the same flag and under the same
Constitution, in a common, glorious destiny. May the
radiance of these stars light the liberty for which they
stand to the remotest corners of the earth. May the
sweet lilies of peace, rooted in the blood of revolution
shed for freedom's sake, exhale their fragrance in the
hearts of men till the nations of the world shall catch
step to that sacred song which in the long ago echoed
over Tudea's hills, " ( )n earth peace, good will toward
men." [Lond applause.]
Saw Houston and St, pin n /■'. Austin 49
Address of Mr. Clark, of Missouri
Mr. Speaker: I shall attempt no panegyric upon Texas
or upon Texans. They need none. Even if they did,
her Representatives here are amply qualified and always
willing to sound her praises, which no tongue or pen
can exhaust. The intense State pride which was erst-
while characteristic in an extraordinary degree of Vir-
ginians, South Carolinians, and Massachusetts people is
eclipsed by that of the citizens of the Lone Star State.
They are fully justified in that laudable feeling, for
State pride is patriotism. Here is a fine mot by Henry
Ward Beecher: "When I see a man who has nothu
say of the place he came from, I want to know what
mean thing he did there." [Applause.] Most assuredly
the «reat preacher would have had no occasion to com-
plain of a Texan on that score, for he is as thoroughly
enamored of his State as is any youth of his sweetheart
or any man of his wife. In his eyes she is perfection
itself. His passion for her approximates idolatry. And
who shall blame him for his b iwering pride in and his
undving affection for that mammoth Commonwealth?
With a most glorious past, with a most prosperous present,
Texas faces a future to which none but the greatest of
the major prophets and the sublimest of the epic poets
could do justice. It makes even a hard-headed, unimagi-
native outside admirer and friend dizzy to contemplate
H. Doc. 474. 58-3 4
50 Acceptance of Statues of
by the eye of faith the Texas that is to be. [Applause.]
So I reluctantly leave Texas to the Texans on this
occasion, though no orator could desire a nobler theme.
The law gives to each State the right to erect in
Statuary Hall the statues of two, and only two, of her
distinguished citizens; but Fortune, generous to imperial
Missouri in this as in all things else, has placed five
of her illustrious sons in that goodly company. Missouri
herself contributed statues of Col. Thomas Hart Benton
and Gen. Francis Preston Blair. Illinois sent that of
Gen. James Shields, a hero in two wars, who represented
in the Senate of the United States Illinois. Minnesota,
and Missouri — a record never equaled and perhaps never
to be equaled. West Virginia is represented by Senator
John E. Kenna, who was reared in Missouri. Now comes
Texas the magnificent and brings still another Missourian,
Stephen Fuller Austin, to stand forever as one of her
chosen representatives in that group of renowned historic
characters. As his companion in perpetual glory she
dedicates Gen. Sam Houston, statesman, soldier, orator,
"the liberator of Texas," than whom even good Sir
Walter himself never drew a more fascinating, a more
romantic, or a braver figure. [Applause.]
The coming of Austin to join Benton, Blair, Shields, and
Kenna suggests a thought not much enlarged upon in the
books, but of vast importance, and that is that Missouri has
been lavish of her children in building up the West, South-
west, and Northwest. There is scarcely a city, town, ham-
let, ranch, or mining camp, from the Mississippi to the
Sam Houston and Stephen F. .Inst in 51
Pacific and from the British line to the Gulf, in which the
sentence " I am a Missourian " would not punt an "open
sesame." There is not a trail beyond the " Father of Wa-
ters" which has not been reddened with the blood of her
~"ii- in the triumphal progress of Caucasian civilization;
and, contemplating the splendid States which she helped to
plant in that rich wilderness, she rejoices in her sacrifice.--.
If Virginia deserves the proud title of "Mother of Presi-
dents," Missouri may without arrogance lav claim to that
of "The mother of States." [Applause.]
In the entire range of profane literature there is nothing
equal to Lord Bacon's essays. In the one on Honor and
Reputation he says, inter alia:
The true marshaling of the degrees of sovereign honor are these: In the
first place are "conditores imperiorum," founders of states and common-
wealths, such as were Romulus. Cyrus, Csesar, Ottoman, Isniael.
If the father of the inductive philosophy were rewriting
that essay in our day, he would undoubtedly add to the
foregoing list of state builders our Revolutionary fathers
and those indomitable men who laid broad and deep the
foundations of Texas and who achieved her independence.
There is no chapter in the annals of mankind more thrill-
ing than the story of how Texans won their freedom. Dull
must be the brain, cold must be the heart, of him who can
think of the heroism at Goliad, at the Alamo, and at San
Jacinto and not rejoice at being kindred in blood, in faith,
in aspiration, and in the sacred love of liberty to the uncon-
querable men who fought and bled and died upon those
blood v fields. From the ground which they immortalized
52 Acceptance of Statues of
and glorified by their sufferings and their valor Texas
sprang full armed, as Minerva from the brain of Jove. So
long as courage and fortitude are valued among men, so
long as the hope of freedom endures, the names of HOUS-
TON, Austin, Bowie, Travis, Burleson, Mirabeau B. Lamar,
Sidney Sherman, Deaf Smith, and Davy Crockett will be
cherished as household words. [Applause.]
STEPHEN F. Austin, to whom Texas is this day paying
a most unusual but well-deserved honor, was the son oi
Moses Austin, a pioneer in improved methods in lead
smelting — a most important fact in our industrial and com-
mercial history. The elder Austin has a better claim, per-
haps, to be called the father of Texas than any other
man
who ever lived.
Before going to Texas Stephen F. Austin was a mem-
ber of the Missouri legislature, while his father was inter-
ested in lead mining in Washington County, Mo. Later
the younger AUSTIN was a United States judge in Arkan-
sas. At the dying request of his father he took up the
work of colonization in Texas, which the elder Austin
had begun. He took with him to the Brazos 300 Missouri
families, among the foremost of the State. "It is a fact
well authenticated that not a single member of AUSTIN'S
colony was ever charged with theft or misdemeanor, nor
did any of them ever occupy a felon's cell," a truth of
which both Missouri and Texas may well be proud.
President Roosevelt says, in his life of Benton, that
when a thousand Missourians loaded their wives and chil-
dren, their guns and household goods, together with the
Sa?>i Houston and Stephen F. . lustin 53
implements of husbandry, into their wagons, and inarched
with their flocks and herds to Oregon, settling their as per-
manent residents, they determined at once and forever the
ownership of the entire Oregon country, which had been
occupied jointly and quarreled over rancorously for many
years by Great Britain and the United States. This re-
mark applies with equal force to the migration of Ai stin
and his little band of Missourians into Texas. What these
two small companies of Missourians accomplished in Ore-
gon and in Texas is likely to he repeated on a larger scale
to the north of us, for the stream of our people now pour-
ing into Manitoba will in all human probability in a few
years Americanize all of Great Britain's North American
possessions and make them constituent members of the
great Republic — a consumation devoutedly to he wished.
( )ld lieu Hardin, one of Kentucky's greatest characters
and most skillful lawyers, was wont to say that "blood
is thicker than water." So, when Texas threw off the
Mexican yoke and began her war for independence, from
no State did she receiye more sympathy and more aid than
from Missotiri. When our troubles were brewing with
Mexico no men ever were more eager to fight than were
the Missourians; when the call for volunteers was made
thrice as many Missourians rushed to the standards as
could be accepted; and, from the beginning of hostilities
to the hour when our flag floated in triumph over Santa
Ana's capital, they fought with the traditional courage of
their race.
The cause which impelled the Missourians to participate
5+ Acceptance of Statues <>/'
50 enthusiastically in that war was thus eloquently stated
by the late- Senator George Graham Vest, in his brilliant
oration on Thomas II. Benton:
No man who ever existed in the public life of this country more com-
pletely and apparently committed suicide than Thomas H. Benton. He
knew as well or better than any other man what the prejudice and opin-
ions of the people of Missouri « m- on the subject of slavery, and their
sympathy with their brethren of the Southern States that had gone to
Texas, thrown off the yoke, and established an independent State But
more than litis, he knew there was not a family in western Missouri that
had not lost father, brother, husband, or son upon the Santa Fe trail
fighting those murderous savages who attacked every trapper and every
caravan too small to resist them, and that the people of Missouri firmly
believed that the Mexicans had incited the Indians to make these attacks.
It was well known that the merchants of Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and
Tamaulipas, and the other northern .Mexican States objected to the trade
between Missouri and New Mexico. It was extremely lucrative to these
Mexican merchants to have a monopoly of the sale of goods to their own
people, and whenever any of these murderous Indians were made pris-
oners by the Missourians there were always found among them Mexicans
dressed like the Indian--, appealing to their passions and prejudici
leading them on to these terrible outrag< -
Geographical monuments are the most durable ever
devised by the wit of man. Marble and granite will
crumble into dust, portraits will fade away, the corrod-
ing touch (if time will destroy brass or bronze, but great
cities and counties will survive to remotest generations.
Texas has been wise beyond her sisters in naming her
cities and counties for her pioneer State builders. So
long as the counties of Houston and Austin are on the
map, so long as the ambitions cities of Houston and
Austin lift their spires to heaven, the names of those
twain will linger upon the tongues of men.
The exceptional strength of the Texas delegation in
both branches of Congress has long been noted by even
casual observers.
So/// Houston and Stephen F. Austin 55
It so happened that in the autumn of [899 I partici-
pated in a Democratic love feast at the State fair at
Dallas.
()n the return trip one of mv traveling companions
was my friend, Maj. Harvey \Y. Salmon, of Missouri,
who, b) reason of his service in the Confederate army,
of his commercial relations, and of his political activity,
has a wide acquaintance in the Southwest. We fell to
talking of the extraordinary number of Texans ol a
high order of ability still in the prime of life, where-
upon he gave this explanation of that pleasing fact. He-
said that originally Texas was settled by the very cream
of the human race from America and Europe, and that
during the evil days of reconstruction conditions were so
bad in the other southern States that thousands of the
flower of southern youth immigrated to Texas, expecting
to sojourn there only till the storm blew over, but once
there they loved the State so well that they remained
permanently, thereby contributing largely by their talents
and their achievements to the wonderful development of
all things Texan. That was an explanation which
explained.
There is a reason for every human thought, word, and
act, if we could only ascertain it. The reasons why I
am speaking here to-day are these: The story of Texas
has always appealed with irresistible force to my imagi-
nation and to my heart. Texas and Missouri are bound
together by geography, by community of interest, and by
ties of blood. According to the census of 1900, out of
SO Acceptance of Statues of
her population of 3,048,828 more than 56,000 were
Missourians born — that is, one out of every fifty-four.
Two out of four of my cousins on my mother's side are
Texans by adoption. The Texans at home have wel-
comed me with open arms when I have visited the State.
Texans here have treated me almost as a kinsman ever
since my advent in Washington. I shall always count
it among the richest blessings of mv life that during my
first service here Judge David Browning Culberson, one
of the greatest men I ever knew [applause] — God bless
him in his grave — was my immediate neighbor in the
House. One of the best, truest, and most unselfish friends
I ever had or ever expect to have is the lion-hearted young
Texan, Joseph Weldon Bailey. [Applause.]
Stephen F. Austin was a Missourian — one of the
most distinguished of that splendid breed of men. In
addition to all this Austin was an alumnus of Transyl-
vania University, now Kentucky University, at which
famous seat of learning I spent three of the happiest, most
laborious, and most profitable years of a busy life. The
two most celebrated names on the roster of her students
were those of Jefferson Davis and Stephen F. Austin.
[Applause.] Frequently, when 1 can snatch a moment
from this strenuous life, my heart fondly travels back
over mountain, vale, and river to the days of my youth
about Lexington.
Still o'er these scenes my memory wakes,
And fondly broods with miser care;
Time hut the impression deeper makes.
As streams their channels deeper wear.
Sam Houston and Stepheti F. . lustin 57
The intellectuality and scholarship of pioneers in general,
and Texas pioneers in particular, have been much under-
rated. Of course there were ignoramuses and unlettered
boors among them, just as there were among the barons
who forced Magna Charta from King John at Runnymede.
There were also among these western pioneers men ol
brains, of learning, and of manners which would have
graced any society in the world.
My friend Robert L. Henry, of Texas, told me these
interesting facts. He says that when, in 1859, Hon. A. VV.
Terrell, a Missourian, was district judge in Texas, and
came to empanel a grand jury composed of sixteen mem-
bers, he counted among them twelve college and university
graduates. Colonel Terrell is a profound scholar, a brilliant
orator, and has held many positions of honor and of trust.
He was minister to Turkey during Cleveland's Administra-
tion, and has mingled much with the great ; but it is
doubtful if in any circle in which he has moved he ever
came in contact with any group of men who were blessed
with a higher average rate of education or native ability
than that grand jury in the wilds of Texas in antebellum
days.
Mr. Henrv also declares that after a thorough investiga-
tion into the matter he is satisfied that the signers of the
Texan declaration of independence were of the same high
character as the signers of the American Declaration,
endowed with equal mentality and educational equipment.
I love to think of the bold and adventurous men who
blazed the pathway of civilization across the continent to
58 Acceptance of Statues of
the shores of the peaceful ocean. They, and not the poli-
ticians of this era, made this a world power. We owe them
a debt of gratitude which we can never repay except by
being model citizens. They had none of the ordinary
incentives to high endeavor. They acted their parts in a
rude age, upon an obscure stage, far from the teeming cen-
ters of population and publicity, with no Boswell to follow
at their heels to record their words, with no newspaper
correspondents to blazon their deeds. No trumpet of fame
sounded in their ears, cheering them on in their onerous,
hazardous, self-appointed task; but they wrought nobly for
their country and their kind.
Standing by the humble graves of western pioneers, I
have often recalled the noble lines of Gray:
Nor you, ye proud, impute to these the fault,
If memory o'er their tomb no trophies raise,
Where thru' tile long-drawn aisle ami fretted vault,
The pealing anthem swells the note of praise.
Perhaps in this neglected spot is laid
Some heart once pregnant with celestial fire;
Hands that the roil of empire might have sway'd,
( )r waked to ecstasy the living lvre.
Some village Hampden that with dauntless breast
The little tyrant of his fields withst 1,
Some unite inglorious Milton here may rest,
Some Cromwell guiltless of his country's blood.
Mr. Speaker, we are all proud of our several States, but
prouder still to he citizens of this mighty Republic, built
not for a day, but for all time, and destined under God to be
tlie dominating influence of all the centuries yet to lie.
Four States are squarely in the race for first place in the
rare and radiant sisterhood — New York, Illinois, Missouri,
Sam Houston and Stephen /•'. Austin 59
and Texas. All good Missourians hope that Missouri ma\
win the greatly coveted prize: but if it be decreed by fate,
to whose mandates even the haughtiest and most powerful
must bow, that she shall be outstripped in this contest of
glory, she will yield the palm of victory with more gi \>
and less regret to the colossal Commonwealth which this
day pays her highest tribute to Sam Houston and Ste-
phen F. Austin than she would to any other, because
Missouri feels that Texas is bone of her 1h.hl- and flesh of
her flesh. [Loud applause.]
6o Acceptance oj Statues of
Address of Mr. Stephens, of Texas
Mr. Speaker: The Texas legislature, in presenting the
United States with the statues of her two most worthy
citizens, had a very delicate task to perform.
The Lone Star State has a perfect galaxy of gifted and
patriotic sons to choose from; but a selection had to be
made, and the people of Texas, without a dissenting voice
so far as I know, have approved the wisdom of its legisla-
ture in selecting Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston
as the proper persons to represent her in the American
Valhalla known as "Statuary Hall."
Fortv years ago Congress set apart and dedicated the old
House of Representatives in this magnificent Capitol build-
ing as a Statuary Hall, and each State legislature is per-
mitted to select two of its citizens for this honor.
While all true Texans thus delight to honor Houston
and AUSTIN, they do not forget their long list of brave and
noble Mills, main- of whom sleep in unmarked or unknown
graves. Of these silent slumberers it can only be said
that —
No slab of pallid marble,
With white anil ghostly head.
Tells the wanderers of our vale
The virtues of our dead.
The wilil tlowers be their tombstone,
And dewdrops pure and bright
Their epitaph the angels wrote
In the stillness of the night.
Saw Houston and Stephen /■'. Austin 6i
Mr. Speaker, Texas has a unique and strange history.
The self-sacrificing devotion and heroic deeds of her noble
sons have been seldom equaled and never surpassed in the
world's history. Their actions are the pride and the price-
less heritage of every Texan.
Cabeza De Vaca first visited Texas in 1528, and La Salle
made the first settlement on the Lavaca River in Februarv in
1685, for the French, and named the fort St. Louis. This
fort was destroyed by the Indians and La Salle was killed,
and the remnant of his followers captured by the Spaniards.
