and later in Congress.

[Illustration: David Crockett.]

Like Sam Houston, he had served under Andrew Jackson in the war with the
Creek Indians, and when the struggle with Mexico broke out he was one of
the many brave backwoodsmen who left their homes and went down to help the
Texans.

After a long journey from Tennessee, in which more than once he came near
being killed by the Indians or wild beasts, he at last reached the
fortress of the Alamo. He knew he was taking great risks in joining the
small garrison there, but that did not hold him back. In fact, he liked
danger.

The Mexican army, upon reaching San Antonio, began firing upon the Alamo.
Their cannon riddled the fort, making wide breaches in the weak outer
walls through which from every side thousands of Mexicans thronged into
it. The Americans emptied their muskets and then fought with knives and
revolvers. They fought with desperate bravery until only five of the
soldiers were left.

[Illustration: The Fight at the Alamo.]

One of these was David Crockett. He had turned his musket about and was
using it as a club in his desperate struggle with the scores of men who
sought his life. There he stood, his back against the wall, with the
bodies of the Mexicans he had slain lying in a semicircle about him. His
foes dared not rush upon him, but some of them held him at bay with their
lances, while others, having loaded their muskets, riddled his body with
bullets. Thus fell brave David Crockett, a martyr to his country's cause.

* * * * *

A few weeks after the tragedy of the Alamo, Santa Anna's army massacred a
force of five hundred Texans at Goliad. The outlook for the Texan cause
was now dark enough. But Sam Houston, who commanded something like seven
hundred Texans, would not give up. He retreated eastward for some two
hundred and fifty miles. But when he learned that Santa Anna had broken up
his army into three divisions and was approaching with only about one
thousand six hundred men Houston halted his troops and waited for them to
come up. On their approach he stood ready for attack in a well-chosen spot
near the San Jacinto River, where he defeated Santa Anna and took him
prisoner.

The Texans now organized a separate government, and in the following
autumn elected Houston as the first President of the Republic of Texas. He
did all he could to bring about the annexation of Texas to the United
States and at last succe