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Houston
Timeline
March
2, 1793 - Born in Rockbridge County, Virginia
1797
- Tennessee becomes 16th state
1803
- Louisiana Purchase. United States enters dispute
with Spain, claiming Texas as part of the Purchase
1806
- Houston's father dies
1807
- The Houston family moves to Blount County in eastern
Tennessee
1809
- Runs away from home to join the Cherokees; spends
the next three years living with the Indians
September
16, 1810 - An uprising in Dolores, Mexico is the beginning
of the Mexican struggle for independence from Spain
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Sam Houston
Rebellious Boyhood
This
is the earliest known likeness of Sam Houston. It
was painted in 1826 when Houston was serving in the
U.S. Congress from Tennessee.
Texas State
Library and Archives, Prints and Photographs Collection,
1/102-288.
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Sam Houston was the fifth of nine
children born to Samuel and Elizabeth Houston. Samuel, Sr.
was a veteran of the American Revolution and a major in
the Virginia militia. Sam Houston spent his early years
in Rockbridge County, a Virginia frontier community settled
by Scotch-Irish Presbyterians looking for a free and independent
life. Many of the immigrants stayed only a short time before
moving on to even more remote frontier country to the west.
The Houstons were no exception. Major Houston died when
Sam was 13, and the family pulled up stakes and moved to
eastern Tennessee.
Young Houston's spirit was even more
untamed than most of his peers. He was self-educated and
loved books, especially classical literature. But he detested
working on the family farm and in his family's store in
Maryville. At the age of 15, Houston ran away from home
and went to live with the Cherokee Indians. For the next
three years he spent most of his time with the band of Chief
Oolooteka. It was during this time that he received his
Indian name, Colonneh, or "The Raven."
A
Blazing Star Falls to Earth>> |
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