In 1691 Governor Teran, governor of Coahuila and Texas,
planted several settlements in Texas, lint they were soon
driven out l>v starvation and hostile Indians.
In 1 7 14 Crozat, to whom Louis the Fourteenth, of
France, granted the territory east of the Rio Grande, sent
St. Dennis to the Rio Grande to take possession of Texas.
In 1 717 this aroused the Spaniards and they established a
number of missions in Texas, among which was the famous
Alamo, at San Antonio. France continued to assert her
claim to Texas, and in 1730 the Indians tried to drive out
both French and Spaniards, but did not succeed.
In 1762 France ceded Louisiana to Spain, and in 1800
Spain re-ceded it to France. The sale by France of
Louisiana to the United States made it necessary to define
the boundaries between France and Spain, and in 181 9 the
Sabine River was agreed upon between the United States
and Spain as the boundary.
From 1 82 1 to 1834 colonists from the United States
settled southeast Texas. The colony of STEPHEN F.
AUSTIN was the first and most important. It covered the
62 Acceptance of Statues of
lower Brazos and Colorado rivers, including the land where
the city of Austin now stands.
In 1830 the Mexican Congress prohibited further immi-
gration from the United States, and in 1833 the people of
Texas tried to secure from Santa Ana a separate State
government hut failed, and in 1835 Texas revolted.
In 1836 (April 21) Gen. Sam Houston defeated the
Mexican army at San Jacinto and captured Santa Ana.
This victory, one of the decisive battles of history-, ended
the war and secured the independence of Texas. On March
2, 1836, Texas declared her independence, and on Septem-
ber 2, 1836, adopted a constitution and elected Houston
President of the Republic, and AUSTIN was chosen secre-
tary of state.
The electors at this election declared in favor of annexa-
tion to the United States.
The United State-- refused to annex Texas, because Presi-
dent Van Buren declined the proposition on account of the
slaverv question.
Again, in 1844, the antislavery sentiment prevented an-
nexation. In 1845 President Polk secured its annexation,
and the war with Mexico followed. In 1N01 Texas seceded
from the Union and joined the Southern Confederacy, and
from June, 1865, to March, 1867, it was under a provisional
government, and from that date until September, 1869, was
under a military government, when it was restored to the
Union.
Mr. Speaker, this brief history shows that Texas had five
separate and distinct governments, and gave allegiance to
five separate flags in less than half a century. She was
Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin 63
first under the Spanish flag, and so remained until Mexico
rebelled against Spain and formed a separate government
in 1N24. Texas was from that time until 1836 under the
Mexican flag, at which time she rebelled against Mexico
and became a separate republic under the Lone Star flag.
See! Just above th1 horizon's farthest edge
A lone star rises in the gloomy night;
Dimly and tremblingly its rays are seen.
Shining through cloud rifts or concealed from sight;
Faintly it glimmers o'er the Alamo;
Redly it gleams above Jacinto's field;
Higher it rises — now. brave hearts, rejoice —
"I'is fixed in beauty on heaven's azure shield.
In 1845 sne was annexed to the United States by a vote
of her people and the consent of the Congresses of the two
Republics.
From 1845 to 1861 Texas was a part of the United
States, and the Stars and Stripes became its fla«; by
voluntary adoption.
In 1861 Texas seceded from the Union and joined the
Confederate States government and substituted the Confed-
erate stars and bars for ( )ld Glory, and after the fall of the
Confederacy Texas resumed her place in the Union. Thus
it is seen that the Spanish, the Mexican, the Texan
Republic, the United States, and the Southern Confederate
flags floated in rapid succession oyer the imperial domain
of the Lone Star State. Mr. Speaker, it was in this history-
making epoch that Houston and Austin lived and
wrought so well for their adopted country. What State in
the Union has a history so rich in oreat events and so
fruitful of oreat results? What .State can approach the
Lone Star State in the heroism and dauntless courage of
64 Acceptance oj Statues of
its pioneers, in the magnitude of its territory, the diversity
and richness of its soil, the salubrity of its climate, the
diversification of its crops, the healthfulness of its inhab-
itants, and its wonderful natural resources in timber, coal,
iron, oil, and minerals?
Mr. Speaker, for this imperial domain we owe HOUSTON,
Austin, and their compatriots a debt of gratitude never to
be discharged. Let us contrast and compare the lives of
these distinguished Texans. They were each born in the
year 1793 in the State of Virginia, Austin near Austin-
ville, and Houston in Rockbridge County.
Their fathers were veterans of the Revolutionary war.
Houston's ancestors were of Scotch origin; Austin's were
of the sturdy Xew England stock. Austin was a graduate
of Transylvania University, while HOUSTON was not a
graduate, but in his youth he preferred chasing the deer
with his Indian friends to engaging in the pursuit of
knowledge in tlie schools. Houston, whose family had
removed to Tennessee, was a sergeant in the war of 181 2,
and was the best drilled officer in his regiment. He served
under General Jackson in his campaign against the Creek
Indians, and was dangerously wounded in the battle of
Horse Shoe Bend, in Alabama.
During these years Austin, whose father had removed to
Missouri, was, when only 20 vears of age, elected to its
Territorial legislature and served several terms, and greatly
distinguished himself therein.
HuusTON, on resigning from the Army, had studied law
and began its practice at Lebanon, Tenn., and became a
Sam Houston ami Stephen F. Austin 65
very successful advocate. In 1823 he was elected to
Congress and served two terms; in [827 he was elected
governor of Tennessee, and in 1X32 removed to Texas and
made it his future home.
In 182 1 Austin removed to Texas, and was the first
American to plant an Anglo-Saxon colony in Texas. At
that time the settlement at Nacogdoches was the only
settlement between the Sabine and San Antonio.
Austin's father, Moses Austin, had received a grant of
land from Mexico for this colony, but died and left his son,
Stephen F., to carry out the project, and he proved
himself equal to the emergency and planted a colony that
remains to-day, thus proving anew the untiring energy and
courage possessed by this sturdy and determined man, as
well as this further fact, well established by history, that
when the Anglo-Saxon conquers a country and makes
it his home, he keeps it. Texas had been claimed alter-
nately for centuries by France and Spain ; but it still
remained for Austin and the Anglo-American colonist to
conquer, civilize, hold, and Christianize this magnificent
domain. In the year 1835 AUSTIN was chosen to command
the army of Texas, and he conducted a short but successful
and brilliant campaign against the Mexicans at San
Antonio, thus showing that he possessed military genius of
a high order. On November 28, 1835, he was appointed
a commissioner to the United States for the purpose of
securing funds to carry on the war. His mission was a
delicate and difficult one. He secured many loans of
monev, and pledged his private fortune as security for
H. Doc. 474, 5^-3 5
66 Acceptance of Statues of
repayment, and while on this mission, at Louisville, Ky.,
he made an address in behalf of Texas, in which he said:
In doing this [referring to the rebellion of Texas against Mexico] the
first step is to show, .is I trust I shall be able by a succinct statement of
facts, that our cause is just and is the cause of light and liberty, the same
holy cause for which our forefathers fought and bled; the same cause
that has an advocate in the bosom of every freeman, no matter in what
country or by what people it may be contended for.
He did not return to Texas until after the battle of
San Jacinto, but became a candidate that Near for Presi-
dent of the Republic of Texas. General HOUSTON was
his opponent and defeated him by a small majority.
ruder the new order of things AUSTIN became the
secretary of state and entered immediately upon his
duties. A prime measure with the administration was to
secure the annexation of Texas to the American Union.
The people had almost unanimously approved that
measure at the late election. < Ine of the first acts of
the secretary was to prepare instructions for the diplo-
matic agents to be sent to Washington. He was a good
part of three daws, and portions of nights, engaged in
this work. The accommodations for the Government at
Columbia were very inadequate. The weather was cold,
and AUSTIN was compelled to write in a room without fire.
The exposure in an unfinished and unfurnished room
brought on a cold, which was succeeded by an attack of
pneumonia, of which he died at the house of George B.
McKinstry, in Columbia, December 27, 1836. The follow-
ing order was immediately issued from the war
department:
The father of Texas is no more. The first pioneer of the wilderness
has departed. Stephen I*. Austin, secretary of state, expired this da\
Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin
'/
at half-past 1 2 o'clock at Columbia. As a testimony of respect to his high
standing, undeviating moral rectitude, and as a mark of the nation's
gratitude for his untiring and invaluable services, all officers, civil and
military, are requested to wear crape on the right arm for the space of
thirty days. All officers commanding ]>osts. garrisons, or detachments
will, as soon as information is received of this melancholy event, cause
twenty-three guns to be fired, with an interval of five minutes between
each; and also have the garrison ami regimental colors hung with black
during the space of mourning for the illustrious dead.
By order of the President:
William S. Fisher, Secretary of War.
His remains were accompanied by President HOUSTON
and his cabinet, both houses of Congress, and other officers
of the Government to the family burying ground at Peach
Point, Brazoria County.
Thus it appears that this pioneer and patriot died from
exposure while endeavoring to secure the annexation of
Texas to the American Union.
He had sacrificed the best years of his life for his
below d Texas. lie made a long and dangerous journey to
Mexico for his people and was there cruelly imprisoned by
Santa Ana for many months.
He opposed taking up arms against Mexico as long as
there was any hope of securing justice from that country;
but when the struggle for liberty and independence could
no longer be averted he did everything in his power to
throw off the Mexican yoke and create the Lone Star
Republic.
He lived long enough to see Texas become an inde-
pendent Republic. No blot ever rested on the name or
character of this unselfish patriot, hero, and statesman.
To no one more justly belongs the name of "the father of
Texas" than to Stephen F. Austin, and it is well that
6S Acceptance of Statues of
the beautiful capital city in the greatest State in the
PTeatest Government on earth should bear the name of
Austin.
Mr. Speaker, further comparing the lives and services of
Houston and Austin, we find but few points of analogy
in their providential work and character. Austin was the
pioneer and colonizer, the Capt. John Smith, while Sam
Houston was the Washington of Texas. They were the
respective leaders of the citizen soldiers who conquered the
Indians, Spaniards, and Mexicans then inhabiting Texas
and brought into this Union its future empire State. For,
Mr. Speaker, if I may indulge in prophecy, I would state
that in my judgment Texas will during this century
surpass everv State in this Union in population, in wealth,
and in material prosperity. Mr. Speaker, I have a deep
personal pride in the heroic history of Texas. I was born
within its borders. My parents and grandparents were
among the men and women who founded and defended it.
My maternal grandfather, James Truit, was a member of
the Congress of the Lone Star Republic and served therein
with Sam Houston, while my paternal grandfather, John
Stephens, served with him under General Jackson in the
war of i Si 2 and in the Indian war that I have before
alluded to. They were, therefore, his close personal and
political friends.
Mr. Speaker, Stephen F. Austin was the right man to
lead and defend a colony in a new country, and there to
organize societv and found a State, while Houston was
the brave and experienced soldier, the liberty-loving patriot
and statesman, ever ready to fight the battles of liberty and
Sam Houston and Stop/ion F. , lustin 69
establish in an alien land, by revolution if needs be, tin-
principles of the Americar Constitution. Houston has
the matchless distinction of having been a governor, a Con-
gressman, and an officer in the army of two republics, as
well as the further distinction of having been the President
of one Republic and a Senator in another. When the civil
war broke out he was the governor of Texas, and when the
State he had aided in founding seceded from the Union
and joined the Southern Confederacy he refused to take the
oath of allegiance to the new government and retired to
private life.
In a speech made at this time he became a true prophet.
He said that his " misguided countrymen were then, in the
madness of the hour, incapable of calmly comprehending
the danger of the coming war. But when Texas and the
sunny southland should be overrun with Federal soldiers,
and the best blood of the South spilled on the battlefield,
the negro slaves set free, martial law proclaimed in every
Southern State, and all southern men disfranchised and the
negroes given the ballot, then, and only then, would his
fellow-citizens see that Sam Houston was right in oppos-
ing secession and the war." Mr. Speaker, we know that
this prophecy came true. Rut Providence, perhaps kindly,
on July 26, 1863, removed this prophet and patriot from
earthlv scenes. He died while the civil war was raging on
every hand and before the dark days of reconstruction, s< 1
well foretold by him, had actually come.
Mr. Speaker, General Houston's retirement during the
civil war was not a happy one. He looked upon secession
as an accomplished fact; he viewed with inexpressible
70 Acceptance of Statues of
grief the war measures adopted by both contending armies;
he feared that republican institutions would be superseded
by two centralized despotisms in which the liberties of
the people would be swept away; and the prospect sad-
dened him. His last appearance before a public audience
was in the city of Houston, on March iS, 1863, and in
the opening paragraph of his speech he said:
Ladies and fellow-citizens: With feelings of pleasure and friendly
greeting, I once again stand before this large assemblage, who, from their
homes and daily toil, have come to greet once again the man who so often
lias kmnvn their kindness and affections. I can feel that even vet I hold
a place in their high regard.
This manifestation is the highest compliment that can be paid to the
. 11 izen and patriot.
As you have gathered here to listen to the sentiments of my heart.
knowing that the days draw nigh unto me when all thoughts of ambition
and worldly pride give place to the earnestness of age, I know you will
bear with me while, with calmness and without the fervor and eloquence
ot youth, I express those sentiments which seem natural to my mind, in
view of the condition of On- country.
I have been buffeted by the waves as I have been borne along time's
ocean until shattered and worn I approach the narrow isthmus which
divides it from the sea of eternity beyond.
Ere I step forward to journey through the pilgrimage of death I would
say that all my thoughts and hope are with my country.
If one impulse rises above another, it is for the happiness of these peo-
ple. The welfare and glory of Texas will be the uppermost thought while
the spark of life lingers in this breast
Mr. Speaker, it appears that these noble characters —
Houston and Austin — whom we to-day delight to honor,
when they finally found themselves standing on the verge
f the dark river each spoke and thought of the future
happiness, honor, and glory of Texas; and may we not
indulge the fond hope that they now from a higher sphere,
with clear and unclouded vision, delight in seeing a re-
united country and in realizing that their heloved Texas
o
Sam Houston and Stephen /■'. Austin 71
is one of the brightest stars in the constellation of States
in this the greatest Republic on earth?
Mr. Speaker, the present occasion naturally suggests an
inquiry into the plan and the purpose of Congress in estab-
lishing the national Statuary Hall. The movement origi-
nated in the act of July 2, 1864, which authorized the
President —
To invite each and all Hit States to provide and furnish statues, in mar-
ble or bronze, not exceeding two in number tor each Stale, of deceased
persons who have been citizens thereof, and illustrious for their historic
renown or from distinguished civic or military services, such as each State
shall determine to be worthy of this national commemoration; and when
so furnished the same -hall be placed in the old Hall of the House of
Representatives, in the Capitol of the United State-, which i-, hereby set
apart, or so much thereof as may be necessary, a- a national Statuary Hall,
for the purposes herein indicated.
Mr. Speaker, Mr. Morrill, in the Senate of the United
States, on February 18, 1889, in his speech on the recep-
tion of the statue of General Cass, speaking of Statuary
Hall, said:
We have much reason to believe that the grand old Hall will ere long be
ad< 'rued by such notable figures possibly as would be that of Benton, from
Missouri; Charles Carroll and William Wirt, of Maryland; Morton and
Hendricks, of Indiana; Webster, from New Hampshire; Macon, from
North Carolina; Clay, from Kentucky; Calhoun, from South Carolina;
Cranford and Troup, from Georgia; Austin and Sam HOUSTON, from
Texas; Madison and Patrick Henry, from Virginia.
Mr. Speaker, Mr. Morrill's wise selection of AUSTIN and
HOUSTON for companionship with the great statesmen
named by him, but accentuates the wisdom of the Texas
legislature in afterwards confirming his choice. Mr.
Speaker, in conclusion, and as part of my remarks on
this occasion, I will submit the following list of statues
now in Statuary Hall, showing their names, States, and
Congressional services. [Loud applause.]
- 2 Acceptance of Statues of
Statues in Statuary Hall, I 'nited States ( 'apitol.
Statue.
State-
Ri igi : Sherman
Jonathan Trumbull ,
do
John J. Ingalls
Ji >hn Winthrop
Samuel Adams
John Hanson,
Massachusetts . .
do
do
Michigan
do
Thomas H. Benton . .
John Starke
Daniel Webster
Richard Stockton
New Hampshire
do
New Jersey
do
k K Livingston
do
James A I iarfii Id
William Allen
Robert Fulton
J. P. G. Muhlenberg.
Congressional service.
Pi nnsyb ania ,
... do
Nathanael * ireene ... Rhode Island
Ri ig( r Willi. mis do
Sam Houston . . Texas
Stephen Austin do —
Jacob Collamer Vermont
Ethan Allen do .
johnE Kenna .... West Virginia .
