Sam Houston

Sam Houston was an American soldier and politician who served as governor of Tennessee before living for several years among the Cherokee. He later commanded the Texan army at San Jacinto, became president of the Republic of Texas, represented Texas in the United States Senate and served as state governor. A Unionist, he opposed secession and was removed from office in 1861.

Houston served as commander of the Texian army and won the decisive victory over Santa Anna at San Jacinto in 1836. He twice served as president of the Republic of Texas and later as a United States senator and governor; a Unionist, he was removed as governor in 1861 after refusing to swear allegiance to the Confederacy.

In Lucia St. Clair Robson’s Walk in My Soul, in 1809, the teenage Sam Houston leaves his family in Tennessee and is adopted into a Cherokee community, where he is given the name Raven.