of the great Southwest for the United
States, Houston played no part, except as a member of the Senate, where
he remained until 1859, being defeated finally by a secessionist. For,
true to the precepts of Jackson, he was from the first bitterly opposed
to nullification and secession. The same year, he was elected governor
of Texas, turning a Union minority into a triumphant majority by the
wizardry of his personality. He could not prevent secession, however,
but he refused to take the oath to the Confederate government required
by the legislature and was deposed. Martial law being established, an
officer one day demanded Houston's pass.

"San Jacinto," he answered, and went on his way, nor did any dare molest
him. But he was worn out and aging fast, and the end came toward the
close of July, 1863.

Reference has been made to the capture of the old mission at San Antonio
known as "The Alamo," and a brief account must be given of the
remarkable group of men who lost their lives there--David Crockett,
James Bowie, and William Barrett Travis. Crockett was perhaps the most
famous of the three, and his name is still more or less of a household
word throughout the middle West, while some of his stories have passed
into proverbs. He was the most famous rifle shot in the whole country
and the most successful hunter. Born in Tennessee soon after the
Revolutionary war, of an Irish father, he ran away from home after a few
days' schooling, knocked about the country, served through the Creek war
under Andrew Jackson, and gained so much popularity by his hunting
stories, with which he held great audiences spellbound, that he was
elected to the State legislature and then to Congress, though he had
never read a newspaper. In Congress, he managed to antagonize Andrew
Jackson, not a difficult task by any means, with the result that
Jackson, who carried Tennessee in his vest pocket, effectively ended
Crockett's political career. Crockett left the state in disgust, seeking
new worlds to conquer, and hearing of the struggle in Texas, decided to
join the revolutionists.

By boat and on horseback, he made his way toward the distant plains
where the Texans were waging their life and death struggle against the
Mexicans. More than one hairbreadth escape did the old hunter have from
Indians, desperadoes and wild beasts, but he finally got to the
neighborhood of San Antonio, and fell in with another adventurer, a
bee-hunter, also on his way to