1-". H. Pierpont ... do
Pere Marquette Wisconsin
Frances E. Willard Illinois
House of Representatives, 1791-1793-
House of Representatives, First, Second,
and Third; Senate, 1795-96.
Senate, 1S49-1855, Illinois: 1S58-59, Minne-
sota; [87] , Missouri.
Senate, [867-1877
Senatf , [S73-1889,
No service.
I>«>.
Continental Congress.
Senate, First Congress resigned, 1792.
x, 1 -ervice.
Senate, 1S45-1S4S.
House <>f Representatives, Thirty-third.
House "f Representatives, Thirtv-fifth to
Thirty-eighth; Senate. [871-1873
N< 1 service.
House of Representatives, Thirteenth. Four-
teenth, Eighteenth, and Nineteenth; Sen-
ate, 1827-1851
N<> service.
Ho,
Do.
Do.
House of Representatives, Thirtieth to
Forty-sixth; Senate, ism
House of Representatives. Thirty-sixth and
Thirty-eventh; Senate, 1845-1848.
N' 1 service.
House of Representatives, First, Third, and
Sixth.
No service.
DO
Houseof Representatives, 1823-1825; Senate,
1 846-1 859
N< 1 service.
Hon- of Representatives, Twenty-eighth
and Thirtieth.
N 1 service.
House of Representatives. Forty-sixth,
Fortv-seventh, and Forty-eighth; Senate,
18S3-1893.
No service.
Do.
I'M
The statues of Washington, Jefferson, Hamilton, Lincoln, Grant, and Baker of Ore-
gon, were not presented by their States, and are not, therefore, included in the above
list.
The following .ire nut represented in Statuary Hall: Alabama. Arkansas, California,
Colorado, Delaware. Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Washington, Iowa, Kentucky. Louisiana,
Minnesota Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, Wyoming, North Carolina, North
Dakota < >r< gon South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee. Utah, and Virginia.
Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin 73
Address of Mr. Gibson, of Tennessee
SAM HOUSTON, THE HERO, THE STATESMAN, AND THE
PATRIOT.
Mr. Speaker: Whenever and wherever there is an assem-
blage of people to do homage to the name of Sam
Houston, Tennessee enters her appearance and claims
the right to tender her tribute to his fame and deposit
her wreath in his honor. Tennessee received Houston
to her bosom while he was yet in his infancy and
trained him up to manhood and bestowed her honors
upon him, fitting him to perform the part of a star
actor on that grand Texan stage where his audience was
the whole world, and his triumphs established first an
independent nation and afterwards added another star to
the great American constellation and a new page of
glory to the grand volume of human freedom.
Houston was a soldier of soldiers. His father was a
soldier and served in Morgan's brigade of riflemen
during the Revolutionary war and continued in the
Army as major after the close of the war and died while
so serving. Tradition describes him as a man of large
frame, commanding presence, indomitable courage, and a
passion for military life. Sam Houston's mother also
was of Roman mold, remarkable for her magnificent
phvsique and distinguished for her impressive and digni-
fied appearance, her great force of character, and her
purity and benevolence.
74 Acceptance of Statues of
With such parentage Sam Houston could not well
have been otherwise than the great man he became.
Removing from Virginia to Tennessee in 1806, when 13
years old, with his widowed mother and her family, they
settled in Blount County, near the Tennessee River, on
the Cherokee frontier, and undertook to wrest a living
from the wilderness.
I will not undertake to recount his career in Tennes-
see further than to state that while living in Tennessee
he was elected district attorney, major-general, Member
of Congress, and governor; but I must not omit his
record as a soldier in the Indian wars under General
Jackson. In 1813, when 20 vears old, then living in
my county of Blount, he enlisted in the Army, and was
present the following year at the battle of Tohopeka,
or the Horseslme bend, on the Tallapoosa River, in
Alabama. Houston's intrepidity in this great battle
was such as to attract the attention of the whole country.
Maj. L. P. Montgomery, another Tennesseean, was the
first man to mount the high breastworks erected by the
Indians and was at once shot dead. The next man to
climb the breastworks was Sam HOUSTON, and the next
moment a barbed arrow pierced his thigh. Disregarding
the wound, he leaped down among the Indians and beat
them off until his men had time to climb over and join
him. Notwithstanding this terrible wound he continued
in the thickest of the battle until shot down by two
bullet wounds in his right shoulder, when he was carried
off the field and laid upon the ground to die. From
these wounds he never fully recovered; they discharged
s im Houston and Stephen F. Austin 75
more or less almost every day until he died, forty-nine
years afterwards, and his linen was wet with the dis-
charge in the hour of his death.
HOUSTON was a born warrior, and when the sounds
of battle in Texas reached his cars he could not refrain
from participation in the struggle there for independ-
ence. He was at once put in command of the Texan
army. A black cloud rested on the cause of the strug-
gling patriots. David Crockett, also a Tennesseean, and
his compatriots had all been killed in the Alamo while
battling for the freedom of Texas, and Fannin and his
armv had been treacherously massacred at Goliad after
they had surrendered.
THE STAR OF TEXAS.
The star of Texas was a mere mirage, an unsteady ignis
fatuus scintillating amid the exhalations and vapors aris
from political commotions, more a dream of aspiring pa-
triotism than a substantial reality, until Sam Houston's
foot struck the soil of the struggling territory, and then its
star rose visible and clear above the horizon; and when he
was put in command of the Texan armv that star rose still
higher and shone with greater brilliancy and attracted
greater attention; and when he turned that army's face
toward the invading Mexicans that star, instinct with fate,
blazed with a glorious effulgence prophetic of victory and
empire; and when Houston and his heroic compatriots
stood at nightfall victorious on the field of battle at the San
Jacinto, that star rose majestically to the zenith, a luminary
of resplendent magnificence, and Texas was forever free.
-6 Acceptance of Statues of
the Alamo and Goliad had been avenged, and the lone star
of Texas had become the star of empire.
Texas was peopled by heroes. Down to the day she
established her independence no coward had ever set foot
upon her soil. The men who died fighting in the Alamo,
the men who were slaughtered at Goliad, the men who
faced the appalling perils of campaigning on the Texan
frontiers, the men who triumphantly charged the Mexican
army at San Jacinto, were as valiant and fearless as ever
faced death on the field of battle, and their devotion to the
cause of libertv as intense as ever inspired the hearts of
patriot heroes since the days of Marathon and Thermopylae.
And, Mr. Speaker, when in distant a.q-es the sons of Texas
-hall assemble, as assemble they will, to do honor to HOUS-
TON and his heroic compatriots and commemorate their
mighty triumph at San Jacinto, then will it be said of
them, "There were giants in the earth in those days."
[Applause.]
HOUSTON'S STRENUOUS LIFE.
Sam Houston' led a strenuous life. Born and cradled
in Virginia, he crossed the mountains with his strenuous
widowed mother and settled in Tennessee when he was i 3,
taught the "three RV in a log schoolhouse when 18,
enlisted in the Army when 20, campaigned against the
Creek Indians and received three wounds in battle when
21, was United States Indian agent when 24, made adju-
tant-general of Tennessee when 25, a district attorney of
Tennessee when 26, major-general of the State when 28
Member of Congress from Tennessee when 30, and gov-
ernor of Tennessee when 34. Soon afterwards he left
Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin 77
Tennessee, crossed the Mississippi River and joined the
Cherokee Indians, whom lie had known well in his boy-
hood. Next we find him here in Washington fighting
before Congress and the Departments in behalf of the
Cherokee, exposing the frauds perpetrated against them,
and denouncing in thundering tones and fiery words the
perpetrators of these frauds, their aiders and abettors. As
champion of the Cherokee and vindicator of their rights
and avenger of their wrongs, lie found himself encom-
passed by unscrupulous adversaries, and in the struggle he
waged, among other deeds of violence, he knocked down a
Member of Congress, for which offense he was tried before
the bar of the House of Representatives and fined $51
which fine President Jackson remitted, to the extravagant
delight of his friends and the mortification and humiliation
of his enemies. The next year HOUSTON went to Texas,
and in 1835 we find him commander in chief of the Texan
army of independence: in 1836 we find him at the head of
that army charging, like a god of war and as an avenger of
the Texan heroes who died at Goliad and in the Alamo,
tipon Santa Ana and the Mexican invaders intrenched on
the San Jacinto, and winning a victory, against great odds,
so complete and so decisive that no second battle was neces-
sary and the independence of Texas was won. In 1836 we
find him president of the Republic of Texas; in 1846 we
find Texas a State of the American Union and Sam Hors-
TON its first Senator in the Senate of the United State>: in
1854 we find him pleading the cause of the Union before
the American people: in 1861 we find him again back in
Texas and again its governor, trying to stay the rising tide
-s Acceptance of Statues of
of secession, but trying in vain, and at last overwhelmed
by the irresistible inundation.
I Ine continual struggle marked his career, and one con-
tinual storm of abuse and vilification pitilessly assailed
him, even when engaged in the noblest efforts to sustain
the most righteous and patriotic causes. Envy wagged
at him her spiteful tongue, calumny hurled at him her
poisoned darts, political malice showered upon him its
most fierv invectives and its most bitter vituperations.
Fully and most bitterly did he realize that —
He who ascends to mountain tops shall find
The loftiest peaks most wrapped in clouds and snow;
He who surpasses or subdues mankind
Must look down on the hate of those below.
HOUSTON'S PERSONAL APPEARANCE.
Having seen HOUSTON while I was a boy, I feel con-
strained to say that the marble statue of him we are this
dav accepting, while probably picturing him in his youth,
does not do full justice to the magnificent physique he
possessed when in after days he became the hero of two
nations. HOUSTON was a man of majestic proportions,
and wherever he went never failed to impress all behold-
ers with the conviction that he was one of the giants of
the earth. Hi- appearance is tints described by one who
heard him speak at Galveston a few days before Texas
joined the Confederacy :
There he stood, an old man of 70 years. ..11 a balcony 10 feet above the
heads of the thousands assembled to hear him. where every eye could scan
his magnificent form. 6 feet and 3 inches high, straight as an arrow, with
deep-set and penetrating eyes looking out from heavy anil thundering
eyebrows, a high open forehead, with something of the infinite intellec-
tual there, crowned with white locks partly erect, and a voice of the deep
1 tone, which shook and commanded the soul of the hearer; added to
Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin jg
all this a powerful manner, made up of deliberation, self-possession, and
restrained majesty of action, leaving the hearer impressed with the feeling
that more of his power was hidden than revealed.
HOUSTON THE COMPEER OF REGULUS AND WEBSTER.
The picture of Regulus standing in chains before the
Roman senate and counseling the senators against making
peace with Carthage (he well knowing at the time that he
was pronouncing his own doom), and his voluntary return
to Carthage to submit to a most cruel death — this picture
has from my early boyhood thrilled me with its heroic and
patriotic sublimity. The picture of Daniel Webster stand-
ing on the floor of the American Senate, bound by his oath
to the Constitution, pleading for the passage of the bills
necessitated by that Constitution in the interest of slavery,
well knowing that he was pronouncing his political doom,
but preferring his love for the Union to his love for his
State — not that he loved his State less, but that he loved his
country more — this act of political self-sacrifice has always
in mv eves stood forth on the canvas of history as the sub-
limest picture in the whole record of the American Senate.
The picture of Sam Houston, governor of Texas, sit-
ting in the gubernatorial office, whittling his pine stick,
while the State convention in the hall over his head was
calling upon him to come forward and take an oath of alle-
giance to the Confederate States, and while the multitude
were singing- hosannas to the Confederate banner, Hous-
ton refusing to notice the call, and thereby forfeiting the
great office he held because of his overmasterin«- love for
the old Union, not that he loved Texas less, but that he
loved Texas more as a State of the old Union than as a
81 1 Acceptance of Statues of
State of the new Confederacy — this picture of the old hero
and statesman, suffering voluntary political martyrdom
rather than forswear the country and flag of his fathers, in
whose defense he had shed his young blood and to the
advancement of whose welfare he had devoted the best
years of a long, active, and glorious life — this picture of
Sam HOUSTON is well worthy to stand beside those
of Regulus and Webster as grandly illustrative of the
sublimity of heroic, self-sacrificing patriotism.
HOUSTON A PROPHET OF PROGRESS.
HOUSTON had a prophetic eye; he foresaw the great-
ness and glory of his country; he vigorously advocated
the construction of a railroad from the Mississippi to the
Pacific; his patriotic and prophetic spirit saw the great
tide of American population and American civilization
spreading over the prairies, over the plains, over the
mountains, over the valleys to the shores of the Pacific,
and from the Arctic Ocean to the Isthmus of Panama.
Like his great commander and friend, Andrew Jackson,
he believed in the " manifest destiny " of the American
Republic and in " expanding the area of freedom." He
dreamed of these tremendous events; he talked of them;
he made speeches in advocacy of them; he fought to
promote them; he shed his blood in support of them,
and he died praying that in the providence of God they
mieht all be realized.
The great crevasse in the levee of the Republic through
which flowed, as with apparently irresistible force, the
mighty tides of secession, inundating one-third of the
Union, and sweeping over his own State, bearing down
Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin Si
all opposition from the Potomac to the Rio Grande and
overwhelming the champions of the Union everywhere
except in the mountains, carried along on its foaming
crest the grand old hero of Tohopeka and San Jacinto.
Houston worshiped the Union with the devotion of a
saint; but he worshiped Texas also. Texas was, as it were,
his child. It was the scene of his greatest exploits. His
valor and wisdom had made Texas an independent nation,
and it was long his supreme ambition to see her a member
of the glorious sisterhood of the United States. When the
object of this ambition was consummated by the annexation
of Texas, when he saw the lone star of Texas join, as
though by divine power, the grand and glittering constel-
lation of the American Union, and when he found himself
a Senator from Texas in the Senate of the United States,
in the company of Webster, Clay, and Calhoun, Thomas H.
Benton, Lewi- Cass, John J. Crittenden, Reverdy Johnson,
Daniel S. Dickinson, and other illustrious statesmen, his
happiness was complete, his most improbable dream had
been substantiated, his most magnificent aspirations had
been consummated, and he realized with a glow of patriotic
oratitude, not unmixed with a justifiable pride, that he at
last had received the full measure of compensation for all
his labors and dangers, for all the blood he had shed on the
fields of battle and all the agonies he had endured on the
bed of suffering, thus demonstrating that in his case, at
least, republics had not been ungrateful. The zenith of
his greatness and his fame had been reached. The clock
of destiny had sounded high noon in the career of Sam
Houston. [Loud applause.]
H. Doc. 474. 5^3 6
82 Acceptance oj Statues of
Address of Mr. Field, of Texas
Mr. Speaker: In the Memorial Hall of the Republic, in
the silent assemblage of the nation's great ones, in sculp-
tured marble, wearing the garb of the pioneers of the wilder-
ness, typical of the age and time in which they lived, stand
Stephen F. Austin, the father of Texas, and Sam Hous-
ton, the right arm of the infant Republic, placed there
by the wishes of 3,000,000 of happy, prosperous people,
their beneficiaries, as evidence of their admiration and
devotion, and as a declaration to all the world that these
are the greatest of all of Texas's mighty dead. Their
brave hearts no lunger beat, their strong arms are rigid,
their lips forever sealed; and yet, eloquent in marble, they
bring back to memory the most luminous and glorious
pages in American history. But for the courage, the states-
manship, and self-sacrificing devotion of STEPHEN F.
AUSTIN t<> the early colonists of Texas they would have
been driven from the fair land to which he had led them,
and Texas, like her sister Coahuila, would now be a State
of the Mexican Republic; and but for the wise counsel,
the strong arm, and bright blade of Sam Houston at San
Jacinto, the lone star of the infant Republic, dazzling in
beauty as it was, would have faded from the galaxy of
nations before it added new luster to the flag of our great
Republic.
These statues of Texas's greatest heroes, however, were
not placed in the nation's Pantheon as reminders of their
Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin S3
heroic acts and deeds alone, but as the grandest types of
the age and scenes in which they lived and moved and
the most perfect exponents of the glory of the past — the
heroic days of Texas. Far back in the remote ages of
romance and chivalry the .Spanish conqueror, with bloody
sword, rifled the treasures of the Montezumas, and in his
eager march and search for gold faced the rising sun and
crossed the great river of the north far into the plains
of Texas, where since creation's dawn silence and peace
had reigned; and following close in the soldiers' wake
came the devout, mysterious monk, to heal the wounds
of war, to bear the Messiah's message and teach the arts
of peace, whose monuments remain in those quaint mission
castles from the Rio Grande to the Salado, and "whose
dismantled ruins still keep the memory of those adven-
turous days."
