of his conduct, plunged into the
wilderness to the west.

Perhaps the most characteristic feature of frontier society is its
chivalry toward women, and Houston's conduct brought about his head a
perfect storm of indignation. No doubt he had many enemies who welcomed
the opportunity to wreck his fame, and who gladly added their voices to
the uproar. From the most popular man, he became the most hated, and it
would have been dangerous for him to venture back within the state's
borders. Not until after his death, did his wife give any explanation of
his conduct. She stated that he had discovered that she loved another,
and that he had deserted her so that she could secure a divorce on the
ground of abandonment. That explanation, lame as it is, is the only one
ever offered by either of the principals.

Meanwhile, Houston had joined his old friends, the Cherokees, now living
in Arkansas Territory, and asked to be admitted to the tribe. The
Indians expressed the opinion that he should have beaten his wife
instead of abandoning her, but nevertheless adopted him, and for three
years he lived their life, dressing, fighting, hunting and drinking
precisely like any Indian. The papers, meanwhile, were filled with
surmises concerning him. No one understood why he should have exiled
himself, and it was reported that he intended to lead the Cherokees into
Texas, conquer the country and set up a government of his own. President
Jackson wrote to him, protesting against "any such chimerical, visionary
scheme," which, needless to say, Houston had never entertained. These
rumors grew so annoying, that he issued a proclamation offering a prize
"To the Author of the Most Elegant, Refined, and Ingenious Lie or
Calumny" about him.

The trouble culminated when Houston, having gone to Washington to plead
for his friends, the Indians, caned a member of Congress who had
slandered him on the floor of the House. He was arrested, and arraigned
before the bar of the House for "breach of privilege," and was
reprimanded by the Speaker and fined five hundred dollars--a fine which
President Jackson promptly remitted, remarking that a few more examples
of the same kind would teach Congressmen to keep civil tongues in their
heads. Houston's comment on the affair was, "I was dying out once, and,
had they taken me before a justice of the peace and fined me ten dollars
for assault and battery, it would have killed me; but they gave me a
national tribunal f