Spanish oppression filled the land with grief for many
hundred years until the pious priest Dolores raised the
standard of revolt, proclaimed the magic word of liberty,
which, though crushed out many times, at last bore fruit,
which now appears in the stable government beyond the
Rio Grande. Texas for many hundred years remained
the home of the wild beasts and the savage tribes of the
plains, until Moses Austin, the father of STEPHEN F.
Austin, obtained permission from the Mexican Govern-
ment to locate 300 families as colonists in that vast
wilderness. He viewed the land, but was not permitted
to possess it ; but died, broken down by main- hardships,
leaving to his son, as his last injunction, to carry out
his plans. How well he did it we need but look upon
84 Acceptance of Statues of
that great State, its fruitful fields, its prosperous people,
growing cities, and unlimited resources, to realize.
What was said of Epaminondas, as the greatest of the
Greeks, could with truth be said of STEPHEN F. AUSTIN,
"A faithful portrait of his mind and heart would be his
only eulogy." STEPHEN F. Austin in January, 1822,
established on the waters of the Brazos his first colony,
the beginning of Anglo-American civilization in Texas,
and from that time on to the close of his useful and
eventful life to its development and extension he devoted
all of his energy and great ability. He was the colonists'
truest friend; in all assemblies their most trusted coun-
selor and their leader in battle, except when performing
duties even of greater importance. When first the col-
onists' rights were threatened by revolutionists in Mexico
he journeyed to the Mexican capital, arriving there alone
and a stranger, with no knowledge of the language or
customs of the people. He displayed such ability and
statesmanship that he not only secured additional priv-
ileges for the colonists, but shaped the policy of the
Mexican < roverument and largely framed the Mexican
constitution of 1S24. And it is worthy of note, and
evidences the devotion and loyalty of the colonists of
Texas to constitutional government, that though this
constitution ignored the inalienable rights of every
English-speaking man — the right of habeas corpus and
trial by jury — still Austin and his colonists, true to
their compact, defended it against all the revolutions of
Mexico, until Santa Ana declared himself military
Sam Houston and Stephen /•". Austin 85
dictator, set aside the constitution of 1824, and subju-
gated everv State in Mexico except Texas, and was then
marching with his hitherto invincible army upon the
doomed citv of San Antonio. Under the despotism of
Santa Ana events were rapidly moving to a revolution
in Texas. The blood of patriots had been shed, and the
soil of Texas was thenceforth dedicated to libertv.
Austin, hoping to avert the threatened revolution and
ameliorate the intolerable oppression of the colonists,
again journeyed alone and in disguise across the great
plains to the City of Mexico; but despotism was then
supreme. He was thrown into prison, and remained a
captive for two and one-half vears, a hostage of his peo-
ple, which restrained action on the part of the Texans.
Independence had not yet been declared, and all of the
battles of 1835 — Gonzalas, Conception, the Grass Fight,
the storming of Bexar by old Ben Milam and his fol-
lowers— were fought in defense of their rights under the
constitution of 1824, and Travis and Bowie and Crockett
and Bonham and all of the immortals at the Alamo "fell
with the flag of the constitution of 1824 floating over
their heads, when four days before, but unknown to them,
the banner of a free republic — the Lone Star of Texas —
had been unfurled on the banks of the Brazos."
Santa Ana was marching on the Alamo; there was no
longer a peace party in Texas. Austin and Houston
now advised for Texas independence, and were as enthu-
siastic even as Archer (the Mirabeau of the revolution),
the Whartons, and others of their followers: and on the
•S(> Acceptance of Statues of
ever memorable day of March 2, 1836, the declaration of
independence was declared, and on the idtli the constitu-
tion of the new republic was adopted. Texas was born
in the midst of revolution and of peril, and soon the
bloodiest chapters in the book of time were to be written
and the most heroic acts performed in the history of the
world.
Did time permit me, I would like to speak at length
of the battles and the heroes of the revolution; how old
Ben Milam, to settle controversy, cnt the Gordian knot
by drawing a line upon the ground, stepping across, and
calling, "Who will follow old Ben Milam?" and 300
more, as brave as he, stepped across, and the storming of
Bexar commenced. Five days and nights the assault
went on, from house to house, through narrow streets
and plazas broad. < >ld Milam fell, but Johnson onward
led the charge until victory was won, and 500 Mexicans,
with many dead behind, marched out with banners trail-
ing, across the Rio Grande, and there remained no hostile
foe in Texas.
At the Alamo, liberty's purest shrine, the fruitful theme
of eloquence, poetry, and song; how Travis and his im-
mortals, conscious of their doom, sent the last message
back that the>- would never surrender or retreat, and when
surrender was demanded answered back with a cannon
shot; how the "stillness of that Sabbath dawn was broken
by the trumpet's blast, and even- band broke forth in the
shrill and terrible strains of the deguello (da-gwal-yo), the
music of merciless murder," and 10,000 Mexicans rushed
on; at last broke down the southern gate, and like a
Sam Houston and Stephen /•". Austin 87
stream long pent up, the murderous tide poured in. Brave
Travis fell near the outer wall by his cannon, no longer
useful; Bowie, though sick, piled many a ghastly corpse
around him ere he died ; and where the dead lay thickest
old Daw Crockett fell. In thirty minutes [82 Texans fell,
with gun in hand; none escaped, and none in flight sought
safety, but round them lay 500 of the foe. I would like to
speak, too, of Goliad, of Fannin and his murdered martyrs,
and then of HOUSTON, of Burleson, and Lamar, and San
Jacinto's field, where the twin sisters spoke in deadly
chorus — where Goliad and the Alamo were avenged and
Texas, in heroic battle, achieved her sovereign independ-
ence. But these fruitful themes of eloquence I must leave
to others, for want of time.
Mr. President, Texas was not bought with sold, but by
the blood of heroes won, and she is worth the price, even-
drop, as precious as it was. Look at the fair land — an
empire in vast extent, reaching northward from the Gulf ;
700 miles from east to west, 900 north and south, as beauti-
ful and productive as anv part of earth. In the South
and Last, when the earth was new, with the profuse hand
of nature was scattered abroad the seed of the pine tree,
the cypress, and the oak, from whose great forests come
the thousands of happy homes of the western settlers.
Moving to the north rolls out those beautiful prairies
where, in the dim distance, the verdure of the earth seems
to mingle itself with the azure of the sky; stretching far,
far to the west those immense plains, where countless
cattle roam, behind whose mountain barriers the setting
sun descends; and when the tide comes in at early night,
88 Acceptance of Statues of
the Gulf breeze unobstructed moves far to the north,
bringing refreshing sleep to weary man and beast, and
gentle showers quickening into life all nature's growth.
Her fertile bosom would feed all the hungry of the nation,
and clothe them, too, and give them shelter from the
winter's storm. Deep down within her bosom she holds
the treasures of her mines, and gas, and gushing oil, and,
like a rich and prudent mother, gives them to her children
from time to time as her treasures they explore; and huge
granite mountains to build and beautify her future cities,
too. In this fair land there is no place for any future
State. There 3,000,000 people dwell; in many things of
different minds and views, each intent upon his own, in
une thing only, in mind, in heart, in firm resolve, united
that in the superstructure of that "Teat State no contraction
shall be made, but they will build as long and wide as are
the foundations which their fathers laid and cemented with
their blood, from the Sabine to the Rio Grande, from the
Red River to the rolling Gulf. [Loud applause.]
Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin 89
Address of Mr. Pinckney, of Texas
Mr. Speaker: The great State of Texas chose well when
she elected, out of all the noble sons who have helped
spread glory upon the pages of her history, who have shed
their blood and died upon her battlefields that she might
live and attain her liberty, or who have distinguished
themselves in the councils of the nation, the men for
whom this hour is set apart to honor.
I say she chose well when she selected to grace the
halls of the nation's Capitol the statues of STEPHEN
FULLER Austin, her first and most deserving love, and
Sam Houston, her most renowned chieftain, the leader
and commander of her armies in the days of her momen-
tous struggle for liberty.
These two men justly deserve that this honor should
be conferred to their memory, because of the deeds they
performed for her in the beginning of her life, that life
which has grown so beautifully grand in so short a time.
Eighty-three years ago the vast domain over which
the lone star flag of Texas floats in fadeless glory,
stretching from Red River to the Gulf and from the
Sabine to the Rio Grande, was a wilderness inhabited
only by savage tribes and over which in freedom roamed
the wild horse and the buffalo. The plowshare was 1111-
felt by her rich and alluvial soil, and the merry song and
laughter of the plowboy broke not her lonely' solitude.
90 Acceptance of Statues of
To-day all is bustle, a land of life, prosperity, and happi-
ness. Thousands of homes stand upon her hillsides or
nestle in her valleys. Her countless towns and cities, her
waving fields of grain, her cotton, rice, and cane, all speak
in thunderous tones of her matchless growth and energy.
AUSTIN found it in :82i a wilderness, broad and dense.
Vet, in 1836, when he died, he left it a free and independent
republic, acknowledged by the world, and reach' to take her
place in the catalogue of nations. His was the matchless
mind and resistless energy that directed her hardy people
and molded them for their high destiny, and when the
people of to-day and those to come look upon the memorials
to the nation's great they will j^aze upon none grander or
more worthy than AUSTIN, the father of Texas.
Who has accomplished more and brought forth greater
results than did AUSTIN in the forty-three years of his life?
Who ever sacrificed more for a cause and fought adversity
more calmly or with a firmer determination than that which
he began at the request of his father, who first conceived
the idea of founding a colony in the wilds of Texas?
Stephen F. Austin was born in Wythe County, Va.,on
the 3d day of November, 1793, his father being Moses
Austin, a native of Connecticut, and his mother, Miss Mary
Brown, of Philadelphia. When Stephen was 6 years of
age his parents removed to Missouri, whence, at 11 years
of age, he was sent to Connecticut to school, where he
remained three years. He then finished his education at
Transylvania College, Kentucky. At 20 years of age he
was a licensed lawyer and member of the legislature of
the Territory of Missouri. At 27 he was a United States
\,r/u Houston and Stephen F. Austin 91
district judge for the Territory of Arkansas. He had
gained the respect and confidence of noted men. He had
attained high position in the service of his country. His
prospects for glory, fame, and leadership, for a life of ease
and prosperity, were all that he could wish, yet when the
call of filial duty reached him there was no hesitation and
no regret.
The restless spirit of his father in 1820 had led him to
seek and secure a grant of land in Texas and permission
to make settlements, but before he could put his scheme
into execution the hardships of the trip to the Mexican
authorities, which he was compelled to undergo, proved
too much for his endurance, and he died, leaving a request
that his son should carry his plans into execution. With-
out delay or protest, young AUSTIN hastened to the seat of
government and secured from the Mexican authorities a
renewal to him of his father's grant, selected the lands
between the Colorado and Brazos rivers for his colon}-,
and on the 1st clay of January, 1N22, landed his first settlers
upon the banks of the Brazos and began the settlement
and development of Texas.
Soon others, inspired by his success, followed his example,
and the solitude of the wilderness began to give slowly
way before the sturdy energy of the hardy natives of the
young Republic lying to the north, who comprised the
bulk of immigration to Texas, and where had been molded
the principles of liberty which sustained them in the dark
hours of their later struggles.
The hardships of pioneer life are ever marked and many,
but when to the vicissitudes of nature there are added the
92 Acceptance of Statues of
troubles of an unstable and sometimes oppressive govern-
ment these hardships become much magnified and call for
constant watchfulness and care.
Mexico, which had but recently thrown off the Spanish
yoke, was in a formative, even somewhat choatic state.
and changes of administration were frequent. It thus
happened that Austin, ever watchful of his colony's
interest, was compelled, soon after his settlement was
made, to visit the seat of government. Nothing daunted
at the prospect, he traveled the 1,200 miles that intervened
on horseback and alone. He stayed for twelve months at
the capital, and by his tact and energy had all his grants
renewed, his powers for good enlarged, and returned to his
colony the representative of his Government and clothed
with almost absolute authority.
Then began that period when the wise exertion of his
power as impresario of his colon}- and his judicious admin-
istration of its public affairs endeared him to the hearts of
his people and inspired them with boundless love and con-
fidence, a love and confidence that remained unshaken to
the end. His colony was made the model of all others
that followed, and his leadership became the example and
inspiration of everv colony throughout the State.
For a time evervthin^ went well. The colonists were
graduallv overcoming their initial hardships. The Mexi-
can laws encouraged immigration, and settlement followed
settlement in rapid succession. Xo foreboding of evil
clouded the apparently brilliant prospects. But soon there
came a change. Texas had for governmental purposes
been attached to the neighboring State of Coahuila, but
Saw Houston and Stephen F. A us/ in 93
had been promised in the beginning that as soon as her
population became sufficiently numerous she would have
separate government.
This arrangement soon became, for obvious reasons,
very inconvenient and annoying to the colonists. Their
general laws were written in a language foreign to them,
and the seat of government 800 miles away, and reached
only after weeks of travel and hardship. Her vote in
the common council was only two, while Coahuila had
ten, which brutal majority was often used to her sore
disadvantage. This condition of affairs soon became so
irritating to the minds of a people reared in the pure
air of liberty and justice that efforts were made to obtain
separation, but they were to no avail. Meanwhile the
steady inpour of immigration from the North began to
alarm the Mexican Government, which began to fear the
results to itself from the infusion of the ideas of liberty,
and laws were passed restraining further immigration.
Mutterings of wrath became heard over the colonies, the
demand for separation from Coahuila became urgent, and
at last, in 1833, a convention was called at San Felipe
de Austin, the capital of Austin's colony, and a petition
was formulated, setting forth the reasons for such sepa-
ration, and asking relief of the Mexican Government.
Austin was chosen to present the petition, and with a
characteristic spirit of energy and self-sacrifice made prep-
aration for the long and arduous journey to the capital.
But there, also, had come a change. The spirit of the
dictator, Santa Ana, ruled the nation, and his anger was
aroused against the proud-spirited, tyrant-resisting people
94 Acceptance of Statues of
of Texas. AUSTIN was thrown into prison and remained
for two years, ever on occasion advocating the cause of
his people and his adopted State.
The thought of final separation from the mother
country had not as yet permeated the brain of the Texas
citizenship; but when the manner in which their petition
and their representative had been received became known
to them the mutterings of the coming storm became
louder and more persistent. When, after two years of
obstinate persistence in a policy of oppression, the dictator
of Mexico realized at last the serious aspect of affairs
and released Austin with many assurances of confidence
and esteem and manv promises of reforms, the wave <A
revolution had reached such height and momentum that
it could not be calmed or staved. AUSTIN hastened home
to prepare his people for the eomiiii; struggle. He told
them that Santa Ana had usurped the supreme authority,
had overridden all law, and was intent upon the destruc-
tion of the colonies, and that the time for action in defense
had come. The people rallied to the call. AUSTIN was
chosen commander in chief of the army, which was
quickly organized, and under his direction were fought the
battles of Gonzales and Concepcion — the Lexington and
Concord of Texas — and the opening blows of the struggle
which ended on the glorious field of San Jacinto.
Soon a provisional government was organized and
preparations for the struggle began to be made. Weak
and isolated as they were, the colonists realized that in
order to cope with their powerful adversary they must
receive assistance, and the Macedonian crv went to the
Sam Houston and Stephen /■'. Austin 95
people of the young giant republican Government to
the north. Feeling that wise, tactful, and energetic
representation could secure for them the much-needed
assistance, all eyes in Texas were turned upon AUSTIN
to help them in their trying hour, and he was asked to
go. Without hesitation or protest, but in the full reali-
zation of his duty, AUSTIN laid down the commission of
commander in chief and departed upon his mis-inn, and
by his representations and efforts resulted the financial
aid and volunteer assistance that made San Jacinto
possible.
And now. Mr. Speaker, upon the arena of action appears
that other gigantic figure, which illumines the pages of
early Texas history.
Sam Houstox, who divides with Stephen Austin the
honors we would pay to-day to Texas heroes, was born in
Rockbridge County, Va., in the year 1793, on a day made
ever memorable by the Texas declaration of independence,
the 2d dav of March. It thus happens that .grand old
Virginia, the mother of heroes and statesmen, gave to
Texas and to the world the two men Texas holds most
dear and the memories of whose achievement will go
down the ages.
His father was a soldier of the Revolution, and his
mother was Elizabeth Paxton. Her husband dying. Mrs.
Houston removed to Tennessee when Sam was 13 years
of age. He was a bold and headstrong boy, of an impe-
rious will, and born to rule. He joined the army of the
United States under Andrew Jackson, fought and was
wounded at the battle of Horseshoe Bend, where, by his
q6 Acceptance of Statues of
daring; and gallantry upon the field, he won promotion
and the lasting friendship of his great chief.
At the age of 30 he was in the Congress of the United
States, and in 1827 was elected governor of Tennessee.
This office he soon resigned and went to live with a tribe
of Indians whose friendship he had gained when he was
a boy, and in 1832 came to Texas and cast his lot with
the colonists of that province, where his wise counsel and
military training soon brought him into prominence.
When, therefore, the resignation of AUSTIN necessitated
the choice of another commander in chief, all eyes were
turned to Houston, and he was unanimously chosen to
serve. Accepting the position, he at once set about to
organize his forces and get them in hand.
Meanwhile events were fast transpiring in the history of
the province. Santa Ana had suddenly appeared before
San Antonio, the principal town of the province, and after
a brief siege carried the Alamo by storm and put its garri-
son to the sword. Its glorious defense is without a parallel
in histon-, and the names of Crockett, Travis, Bonham,
and Bowie, who there suffered heroic martvrdom and
placed their lives as a willing sacrifice upon their country's
altar, are emblazoned in undying characters in the halls of
the world's heroic dead.
Fannin had fallen at Goliad, and his little band of
patriots had been ruthlessly massacred, and the victorious
army of the conqueror was sweeping in three divisions
toward the Sabine boundary. Terror and consternation
seized upon all. It took strategy and generalship to meet
the forces that were now being- hurled against the devoted
Sam Houston and Stephen /■'. Austin 97
patriots of Texas. Sam Houston, stern, rugged, and
brave, was the one man equal to the occasion. Feeling his
little force to be too weak to meet the enemy, he retired,
vigilant and grim, before it, ever watchful to turn and
strike when the opportunity presented. .Santa Ana
marched to San Felipe; HOUSTON diverged to the left
and traveled up the Brazos.
Santa Ana, with the main body of his army, crossed that
stream and threw himself between HOUSTON and the seat
of government, but HOUSTON remained firm and the
government moved. He was molding his army into that
resistless machine which later was to cover itself with
fadeless glory on the memorable field of San Jacinto. The
Alamo had fallen on the 6th of March, 1836, and Fannin
had been massacred a few daws later, yet by the 21st of
April HOUSTON, by his resistless energy and generalship,
had so inspired his countrymen that there had rallied to
him an army of 800 men whom he had molded into a
machine and inspired with a deathless zeal in the service
of his country. He had so maneuvered that army as to
lure his foe a\va\ from his support, and they were at last
face to face upon a battleground of Houston's own
choosing.
Let me quote you, Mr. Speaker, the language of Hon.
Guy M. Bryan, a nephew of Stephen F. Austin, and
himself a soldier of the republic, delivered before the Texas
veterans, May, 1873, in description of this battle:
I need not tell you ■ ■(' that glorious onset and rout of the enemy.
Texans would have won that battle had the whole Mexican army been
there, instead of the sixteen hundred they killed, wounded, or captured.
Under the thrilling cries of "Remember the Alamo'" " Remembei
II. Doc 474. 5S-3 7
,,s Statues of
Goliad!" with the conviction of success, with the high-souled determina-
tion and enthusiastic energ\ inspired by the past, a full knowledge of the
awful responsibility of the present, with the cries of fleeing wives and
children sounding in their ears, with bated breath and pallid cheeks they
sprang forward to the charge to conquer or to die.
What Waterloo was to Napoleon was San Jacinto to Santa Ana. What
Bannockburn was to Scotland was San Jacinto to Texas
On that glorious day all that Austin had planned and
worked for was accomplished. Sam Houston had proven
himself a matchless leader. At the close of that fated day
a new era had opened for Texas and a new star had risen
in the firmament of nations. The army of Santa Ana had
been routed, and Sam HOUSTON had won.
Mr. Speaker, I have tried in a brief way to touch upon
some of the reasons why upon these two men fell the
unanimous choice of the people of Texas when it came
to select its representatives in Statuary Hall of the nation's
Capitol. The allusion- must of necessity be brief and the
descriptions meager. The knightly figure of Austin pre-
sents itself at every turn of the early pages of Texas
historv. His was the mind and energy that molded and
o-uided its early growth, and the impress of his mind and
thought is found in the principles of its early government;
and the influence of his kindly spirit, his farseeing grasp
of the possibilities of the future are shown in the great
and lasting institutions that have arisen in the country
that he founded. He did not live to see the complete
fulfillment of all his hopes and aspirations, but he died in
the full knowledge that he had founded an empire whose
glorious history and mighty achievement were to call forth
the plaudits and challenge the admiration of the world.
He died in 1836, shortly after the establishment of the
5 "ii Houston and Stephen F. Austin 99
new government, full of glory-, and in the full confidence
and love of his people.
He died, and yet he lives in undiminishing glory. Foi
him and in his honor is the capital named, and for him and
in his honor is named the county in which the historic
town of San Felipe, his seat of government, is situated.
His memory is graved upon tablets of stone and in the
hearts of his countrymen. He lives and lives forever.
He will live upon the lips of children,
Live in manhood's deepest pi
In the high, pure heart of woman,
Fadeless in his deeds sublime.
Houston lived to reap the full, rich reward of his
matchless genius. Ever full of that rugged manhood and
tireless energy that enabled him to mold and shape his
little armv for its heroic struggle, wise and conservative in
all things, he was the one man to take up the work of
Austin and carry it forward to the end.
And Texas honored him with her confidence and her
love. She made him the first President when she became
a Republic, and she elected him again to the same
position. She elected him as her governor when she
joined the galaxy of States in our great Republic, and she
sent him as her Senator in the nation's council, to watch
and work for her welfare. Even when, under the gather-
ing clouds of civil war, the stern Roman-like principles of
his nature caused him to take a stand at variance with his
people, he was allowed to retire to the shades of private
life, his name unsullied, and the memory of his heroic
oreatness remained a heritage to his countrv. Full of
years and honors, at his home in Huntsville he laid aside
ioo Acceptance oj Statues of
the cares oi the world, and "soothed and sustained by an
unfaltering trust, wrapped the- drapery of his couch about
him and lay down to pleasant dreams."
As in the cast- of Austin, so in the case of Houston
Texas has sought to honor him in no uncertain way.
The city of Houston, named in his honor, is the metrop-
olis of our Lone Star State. The county of Houston is
princely in its extent and progressive in its development.
Sam Houston Normal Institute, for the education of the
.State'.-- teachers, stands the peer of any institution of its
kind in the country.
Tims has Texas sought to honor her heroic dead.
And she conies now to-day to offer another testimonial
of her love and reverence in the form of the beautiful
statues which are to-day presented to the National Gov-
ernment. And it is with pardonable pride that I sav to-
day, Mr. Speaker, that these are not ordinary works of art.
They are the artistic creations of one in whose veins flows
the proud blood of a marshal of France, and who could,
if she would, show proofs of as proud a lineage as ever
held itself before the pages of European history. She
is a citizen of our Lone Star State, and Texas is proud
to own her. She has brought fame to herself and honor
to her State, and these two creations will ever stand as
deathless monuments to her artistic power.
And now, Mr. Speaker, in the name of Texas we
deliver into your charge and into the nation's care the
statues of our great and honored dead — AUSTIN, the
father of his country, and HOUSTON, the hero of San
Jacinto. [Loud applause.]
Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin loi
Address of Mr. Wallace, of Arkansas
Mr. Speaker: We to-day formally accept from the
State of Texas the statues of STEPHEN F. AUSTIN and
Sam Houston, epoch makers in the history of the
country7. ( >n his departure from Tennessee, under the
shadow of a great sorrow, Houston dwelled with the
Indians for a season in Arkansas Territory. Moses Aus-
tin traversed the same with chain and compass, Stephen,
his son, following in his footsteps and sharing his hard-
ships. Later he exercised the functions of judge. A
town in my State, not so pretentious as the capital of
Texas, likewise bears the name of Austin. So Arkansas
may share with Virginia and Tennessee and Texas
something of homage and kinship with these names —
names not born to die. Of HOUSTON it is said he "was
the most imposing in personal appearance in all Texas.
His eagle eve read men at a glance. His majestic per-
sonality enabled him to control the excited masses at
critical periods when no other man could. His penetrat-
ing vision grasped the whole of Texas — her resources
and capabilities of the present and future — a grasp that
was only relaxed by death." And of Austin, "that he
had more culture and possessed a more refined and loftier
spiritual image." Wars and treaties and history I shall
leave largely to the historian and those inclined to thread
the narrative here. Upon the brow of HOUSTON, with
to2 Acceptance of Statues of
his stern virtues and diversified occupations, I shall attempt
tn wreathe the laurel leaf. In private life he was gentle,
chivalric, and courtly. In Texas he wore buckskin
breeches and a Mexican blanket, which tempted General
Jackson to remark: "There is one man, at least, in Texas
of whom God Almighty, and not the tailor, had the
making." [Laughter.] With personal courage that never
failed him, with humanity that never sought innocent
])1 1, with honor unsullied by successes or reverses, he
began and ended his life a benefactor of his race.
HOUSTON was admitted to the baron one-third the time
prescribed by his preceptor. Soon became to practice at
the Nashville bar, which was conspicuous for talent and
forensic power. So main' duties, civic and military,
crowded into his life that he abandoned his profession too
early, perhaps, to he accredited a great lawyer, hut not
before he had achieved wide distinction and phenomenal
success. Mastering the details of complicated cases, he
was strong in their presentation to court and jury. His
powers of analysis and penetration, supplemented by his
rare gifts of speech, made him a " foeman worthy the steel
of all comers" — the Achilles of some vanquished Hector in
almost every legal battle. He comprehended the science,
acted out the great principles of the law. He depended on
no "cork sinker" of the jury panel for success; despised
mean advantage and petty jealousies among associates at
the bar. His relations toward his professional brothers
were open and manly. His bearing before the court and
jury was dignified and courtly. He descended not to low
abuse, but was unsparing in his arraignment of a false
Sam Houstoft and Stcp/ieti F. Austin [03
witness. Around him he invoked all the ghostly horrors
that broke the sleeping hours of the " false and perjured
Clarence." Superb lawyer and brilliant advocate in all the
service that made him perhaps the unchallenged promise
of the Tennessee bar, it can not be said he ever —
Crooked the pregnant hinges of the knee,
That thrift might follow fawning.
Houston had no early military training, save that
gained by experience among the Indians and heroic dis-
cipline under General Jackson — his antetype and his model.
When lie first enlisted his friends rebuked him. But it was
no part of his nature to abandon the course upon which he
had determined, and his answer was: " You don't know me
now, but you shall hear of me." But his mother said:
" My son, take this musket; never disgrace it, for I would
rather all niv sons should fill one honorable grave than
turn a single back to the foe. My cabin door is open to
brave men, but eternally shut against cowards." Words
worthy the Greek matron, as paraphrased by Montgomery:
Then said the mother to her son,
And pointed to his shield,
"Come with it. when the battle's done,
1 M on it, from the held."
( >h, a mother's courage, a mother's love ! She stumbles
not where man falls; falters not where man fails, and over
the wreck of his earthlv ambitions and the night of his
earthly woes shines as a beacon of destiny, a star of inspi-
ration and hope. Who shall doubt that the memory of
that voice haunted him from the moment he was stricken
with wounds almost mortal at Tohopeka until, at .San
104 Acceptance of Statues of
Jacinto, immortality crowned him her own? One said of
him that he always slept with one eye open. He said that
while the policy of warfare with his associates — Fanin,
Bowie, and Crockett — was to divide, advance, and con-
quer, his own was to concentrate, retreat, and conquer.
He was not unlike the later Jackson. Mysterious,
incomprehensible to his foes, he won advantage at a
move, victory at a blow. Sword and prayer were his
weapons, and he mingled them with the lurid lightings
that played upon the battle cloud and thundered in the
storm of war. Those who may have followed closely his
career — first living in peace with, then battling against,
and again dwelling in exile with the red man — must
look witli wonder on this strange, unfathomable char-
acter— romantic as it was daring, weird as it was Isold,
admirable as it was unconquerable! but here I must
take refuge in the lines of the poet, who said:
Nature ne'er meant her secrets t<> be found,
And man's a riddle which man can't expound.
With opportunity at hand, had he made law- alone his
profession, he could have been a Choate or a Grundy. Had
he made oratory alone his profession, he could have been
a Wise or a Clay. Had he made war alone his business,
he could have been a Washington or a Jackson. Had he
made statecraft alone his business, he could have been
an Adams or a Madison. But whatever doubt may exist of
his ability to have equaled any of these, one thing is
certain, that in the multiplied stations of honor and
endurance he bore, in the successes and victories he won,
not one of these men could ever have been Sam Houston.
S "n Houston and Stephen /■'. Austin 105
Well may history rest his fame at San Jacinto. There
culminated the struggle which divested Texas of a hostile
foe, detained Santa Ana as a hostage for peace and
independence, builded a republic and immortalized its
builder. The more remote but nut less important se-
quence was the annexation of Texas to the American
Union. The Stars and Stripes floated over the halls of
the Montezumas and the domain of our Republic was
augmented In- concessions of territory stretching away
to the Rio Grande and Pacific, and Mexico, then a
mockerv of civil government, was constructed into a
modern republic, welcomed to the family of nations,
and honored by all the powers of the earth. A blue
shaft rising in broad stretches of magnificent environ-
ment at San Jacinto and speaking through its granite
silence the people's love for their patriot son may lose
its majestv and its strength, but the name wrought deep
in its polished shaft, but deeper wrought in the hearts
and consciences of men, shall endure until God's hand
shall rend the firmament and God's voice shall rock the
earth and in the tumult of dissolving nature time's last
revolution "breaks on eternity's wave." [Applause.]
AUSTIN'S idea, which prevailed for a time, was to
establish a local state government under the Mexican
constitution of 1 s 2 4 . Houston's idea was to establish
a republic or a state absolutely independent and defiant
of the Central Mexican government, with the ultimate
object of annexation to the United States. The Republic
was established and modeled after our form of ^o\-ern-
ment. Houston was the first President. He found
to6 Acceptance of Statues of
the young Republic pledged to the payment of a debt
of S3, 000,000. His administration fixed its eyes first on
land robbers. Then a small impost duty was imposed,
an ad valorem tax levied, and land scrip issued and
put upon the market for sale. He kept peace with the
enemies of the Republic, and started it well on the way
to a high and noble destiny. He was succeeded by
Mirabeau Lamar, whose first official declaration was that
the "sword should mark the boundaries of the Repub-
lic ; " which at once incurred the hostility of Mexicans
and Indians alike.
At the clo.se of his administration the public debt had
increased from three to eight millions, and Texas had a
population of only 55,000. The popular will cried out for
HOUSTON, and he again became president. He at once
inaugurated administrative reforms to correct existing
abuses, and at the end of his term in 1844 saw ms Republic
at peace with Mexico and the Indian tribes and a "cash
balance" in her treasury. As a statesman there was noth-
ing of the iconoclast in his nature. On the contrary-, he
was of the type of creative, constructive publicists. If
AUSTIN laid the corner stone, HOUSTON erected the super-
structure and fashioned into splendid proportions this mag-
nificent structure of a Republic and a State. He laid his
impress there, and Texas will go clown the years as the
superb embodiment of his martial spirit, the composite ideal
of his statesmanship, and the fairest gem of his handiwork.
[Applause.]
Efforts on the part of Houston and others to annex
Sir/// Houston and Stephen /■'. Austin iOy
Texas to the United States were thrice denied by this coun-
try. As a diplomat, Houston paid court to France and
England, and otherwise exerted his subtle and powerful
influence to stimulate the jealousy of this country against
any European nation that designed a foothold in the West-
ern Hemisphere. Soon James K. Polk and the Democratic
party espoused the cause of annexation and triumphed at
the polls. Strange enough, when the final steps were taken
in 1845 l" annex Texas. HOUSTON seemed to oppose or
take no part in it. For this he was abused and denounced
by his friends. In response to the matter of paying court
to France and England, afterwards in a speech he illus-
trated his position as follows: "Suppose," said he, "a
charming huh has two suitors. One of them, she is in-'
clined to believe, would make the better husband, hut is a
little slow to make interesting propositions. Don't you
think, if she were a skillful practitioner at Cupid's court,
she would pretend that she loved the other ' feller ' the 1 lest
and be sure that her favorite would know it? If ladies are
justified in making use of coquetry in securing their annex-
ation to good and agreeable husbands, you must excuse me
for making use of the same means to annex Texas to the
United States." Annexation was the ambition, the passion
of his life. His great heart beat with unspeakable emotion
when he looked upon the "lone star" of his Republic
gleaming in the noble group that formed the coats of arms
of the States of this Union. But alas for the mutability
of human success. The blight of war came in e86i, and
hearing the signal guns proclaim the withdrawal of Texas
io8 Acceptance of Statues of
from the Union, he exclaimed, "My heart is broken ;" and
those who knew him best record that Houston was never
himself again. [Applause.]
But, Mr. Speaker. Texas has men to-day, if not still tar-
rying in the flesh, who might pose in marble with the group
of immortals in Statuary Hall. There is Reagan, at the
head of a numerous list. With her vast stretches of prai-
rie, buoyancy of life and luxuriant landscape, fields of strain
and shrines of memories, one can but exclaim "Great is
Texas!" But greater than Texas are her men, and greater
than her men are the noble women of Texas. At even'
point of struggle and hour of trial the "Daughters of the
Republic of Texas," though called not by the sterner name
of hero, filled the measure of all that heroes were, all that
heroes mean. Watchers in the night of war, toilers in the
day of hope, dauntless soldiers in the army of home, they
prayed with words of fire, loved with hearts of gold. At
tidings good, tears of joy danced in laughing eyes; at tid-
ings ill, tears of sorrow like molten fire streamed down pale
and withered cheek. And what magic, what miracles
wrought by these tears upon fathers and sons in the bloody
charge, in the battle's storm. [Applause.]
As the astronomer takes the level of the sea to measure
all important heights and depths, so must we take the plane
upon which men move to measure the influence of their
lives upon human kind. A giant gloried in the strength
of his own great arm and was slain by the shepherd youth.
Byron dazzled the world with his genius, overshadowed
Walter Scott as poet, and put him to the task of giving the
world among the richest of its types of romance. But who
s Hon and Stephen F. Austin 109
is prepared to say mankind gained mure in the birth than
in the death of Byron?
Newton mounted to the stars and saw the forces that
hound all nature in harmony and system. In it he saw
the hand of the Creator, and blessed mankind by his living.
Sam Houston, a decade before his death, listened to a dis-
course from the text, "Better is he that ruleth his spirit
than he who taketh a city." It soon "fastened conviction"
upon him, and he lived a Christian; died not only as a
philosopher, but almost like a god. [Applause.]
Mr. Speaker, I have seen part of a summer's sky over-
cast with cloud and the gentle showers fall and the rain-
drops sparkle as so main diamonds on tree and shrub and
flower, and I believed it beautiful. I have fancied myriad
forms in the strange phenomena of the heavens, and believed
it grand. I have looked on the mellow glow of sunset and
believed it challenged the utmost stretch of my fancy for
the beautiful; but the most charming picture, perhaps, that
may challenge the imagination is a shaft of light spanning
from the effigies of earth to heaven, and human souls,
loosed from their mortal environment, ascending that shaft
to the God who gave them.
Let this be the vision we have of the .yreat souls, now,
perhaps, not less the idols of their eternal than erstwhile of
their earthly homes. Let it be they abide in peace by the
fountain of living waters, and where the skies bend soft-
est and the flowers bloom eternal. Xoble and cultured
Austin ! Great and picturesque Houston ! By the work
of this day we but recall the magic of thy genius, but
review the pioneer pageant of thy march from cradle to
i io Acceptance of Statues of
grave. It has not been left for us to add one cubit to stat-
ures, like gods descended, stood in the councils, moved the
hearts, and molded the judgments of men. It has not been
left for us to immortalize thy names, for beyond our feeble-
reach they are graved on the tablets and shrined in the
hearts of nations. It has not been left for us to wreathe
thy brows with lintels that defy the touch of time, for the
world has crowned them with laurels that shall endure
forever. It has not been left for us to broaden the pedestals
nor place the capstones on the pyramids of th\- fame, for
thine own hands have builded the one as broad as earth
and the other as high as heaven, but it has been left for
ns to glory in the fact of birth in a land dowered with the
knightly genius of tliv patriotism and the peerless chivalry
of tin deeds. Caesar nor Napoleon inspired their armed
legions with such spirit for war as thou hast wrought in
thy countrymen for peace, nor waged such victories in
battle as thou hast won in the forum, nor massed such
power for oppression as thou hast arrayed for freedom, nor
transmitted such glory to the nations as thy example to
posterity. [Loud applause.]
Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin in
Address of Mr. Gillespie, of Texas
Mr. Speaker: By the act of Congress passed in 1864
each State of the Union is invited to place in Statuary
Hall of this Capitol the statues of two of her sons
renowned in civil or military life. Texas has accepted
this invitation and presented to the nation the statues of
Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston. Austin, the
revered father of Texas, and HOUSTON, her matchless
defender and preserver. Texas is most fortunate in her
choice, and the nation may be congratulated upon it, for
the lives of these two men furnish forcible examples of
those noble deeds and high resolves which shone so re-
splendently in the lives of the founders of this nation,
and have ever been and ever will be cherished as the
most sacred memories of our people. They also furnish
the highest hope and surest inspiration for the preserva-
tion of our liberties. Austin's life embodies hope; Hous-
ton's, courage. Hope and courage are the parent virtues
of our race. Hope plants, courage defends.
Both these men were born in Virginia the same vear.
Houston, March 2, 1793; Austin, November 3. Hous-
ton's parents moved to Virginia from Pennsylvania; Aus-
tin's, from Connecticut and New Jersey. They were both
of the stock we call Scotch-Irish. The hearts of their
Old World ancestors were set on fire for religious' free-
dom by the eloquence of John Knox. They migrated
112 Acceptance of Statues of
from Scotland to the north of Ireland, whence they largely
peopled these shores and constitute our best citizens.
They have been found wherever privation was to be
endured, the forest to be felled, cities to be founded,
States to be built, the savage to be driven back, liberty
to be defended, or God to be worshiped.
Mr. Speaker, in reviewing the early history of Texas
from the time her life-giving sunshine first enveloped the
frail form of STEPHEN F. AUSTIN and her healthful breezes
first cooled his patriot brow, on through his wonderful
labor of love and sacrifice, on yet through the time when
the fair form of Texas liberty first attracted the eye and
engaged the heart of Sam Houston and caused him to
throw his strong arms around her, on until Texas took
her place in the Union of our fathers. When we review
these things we are brought face to face with the ever-
watchful care of Almighty God, who numbers the very
hairs of our head and without whose knowledge a sparrow
falls not to the ground. How he fitted the means to the
end. To accomplish what AUSTIN accomplished required
the use of every virtue of head and heart, and AUSTIN
possessed them. He was modest and unassuming; he was
candid, sincere, plain, and direct; he was painstaking,
cautious, and watchful ; he was patient and industrious ; he
possessed the sublimest moral courage and the noblest
spirit of self-sacrifice ; he was well educated, skillful, and
sagacious; his language and conduct were pure and chaste;
he was both a statesman and a patriot. Men delighted to
intrust him with their lives, their property, their fortunes.
He ruled by love. His colony absorbed his very being.
5 nn Houston and Stephen F. Austin 115
But every human life lias its limitations, beyond which it
cannot pass. So Austin had his. Although he possessed
the power of a military dictator over his people he never
once exerted it. He established courts; even-handed
justice was meted out to all.
The civil administration of his colony is one of the
proudest monuments to his genius and patriotism. But
other colonies were established in Texas and other settle-
ments made after Austin had founded his — notably De
Witt's colonv, whose capital was Gonzales, and the
settlement of Victoria, southwest of Austin's colony, and
those of Nacogdoches and San Augustine, in east Texas.
Xew settlers were constantly arriving. Many of them
were young, bold, ambitious spirits; many also were reck-
less and lawless. At the beginning of the revolution in
Texas, in 1835, when the purpose of Santa Ana to dis-
arm the Texans and hold the province in absolute sub-
jection to his will, or to drive out the American settlers
with fire and sword, was made manifest, it became
necessary for all the people of Texas to act together.
The situation demanded a leader. Why not Austin?
The newcomers knew not Austin. He had no mili-
tarv experience; his presence was not commanding; the
gift of elocpience was not his; his modesty and retiring
manners were interpreted for weakness. Austin himself
turned to Houston, and Houston was there! Houston
was a man of magnificent presence. He was 6 feet 2
inches in height, of a large, perfectly formed frame, erect
as it was possible for a man to be, grace in every move-
ment, a voice full of deliberation and melody, his eye
H. Doc. 474. 58-3 s
ii4 Acceptance of Statues of
penetrating and kind. He was described substantially as
above by ex-Governor Roberts, of Texas. Besides his
personal appearance, nature had filled his soul with
eloquence and it burst forth as naturally as water from
the mountain's side.
Courage was also his natural attribute. His fame, too,
had preceded him to Texas. The strange life of his
boyhood among the Indians; his daring acts of valor at
Horseshoe Bend under the very eye of Andrew Jackson;
Jackson's friendship for him; his sudden rise to the gov-
ernorship of Tennessee; the separation from his wife;
the consequent convulsions produced in Tennessee; the
sudden dashing from his lips the cup of fortune and
quitting the State of Tennessee as a citizen forever,
taking up his life again among the Indians; his visit to
Washington in their behalf; his famous trial by Con-
gress for assaulting a Member in Washington; the
triumphal issue of this trial — the fame of these things
preceded HOUSTON t< i Texas, and when he stood among
her people there was about him an irresistible fascination
and attraction for all men. There he stood, a prince
among men, (rod's best endowed, and nature's nobleman.
Yes, he stood there clad in buckskin with an Indian
blanket thrown across his shoulder, a dress suited to his
dav and work.
As of Austin so of Houston, it can be said that none
but Houston could have accomplished Houston's work.
Everj' accident of Houston's history was preparatory to
his great work in Texas. For the little band of patriots
to successfully cope with Mexico the Indians must be
Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin 115
kept down. Houston, before he began his famous cam-
paign ending with San Jacinto, made a treaty with the
Indians which they faithfully kept. Houston's knowl-
edge of the Indian character was most profound; lie was
their sincere friend. It is said that the Indians never
broke a treaty they made with HOUSTON. His greatest
efforts in the United .States Senate were in behalf of the
Indians. He believed the Indian capable of high devel-
opment if properly treated. He mourned to the last over
the Indian's fate. This is a description of an eyewitness
to a meeting in Washington between Houston and a
party of Indians while HOUSTON was Senator.
During the latter part of June, 1S46, Genera] Morehead arrived at Wash-
ington with a party of wild Indians from Texas, belonging to more than a
dozen tribes. We saw their meeting with Genera] HOUSTON, One and
all ran to him ami clasped him in their brawny arms ami hugged him like
bears to their naked breasts and called him "father." Beneath the cop-
per skin and thick paint the blood rushed and their faces changed; the
lip of many a warrior trembled, although the Indian may not we-ep.
These wild men knew him and revered him as one who was too directly
descended from the Great Spirit to be approached with familiarity, and vet
they loved him so well they could not help it. These were the men "he
had been too subtle for on the warpath, too powerful in battle, too mag-
nanimous in victory, too wise in council, and too true in faith." They had
flung away their arms in Texas, and with the Commanche chief who headed
their file they had come to Washington to see their " father." I said these
iron warriors shed no tears when they met their old friend, but wdiite men
who stood by will tell what they did. We-were there, and have witnessed
few scenes in which mingled more of what is called the "moral sublime."
hi the gigantic form of HOUSTON, on whose ample brow the beneficent
love of a father was struggling with the sternness of the patriotic warrior,
we saw civilization awing the savage at his feet. We needed no interpre-
ter to tell us that this impressive supremacy was gained in the forest
HOUSTON, in the United States Senate, thus poured out
the lamentation of his soul over the Indian's fate:
As a race they have withered from the land. Their arrows are broken,
and their springs are dried up; their cabins are in thediist. Their council
u6 Acceptance of Statues of
fire has long since gone out on the shore, and their war cry is fast dying
out to the untrodden West. Slowly and sadly they climb the mountains
and read their doom in the setting sun. They are shrinking before the
mighty tide which is pressing them away; they must soon hear the roar
of the last wave, which will settle over them forever. Ages hence the
inquisitive white man. as he stands by some growing city, will ponder on
the structure of their disturbed remains and wonder to what manner of
person they belonged. They will live only in the songs and chronicles
of their exterminators. 1 et these be faithful to their rude virtues as men,
and pay due tribute to their unhappy fate as a people.
Preparatory to Houston's power oyer the Indians we
have his life- among them. For his power over men we
may trace the cause beyond his fame, his eloquence, and
his personality. Here is what is said of his father:
Hi- father was a man of moderate fortune; indeed, he seems to have
possessed the means only of a comfortable subsistence. He was known
only for one passion, ami this was for military life. He had borne his
part in the Revolution, and was successively the inspectoi of General
Bowyer's and General Moore's brigades. The latter post he held till his
death, which took place in 1807, while he was on a tour of inspection
among the Allegheny Mountains. He was a man of powerful frame, fine
bearing, and indomitable courage. These qualities his son inherited, and
they were the only legacy he had to leave him.
And this of his mother:
Hi- mother was an extraordinary woman. She was distinguished by
a full, rather tall, ami matronly form, a tine carriage, and an impressive,
dignified countenance. She was gifted with intellectual and moral quali-
ties which elevated her ill a still more striking manner above most of her
sex. Her life shone with purity and benevolence, and yet she was nerved
with a stern fortitude, which never gave way in the midst of the wild
scenes that chequered the history of the frontier settler. Her beneficence
was universal, and her name was called with gratitude by the poor and
suffering. Many vears afterwards her son returned front his distant exile
to weep by her bedside when she came to die.
HOUSTON was educated in no school but the wilderness;
he had access to no hooks but Nature, Pope's Iliad, and
the Bible. The hunger of his soul was his only teacher.
HOUSTON awoke to consciousness in the days that were
Sam Houston a>iti Stephen /■'. Austin 117
resounding with the praise- of the heroes of the Revolution,
many of whom were- still living, from whose lips he heard
their wonderful story, and it never fell upon more willing
cars. At the close of his life he said of these early heroes
in a public address to the people of Texas:
I stand the last almost of a race who learned from their lips the lessons
of human freedom.
This, too, was a school in which he was taught. He
possessed a fine memory. That he had a strong mind
and could go by leaps and bounds where the average
mind must plod alon^' is abundantly shown by his writ-
ings, State papers, and speeches, no less than his quick
step to the front as a lawver when lie took up that
profession in Tennessee.
HOUSTON must l)e torn loose from Tennessee. We
therefore have the separation from his wife, the consequent
turning aloose the tongue of slander all over the State.
This brought envy and jealousy to tin- front. All Tennes-
see was stirred. Houston and anti-Houston parties were
formed, until a situation was produced which, if persisted
in, appeared to HOUSTON would put him in the attitude
of warring against a woman. His chivalrous soul shrank
from this, and he suddenly resigned the office of governor
and sought refuge from this great secret sorrow around
the council fires of the old Indian chief who had been the
friend of his boyhood. And here, too, Houston must have
the opportunity to convince the Indians that not only could
he enter into their lives with them as a hoy, hut that as
a man he could undertake great things for them at Washing-
ton and even suffer persecution for their sake, which he did.
n8 Acceptance of Statues >>/
Before Houston left Washington the last time, before
going to Texas, President Jackson offered him different
honorable positions, but owing to the charges against him in
Tennessee and also the accusations made against him by the
friends of the dishonest Indian agents whom he had caused
to be expelled from the service, he thought that his accept-
ance of a position under the President might embarrass the
latter, so he- refused. Therefore, when lie left Washington
this time it was again to go into voluntary exile so far as
the white man was concerned. Put he had agreed with
the President to go on a secret mission to the Comanche
Indians at San Antonio, Tex. Also he had in mind the
selection of a cattle ranch. So his first trip into Texas, in
December, 1832, was for this purpose. He passed through
Nacogdoches, Tex., on his way to San Antonio, had his
meeting with the Indians at the latter place, and passed
again on his way back through Xaco«xloches. When he
reached this place he was given such a warm welcome by
the inhabitants, and so besought bv them to become one of
their number, that he consented. It was also explained to
him that delegates were to be elected right away to a con-
stitutional convention at San Felipe de Austin, April 1,
1833, and requested him to permit his name to be used as
a candidate for delegate. He consented to this. This cir-
cumstance doubtless aroused the slumbering ambition of
his sotd. Who could more clearly than Houston see the
possibilities that lay before him in the event he cast his
fortunes with these pioneer patriots? They saw in him
their leader; he saw in them his opportunity, and HOUSTON
was himself again. He went on to Natchitoches, La., to
Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin 119
give the United State.- Government the result of his con-
ference with the Indians and returned to Nacogdoches to
find that he had been unanimously elected a delegate to
the convention at San Felipe de Austin. Houston"
attended this convention, and there, so far as history tells
us, met for the first time STEPHEN F. AUSTIN. And this
convention was the first deliberative assembly composed of
men of the Anglo-Saxon race that ever met within the
dominion of Mexico and the first step in that great move-
ment that never stopped until it reached the Pacific Ocean.
This convention adopted a constitution for Texas .
separate State of Mexico, and also a memorial to the
central government praying that Texas might be admitted
as a separate Mexican State. STEPHEN F. Austin was
appointed one of three commissioners to convev this con-
stitution and memorial to the City of Mexico and urge the
admission of Texas into the Mexican Uniod. Houston
and Austin both had no other purpose at this time than
the advancement of the interests of Texas as a Mexican
State. Austin had always been true to the constitution
of Mexico, which was adopted in 1N24, and which pro-
vided for a republican form of government, and was
modeled after that of the United States. It is believed
that Austin himself drew the draft of this constitution
while he was in the City of Mexico, 1822 to 1824, whither
he had gone to protect the rights of his colonists, and it is
known that while there he drew the plan of colonization
provided for in that constitution and that his opinions were
sought and highly prized by the statesmen of Mexico. In
all the shifting scenes of the Government in Mexico from
120 Acceptance oj Statues of
1824 to 1835 AUSTIN only contended for the rights of
Texas under the constitution of 1824. While the military
of the Texas province was against Santa Ana, the colo-
nists, under Austin's lead, were with him, because Santa
Ana pretended to be the friend of the constitution of 1824,
and not until he clearly showed in 1833 and afterwards
that he intended to overthrow this constitution and have
himself declared military dictator of Mexico did Austin
lose the hope of securing the rights of Texas under the
Government of Mexico and advise the Texans to declare
for independence.
When Austin reached Mexico with the constitution
and memorial of 1833 he was received coldlv and given
to understand that the actions of the Texans were offen-
sive to Santa Ana, who was then the government. He
remained in Mexico long enough to become thoroughly
convinced of the real designs of Santa Ana. When he
did become so convinced he wrote a letter back home
advising Texas of the true situation and probablv sug-
gesting defensive measures. This letter was intercepted
by the Mexican authorities and declared to be treasonable.
Austin was on his way home and had gotten as far as
Saltillo, where he was arrested and taken back to Mexico
and confined in a dark camp prison for several months.
After a while the rigor of his imprisonment was relieved,
but he was still kept a prisoner. He was anxious for a
trial, but no cotirt would try him. Finally Santa Ana
released him, and he returned to Texas in 1835. When
the news of Austin's persecution by Santa Ana reached
Texas the people became very indignant and arose as one
Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin 121
man for protection against the tyranny of Santa Ana,
who also issued an edict demanding of the Texans the
surrender of their small arms. This, if carried out, would
leave them defenseless against the Indian-, as well as
many of them without the means of procuring subsistence,
since they lived upon the meat of wild animals. The
revolution was now on. Committees of safety were formed.
A consultation convention was called to meet at Wash-
ington about October 1. [835. This convention met.
About this time the Mexican soldiers undertook to carry
off a small 4-pound cannon from Gonzales, the capital of
De Witt's colony. This cannon was used as protection
against Indians. The citizens resisted its removal. This
was the first struggle of the revolution. The Texans
triumphed. AUSTIN appeared and was made commander
in chief of the army of Texas. HOUSTON, in the mean-
time, had been declared commander in chief of the army
of Texas east of the Trinity. Houston made several
eloquent speeches at different assemblies urging delibera-
tion on the part of the Texans. Austin's troops had
captured San Antonio and Goliad.
The consultation convention met at Washington and
changed to San Felipe. From this place Austin invited
them to his camp near San Antonio. Houston and the
majority of the convention went. Austin offered to
surrender his command to Houston, who refused it. A
council of war was held, and it was decided to leave it to
the 800 men of the army whether a provisional govern-
ment should be established. The army decided unani-
mously for a provisional government. The members of the
122 Acceptance of Statues of
convention then went back to San Felipe, reorganized, and
provided for a provisional government and elected
HOUSTON commander in chief of the army of Texas, and
Austin as a commissioner to the. United States to secure
aid for Texas.
Events rapidly developed. The declaration of inde-
pendence was adopted March 2, 1836. Santa Ana invaded
Texas with an army of 7,000 men. The Goliad and
Alamo tragedies occurred. Houston's famous retreat,
starting with an army of 574 men, pursued by Santa Ana
with 5,000. ( In this retreat Houston's army grew to 700.
Santa Ana divided his army into three divisions, which
became widely separated. < hilv one division, led by Santa
Ana himself, numbering about 1,500, immediately fol-
lowed Houston.
Learning this, Hoiston turned to meet his enemy. The
two armies faced each other on the field of San Jacinto the
day before the battle. The next morning the sun arose
without a cloud to break his beams. The Mexicans were
entrenched behind a breastwork made up of camp equipage,
saddles, and such seantv material as was convenient. The
Texans had been complaining at their long retreat. They
were anxious for the fray. It was difficult to restrain
them the day before, when they first faced the Mexicans.
They had everything to fight for — their homes, their
country, their honor, their vengeance, their liberty, their
religion. They were drawn up in line of battle. Hous-
ton's eloquence stirred them. The order to charge was
given. The}- rushed upon their enemy like demons.
The first vollev of the Mexicans missed them, and they
Sam Houston and Stephen /•". Austin 123
rushed on over the enemy's breastwork. A slaughter, a
rout, began; within twenty minutes the field was won — won
to the everlasting renown of the Anglo-Saxon, won to
human freedom, and to the highest and best civilization
the world ever saw.
Lieutenant Sylvester, volunteer from Ohio, captured
Santa Ana. He was carried to Houston. Houston's
magnanimous treatment of his fallen foe, his sagacity in
protecting him from the just wrath of the Texans, his ex-
treme care for the comfort of Santa Ana — this conduct has
won for Houston the praise of all true men. It reveals
what manner of man was beneath the buckskin dress, and
is an honor to humanity.
This victory lifted HOUSTON into the arena of national
politics, where he easily impressed himself upon the coun-
try as a wise and sagacious statesman; also his broad
American spirit was revealed to the world. Houston was
almost unanimously elected the first president of the re-
public, with so great a name in Texas as that of STEPHEN
F. Austin used in opposition to him. However, Austin
made no efforts in his own behalf. HOUSTON offered
Austin the choice of two positions — secretary of state and
minister to the United States. The latter was more
preferable to Austin, because the long confinement in the
Mexican prison and the strain of the revolution had under-
mined his constitution and his health had given way. Ik-
felt that he needed rest. But the people, too often unmind-
ful of the welfare of their benefactors, clamored for AUSTIN
to take the position of secretary. Austin knew more about
their land titles and internal affairs than any living man.
124 Acceptance of Statues of
Austin yielded to their demands and offered himself a
further sacrifice for the people of Texas. The burden was
too heavy for his frail frame, and he died December 27,
[836, and President HOUSTON issued the following order:
War Department, Columbia, December 27 \ r8j6.
The father of Texas is no more.
The first pioneer of the wilderness has departed. Gen. Stephen F.
Austin, secretary of state, expired this day at half past 12 o'clock, at
Columbia.
As a testimony of respect to his high standing, undeviating moral recti-
tude, ami as a mark of the nation's gratitude fur his untiring zeal ami
invaluable services, all officers, civil ami military, are requested to wear
crape on the right arm for the space of thirty days. All officers com-
manding posts, garrisons, or detachments will, as soon as information is
received of the melancholy event, cause thirty-three guns to he fired, with
an interval of five minutes between each, ami also have the garrison and
regimental colors hung with black during the space of mourning for the
illustrious dead.
By order of the President:
William S. Fisher, Secretary of H'ar.
Thus was gathered unto his fathers Stephen F. Austin,
whose memory shall be cherished by men as long as
gratitude shall dwell in their hearts and they shall love
truth, purity, honor, the noble, and the true. He sowed,
and the seed fell upon good ground, and the whole nation
is now reaping the harvest of his labors.
Houston's history, from his election as President of the
Republic of Texas until his death, is but the history of
Texas as a Republic and a State. His first and controlling
purpose was to have Texas admitted into this Union. He
at first assumed the attitude of a suppliant. When he
saw that was a failure he took an indifferent, independent,
almost defiant position. He very adroitly let it be under-
stood that England or F ranee was anxious to form an alli-
ance with Texa>. He managed to place before the people
Sam Houston and Stephen /•". Austen 125
of the United States the great advantage Texas would be
to either England or France. He even went so far as to
direct his minister at Washington to withdraw the appli-
cation of Texas for admission into the Union and give out
the statement that the next advance toward that end must
come from the United States. HOUSTON had attracted to
Texas the eyes of the ambitious statesmen of England and
France by first gaining their respect. He did this in a
very able appeal t<> the civilized powers of the world, ask-
ing them to intervene to stop Mexico from pursuing her
barbarous methods of warfare against Texas, in violation
of all laws of civilized nations — that is, not by marching
her armies into Texas and trying her fortunes in honor-
able battle with those of the little Republic, but by sending
raiding bands across the Rio Grande, whose only object
was to plunder and murder the peaceful inhabitants of
Texas. This address gave the history of Texas as only
Houston could write it.
This plan of Houston's was successful. The first great
object of his ambition after San Jacinto was accomplished.
Texas became a member of this Union and Houston and
Rusk were her first Senators. Both of Houston's admin-
istrations of the affairs of the Republic were marked bv
conservatism and the highest devotion to the best interests
of the people oi Texas. Wherever his policies were pur-
sued, order and stability and prosperity resulted ; when his
advice was ignored, dissensions arose, wild schemes were
resorted to, and disorder prevailed. Houston's broad
American spirit shone most resplendent when he took his
position in the Senate of the United States. He was an
r26 Acceptance oj Statues oj
uncompromising friend of the Federal Union. He was the
everlasting foe to sectional jealousies, animosities, and dis-
sensions. He was opposed to secession. He lined the
Union. He believed with all his soul that the peace, hap-
piness, and prosperity of the American people, not less than
the hope of human freedom everywhere, depended upon the
preservation of this Union. Historv affords no better
example of sublime moral courage than that HOUSTON
gave to the world in the closing days of his life. He loved
the South, he loved Texas, but his judgment and his con-
science marked out for him the path of duty. He thought
secession was wrong in principle, and, if admitted, meant
the destruction of all government on this continent. While
in the Senate he threw his whole force against the current
of this movement, ami afterwards, while a candidate for
governor of Texas, ami while governor of Texas, he
exerted all the powers of his soul, mind, and body, save a
resort to force, to keep Texas in the Union. Put the tide
was too strong, even he could not stay it; but he would not
go with it, and quitted the capital of his .State forever and
retired to his modest home to die, July 25, 1863, the
uncompromising friend of the American Union.
Thus the child of the wilderness, the brave soldier of
Tohopeka, the governor of two States, the president of one
Republic, the United States Senator, the hero of San Jacinto,
was gathered unto his fathers. Two purer, nobler, braver
spirits never blessed the earth than STEPHEN F. AUSTIN
and Samuel Houston. [Loud applause.]
Sam Houston and Stephen /•'. Austin 12;
Address of Mr. Slayden, of Texas
Mr. Speaker: Few countries have a mure picturesque
and interesting history than Texas. It has all the elements
of an absorbing drama. High courage, devotion to duty,
carnage of the battlefield, and the intellectual play of the
council chamber are a few of the chapters one may read in
the history of the State. Making due allowance for the
partiality of a devoted son of the great Commonwealth who
has enjoyed her favor, I feel that I am well within the
truth when I say that her history, which is certainly
unique, should command the admiration of all Americans.
( )nce a province of Spain, she was coveted and claimed
by France. Then a part of . the first Mexican Republic,
she suffered for a few years the vicissitudes of that eountrv,
to emerge in 1836 an independent nation. Nine years
later, by a solemn treaty between the high contracting
parties, she became a State of the American Union. For
four years she gave her allegiance to the Confederacv of
the South, but is now back in the Union, where, in the
fullness of time, she is destined to become the dominant
partner of the Federal alliance.
The introduction of Anglo-American civilization into
Texas began in a feeble way about the close of the eight-
eenth century. But the colonization of that dav was
desultory and unimportant. Now and then an individual
or a few individuals, conscious only of a selfish purpose,
i-s Acceptance of Statues of
but none the less instruments of civilization, as we under-
stand the term, invaded the wilderness west of the Sabine.
( (eeasionally organized bodies of men, in whom it was hard
to distinguish the quality of trader from that of filibuster,
marched and fought their way to the West.
The Spanish authorities were jealous and watchful,
and when the}' could do so drove these invaders back to
the Valley of the Mississippi.
The political nature of these expeditions to Texas is
conspicuously shown in that which set out from Natchez
in 1819, under the command of Col. James Long. His
party, after many adventures and hardships, finally reached
Nacogdoches, then the most important place in Texas
after San Antonio de Bexar, where they proclaimed the
Republic of Texas. As Colonel Long only had 75 men,
and as he failed to enlist the support of the Republicans
who were supposed to be in Texas, or other help, the
puny Republic did not survive its early infancy.
It would be tedious, and for this occasion unprofitable,
to trace the history of Texas through the bewildering
maze of revolution and counter revolution of the Mexico
of that period.
The meager resources of the Texans contrast strangely
with the mighty enterprises in which they engaged.
( )nly the sacrifices and sublime courage with which they
supported their plans saved them from the ridicule of
historians.
In all the vast and fertile area of the province of Texas
there were then only about 4,000 people, including In-
dians. Scattered as they were, cohesive action, either for
Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin 129
the defense of their property and lives or for political
aggression, was almost impossible. Yet the poverty of
their numbers and circumstance did not prevent them
from entertaining dreams of empire. The territory and
the fruits of what was to become, a generation later, the
independent Republic of Texas were battled for by
adventurers from everywhere during this period.
Lafitte, the pirate, who had been expelled from Rara-
taria, near the mouth of the Mississippi, but who had
taken time from his illicit trade to help repel the British
at Xew Orleans; Mina, a Spanish soldier, who had
reached some distinction during the Peninsular war, and
Lallemand and Rigault, from the armies (if Xapoleon,
with a horde of American adventurers, were striking if
not honorable figures of that time.
Stretching from the Sabine to the Rio Grande an J
from the Gulf to and beyond Red River on the north
was a land as fair and as rich as ever tempted the
cupidity of man. It had a climate of unsurpassed excel-
lence. Rich and succulent passes sustained vast herds
of wild horses ; the buffalo and deer were in countless
numbers on every prairie; the air of springtime, then as
now, was redolent with the perfume of flowers, beautiful
and abundant, and every tree and bush had its chorus
of singing birds.
The landdiungry Americans could not be kept from
such a paradise. Comfort and independence beckoned
them on.
Vet it remained for Moses Austin, a Missouri merchant,
and his immortal son, Stephen, to do peaceably in a
H. Doc. 474, 5S-3 9
130 Acceptance of Statues of
few years what organized filibusters had tried in vain to
accomplish.
The difficulties in the way of the peaceable American
colonists were many. The people and the Government
of Mexico were Catholic in religion. The majority of
the Americans, particularly the class from which such
colonists could be drawn, were Protestants. Texas was
a province of the Kingdom of Spain, while the American
immigrants were Republicans after the manner of Jeffer-
son. In fact every condition, save the fertility of the
soil and the beauty of the climate, was calculated to
repel emigration from the .States of the American Union.
Gradually the French and Spanish titles in North Amer-
ica had been relinquished to the irresistible Anglo-
American. The transfer of Louisiana and of the Floridas
were significant facts of recent history which did not
allay the jealous apprehension of the Mexican authorities.
To this unpromising field the Austins applied their
energies and talents.
While Sam Houston is easily the most picturescpie and
eminent figure we have, the profound student of Texas
history will find no difficulty in reaching the conclusion
that citizens of the State owe an equal debt of gratitude to
the Austins, father and son.
In speaking of these two reallv great men Professor
Garrison, of the university which their labors helped to
create, sa\ s :
It is only of lite that the world, with the results before its eves, lias
begun to realize what they accomplished. If they themselves, upon the
threshold of their undertaking, could have looked forward to the revolu-
tion of 1S36, annexation, the Mexican war, the acquisitions made by the
s • // islon and Stephen F. Austin 131
treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, and the marvelous development of Texas
and California, they must have been ' gj 1 by the consequences that
were to flow from their enterprise. Yet this chain of events has followed
"as night the day" the work planned and begun by Moses Austin and
■ut by his si >n Ste] ihen.
I inctor Garrison, who lias gone to the root of things in his
study of Texas history, declares the work of the Austins
to haw been of "vast and manifest importance." He calls
them the makers of Anglo-American Texas.
Moses Anstin, who for years had been a merchant in
Virginia and Missouri, traveled on horseback from what is
now Washington County, Mo., to San Antonio — a distance
of about a thousand miles — in order to arrange with the
authorities of Spain for the introduction of a colony.
Having overcome the objection of the governor, his
petition for a contract to settle 300 families in Texas was
indorsed and forwarded to the national capital for approval.
There were the usual delays in the Mexican capital, and
Austin decided to return to his home in Missouri to await
the arrival of the papers from Mexico. In crossing Texas
to Natchitoches he was robbed and abandoned by his
Indian guides and wandered about for days, subsisting on
roots and nuts until discovered and rescued by white trap-
pers. He suffered so from the hardships and exposures of
the journey that he died soon after reaching Missouri. But
just before his death he learned that his petition had been
granted. To his son, STEPHEN FrLLKR Al'STix, he
becjueathed the contract and its responsibilities.
No trust was ever put into safer hands. In him were
fortunately combined the vigor of youth and the wisdom
of a°re.
132 Acceptance of Statues of
He immediately proceeded to San Antonio by wav of
Nacogdoches, where he met the commissioners who had
been sent by the Spanish authorities to confer with his
father.
After the official formalities had been settled he pro-
ceeded to the execution of the contract. In December,
[821, settlers were brought in and placed mi the land.
The lot of the American pioneer has not always been a
happy one. As disasters came to the settlers at Jamestown,
so did they also come to those upon the Colorado. The
wisest forethought and the most prudent administration
could not avoid some degree of disaster, and so, in the next
year or two, many of the less hardy emigrants returned to the
United State--. Supplies that had been shipped from Xew
Orleans did not arrive, seed were scarce, crops failed, and
the savages were annoying. Hut during all these trying
times Austin never wavered in his faith nor ceased his
exertions for the benefit of the settlement.
It was particularly unfortunate that at this crisis in the
affairs of the colony he was compelled to go to the City of
Mexico to have his ^rant confirmed and to receiye instruc-
tions concerning its administration. He at once undertook
the overland trip of 1,200 miles, through a country infested
h\ robbers, where law was only occasionally administered
and order rarely known.
The historian suggests a picture of northern Mexico of
that day when he says that 1>\ "good fortune Austin*
got safely through." He was detained in the Mexican
capital for nearly a year. It was during that year and
under the most trying circumstances that the mettle of
Sam Houston and Stephen F. .Austin 133
the man was shown. Political conditions in Mexico at
that time were possibly without parallel in any other part
of the world. The concession to Moses Austin had been
made by the Kingdom of Spain. When STEPHEN F.
Austin reached the capital of Mexico he dealt with the
republic which followed the expulsion of the Spaniards.
Then came the empire of Iturbide, which endured for a
few months only. It was succeeded by another so-called
republic that was born in a revolution headed by Antonio
Lopez de Santa Ana, whose subsequent connection with
the history of Texas did not increase his reputation.
During this epoch of turbulent and rapidly changing
governments ArsTix never lost sight of the purpose of
his visit to Mexico. He always kept in mind his duty
to the colonists whom he had brought to Texas. When
his contract was annulled by one government, he secured
its renewal by another. He was diligent, and above all
he was diplomatic. Each administration in its turn
yielded its respect and confidence to the quiet, persistent
American. Like St. Paul, he was all things to all men.
When the opportunity offered he advanced his enterprise.
When circumstances demanded delay he was patient.
He devoted his leisure to the study of the Spanish lan-
guage and became expert in its use. He made himself
acquainted with the laws of Spain and of Mexico, and
so much did he impress himself upon the leading men
of Mexico that he is said to have been an important
factor in writing the constitution of 1S24, a violation of
which, by the Federal Government, is given as the tech-
nical cause of the revolution of 1836.
134 Acceptance of Statues of
When AUSTIN returned to Texas from Mexico he was
authorized by the Federal Government to exercise admin-
istrative, military, and judicial functions. In fact, he was
made dictator for the colony. He was that rare person,
a benevolent dictator in whom, some have contended the
ideal government is to be found. But under this governor,
who had been clothed with such extraordinary powers,
free speech, popular elections, and democratic government
were the practice.
Such independence of thought and freedom of move-
ment as characterized the Texans were hardlv guaranties
of continued loyalty to the revolutionary government in
the remote capital of Mexico. The American colonists
were hardly fit material out of which to make loval
subjects of a Spanish monarch or contented citizens in
an unstable and badly administered republic. They were
descendants of the men who fired the first shot at Lexing-
ton and of those whose bloody feet stained the snows of
Valley Forge and compelled the surrender of Cornwallis
at Yorktowu. They were in training for the sacrifice of
the Alamo and the success of San Jacinto. With such
a setting, with such actors, and under such conditions,
a severance of the political ties which bound Texas to
Mexico was only a question of time.
The obligations of the contract were not always respected
by the Government of Mexico, and, although Austin tried
loyally to discharge his duty and to induce the colonists
to a full appreciation of theirs, friction increased between
the people and the Federal authorities. Convention suc-
ceeded convention, in all of which the Texans set out
Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin 135
their grievances and asked for relief. These petitions
were either denied, ignored, or grudgingly and partially
-ranied. Always the impending conflict was made more
apparent and open revolt brought nearer and nearer.
In December, 1832, the most romantic and conspicuous
figure of all her history came to Texas. Sam Houston —
for it is he of whom I now speak — came with the halo of
romance and a great reputation as a statesman and soldier.
He had been governor of Tennessee for tw< 1 years, a Mem-
ber of Congress, and was a soldier of experience. After
resigning the governorship of the State of Tennessee, in
1829, he sought his old friends, the Cherokee, and was
formally received into citizenship by that tribe. After
remaining' with them for more than three years he yielded
to the importunities of his friends in Texas and began the
reallv great work of his life. His first public appearance
in Texas was in the convention at San Felipe in 1833.
He had only been in the State about three months, but
men of his experience and ability were not so abundant,
that they could be overlooked. In those days of quick
development the new citizen of to-day became the old
inhabitant of to-morrow. The Texans were divided into
two parties — one clamoring for war and the other pleading
for peace.
Austin, who was a lawyer and an ex-judge, trained to
the observance of all laws, as well as a man of supersensi-
tive conscience, was the most conservative figure in Texas
at that time. He admitted his obligations to the Mexican
Government and tried to live up to the contract. It was
his influence that delayed the open revolt.
136 Acceptance of Statues of
!'>' !^35 the demand for separation was so general and
the reasons for it so abundant that even Austin gave way
before the resistless tide. Indignities from Santa Ana, who
had succeeded to the Presidency of Mexico, added to the
wrath of the Texans. Men like Henry Smith and William
B. Travis, who were leaders of the war party, were urging
a declaration of independence. Austin, who some time
before had i^one to Mexico to trv to ameliorate the condi-
tion of his colony, and who had been imprisoned for some
months while in Mexico, returned during the summer of
1835 to find his and other colonies in a state of almost open
revolt. IK- was made chairman of the committee of safetv
in the fall of 1835, and on the 19th of September of that
year issued an address to the people of Texas advising
them that war was inevitable and urging the immediate
organization of military companies.
That the enterprise in which they were about to en<^a-e
was desperate could not be denied. An orator of the day,
in discussing the situation, said:
And is the population of Texas sufficient? We presume it may he said
with tolerable accuracy that we are 50,000 people, counting Indians. Ten
hundred thousand make one million, and the smallest nation that sustains
its relations with the powers of Christendom numbers, I believe, one and
one-half million souls.
Texas, then, contains less than one-twentieth of the population of the
most insignificant among the nations of the earth. The population of
Mexico is over 7,000,000. The disparity, therefore, is [40 to 1. We arc-
proud to claim for the citizens of Texas much gallantry and much greater
aptitude for war than can be accredited to their antagonists; but 140 to 1
is fearful odds.
The towering form of Thermopylae, which stands preeminent among
the monuments of ancient glory, was achieved against mighty odds, but
not such odds as this
Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin 137
But the counsels of the prudent were not regarded. The
revolution was on, and the first blood was shed at Gonzales,
on the 2d of October, 1835. Thereafter events marched
rapidly.
Gonzales was followed by the fight at the mission Con-
cepcion, near San Antonio, which later was the scene of
the most remarkable battle in the world's history.
From Gonzales and Concepcion to San Jacinto was, by
the calendar, only about six months, but the period of
gestation was long enough for the birth of a nation. It
covers the siege and massacre of the Alamo. It runs to
the triumph of Houston's army over Santa Ana. It was
long enough to show that Texans knew how to fight and
die. It sufficed to prove their wise £enerosit\ to a fallen
foe, whose murder of the immortals of the Alamo had
placed him beyond the right of any such consideration.
It brought to the surface a large number of men of
talent. To call the roll would be tedious, but out of
the many I hope I may be pardoned for mentioning the
names of Bowie, Crockett, Milam, Fannin, and Travis
among those whose talents were exercised only in a
militarv wav. The soldier-statesman class embraced,
among others. Rusk, Burnet, Lamar, Sherman, Burleson,
and Zavalla.
After the battle of San Jacinto, Houston and his
colleagues devoted themselves to the work of putting the
new Republic on a solid foundation.
Ill health denied to Austin the share in this work
for which his talents and training gave him special
fitness. He died on the 29th of December, in the same
138 Acceptance of Statues of
year that witnessed the birth of the new Republic. Just
as much as any man who dies on the field of battle
Stephen F. Austin gave his life to the State he had
loved and for which he had fought and sacrificed. Hard-
ships that can not be understood by people who do not
know the frontier and the foul air of the Mexican prisons
had done their work.
His place in history was justly given by President
Sam HOUSTON, whose proclamation of sorrow said: "The
father of Texas is no more. The first pioneer of the
wilderness has departed."
Slowly the work of the pioneer is coming to be appre-
ciated. No longer is he regarded as merely a man who
opens new territory to commerce. He laid the founda-
tions of government, and on his labors much of the glory
and prosperity of this great country is based. Chiefest
among the pioneers is STEPHEN Fuller Austin.
Of the brilliant career of Houston you have just been
told by the eloquent gentlemen who have preceded me.
I very much hope that what they have said and what,
in a feeble way, I have hinted at may induce a closer
study of Texas history.
If yon want an illustration of courage and devotion to
duty, where can you find one to match the story of the
Alamo?
For days a mere handful of men — 17S, but all daunt-
less heroes — withstood the assaults of an enemy which
numbered thousands. They scorned all suggestions of
capitulation, and in the end all perished.
Saw Houston and Stephen F. .hist in 139
"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay
down his life for his friends."
If your faith in democracy ever falters, read the story
of Texas and learn how a few scattered Americans in the
face of gTeat obstacles showed the true genius for gov-
ernment by bringing order out of chaos, and through it
all obeyed the popular will.
We present to the Federal Union images of two of our
great Texans, and rejoice in the knowledge that they are
fit for the noble company they are to keep forevermore.
[Loud applause.]
Mr. Cooper of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous
consent that my colleague, Mr. Sheppard, may print his
remarks in the RECORD.
The Speaker pro tempore. Without objection, it is so
ordered.
There was no objection.
Mr. Cooper of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I have had handed
me a statement of the statues in Statuary Hall. As a
public document I would like for it to be printed in the
RECORD, and I ask unanimous consent that it may be
printed.
The Speaker pro tempore. Without objection, it will
be so ordered.
There was no objection.
140 Acceptance of Statues of
The statement is as follows:
Statues in Statuary Hall, United Stales Capitol, from July 2, 1864, to Feb-
ruary 25, 1005.
[The number of States having only one is 5, marked thus *.]
Statue.
State.
< '< mgrt ssional service.
Roger Sherman
Jonathan Trumbull
James Shields
Frances K.Willard. ..
Connecticut
House of Representatives, [791-1793.
House of Representatives First, Second.
and Third; Sena 1 1
do
Si ita r.879, Missouri.
No service in Congress.
Oliver P Morton Indiana
John J Ingalls Kansas*
John win th rap Massachusetts
Samuel Adams do
John Hanson Maryland ...
Charles Carroll do
William King Maine*
Lewis Cass - Michigan* —
Thomas H. Benton Missouri
Francis P, Blair
do .
John Starke. New Hampshire
Daniel Webster
Richard Stockton . . New Jersey .
Phil, Kearny do
Robert R. Livingston. New York.
1 .. n _;-_■■ Clinton . . .
James A. Garfield
William Allen
....do.
1 >hio, . .
. do
Robert Fulton Pennsylvania .
John Peti r G Muhl- do
enberg.
Senate, 1867-1877.
->. ii.it-- ; - ' ■
•vice in Congress; governor.
Delegate to Continental Congress, 1774-1781.
;ateto Continental Congress, 17'" :
Senate, I-'irst Congress; resigned
Govt rnor.
Senate, 1845-1
H use of Representatives, Thirty-third Con-
gress; Senate, 1821-1851.
House of Representatives, Thirty-fifth to
Thirty-eighth; Senate. 1S71-1S73.
No service in Congn ss
House of Representatives. Thirteenth,
Fourteenth, Eighteenth, and Nineteenth;
Si nate, 1827, 1845 ■ 1
Delegate Continental Congress, ; ~" - 1 777.
No service in Congress.
: ■ te to Continental Congress E775
1/77-1779. '7s'-
ite to Continental C< mgi - --
Pn sident, 1S04-1 3
House of Representatives Thirty-eighth to
Forty-sixth; Senate, 1SS1, and President,
[8S1.
House of Representatives. Twenty-third;
Senate, 1837-1849, and governor ; -"
N"i . service in C< n gi ess
House of Representatives, First, Third, and
Sixth, and Senator.
Nathanael Gre< 111
Roger Williams .
Rhode Island ....
do
Sam Houston Texas
Stephen F, Austin do ... ,
Jacob Collamer Vermont
Ni 1 si rvice in G ingress.
Do
House of R< prest ntatives from Tennt ssei
Senate, Texas, [S46-1859
Ni ' -■■ rvice in O ingress
of Representatives, Twenty-eighth,
Twenty-ninth, and Thirtieth. Senate, 1 S55
[865
Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin 141
Statues in Statuary Hall, United Stat '. from Jul to Feb-
ruary 25, 1905 — Continued.
Statue.
State
■ iiial service.
Ethan Allen
No service in <
John E Keuna Wot Virginia. .. . House of Representatives fifth. Forty-
sixth. Forty-seventh, Forty-eighth; Sen-
ate, ivs;- 1
Francis H. l'ierpont do No service i
Pere Marquette Wisconsin * No service in
The following are not represented in Statuary Hall: Alabama, Arkansas, California,
Colorado, Delaware - Idaho, Washington. Iowa. Kentucky, Louisiana,
Minnesota Mississippi Montana, Nebraska, Nevada. Wyoming, North Carolina, North
Dakota. Oregon. South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah and Virginia. Total,
- ites.
The number of States having their quota is
The Speaker pro tempore. The question is on the
adoption of the resolutions.
The question was taken, and the resolutions were unani-
mously adopted.
Mr. COOPER, of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I move that the
House do now adjourn.
The motion was agreed to ; and accordingly (at 6 o'clock
and 25 minutes p.m.) the House adjourned to meet to-
morrow at 12 o'clock noon.
MESSAGE FROM THE HOUSE.
The message further announced that the House had
agreed to a concurrent resolution extending the thanks of
Congress to the State of Texas for providing the statues
of Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin to be placed
in Statuary Hall; in which it requested the concurrence
of the Senate.
142 Acceptance of Statues of
PROCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE
APRIL 4. 1904.
MESSAGE FROM THE HOUSE.
The message further announced that the House had
passed a concurrent resolution authorizing the granting
to the State of Texas the privilege of placing in Stat-
uary Hall of the Capitol the statues of Sam Houston
and Stephen F. Austin, both of whom, now deceased,
were citizens of Texas, etc. ; in which it requested the
concurrence of the Senate.
APRIL 18, 1904.
STATUES OF SAM HOUSTON AND STEPHEN F. AUSTIN.
Mr. CULBERSON. I ask the Chair to lay before the
Senate a concurrent resolution which has passed the
House of Representatives.
The Presiding Officer laid before the Senate the fol-
lowing concurrent resolution from the House of Repre-
sentatives; which was read:
Resolved by the House of Representatives [the Senate concurring ), Tlu.t
the State of Texas be, and is hereby, authorized and granted the privilege
of placingin Statuary Hall of the Capitol the .statues (made by the sculptor
Elisabet Ney, of Texas) of Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin, both
of whom, now deceased, were citizens of Texas, illustrious for their his-
toric renown, and that same he received as the two statues furnished and
provided by said State in accordance with the provisions of section 1S1 4 of
the Revised Statutes of the United States.
Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin 143
Resolved further, Thai a copy of these resolutions, signed by th< pn
siding officers of the House of Representatives and Senate, be forwarded
to his excellency the governor of Texas.
The- President pro tempore. The question is on
agreeing to the concurrent resolution.
The concurrent resolution was agreed to.
o
JAN 1 1 1950
m
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