Travis’ Appeal for Aid at the Alamo – February 24, 1836

William Barret Travis and almost two hundred other defenders found themselves surrounded at the Alamo Mission in San Antonio in late February of 1836. Refusing to surrender, they held off the invading armies of Mexican Dictator Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna for almost two weeks. On March 6, the courageous Texans were overrun and slaughtered by well over … Read more

Albert Sidney Johnston (1802-1862)

Born in Washington, Kentucky in 1803, Albert Sidney Johnston attended Transylvania University before graduating from the U. S. Military Academy in 1826. Johnston resigned his military commission in 1834 because of his wife’s illness, and farmed near St. Louis in 1835 before coming to Texas to enlist as a private in the Texas army. Because … Read more

Sam Houston “The Raven” (1793-1863)

One of the most colorful and controversial figures in Texas history, Sam Houston was born in Virginia on March 2, 1793. He spent much of his youth, however, in the mountains of Tennessee. There, young Houston became acquainted with the Cherokee Indians, and he spent much time with them, an activity which he much preferred … Read more

James S. Hogg (1851-1906)

James S. Hogg was born March 24, 1851 near Rusk, in east Texas. His birthplace would later give him the distinction of becoming the first native-born governor of Texas. Hogg was orphaned at the age of eleven when his father, a Confederate general, died in May 1862, and his mother died soon afterwards. To help … Read more

James Pinckney Henderson (1808-1858)

J. Pinckney Henderson was an active proponent for the annexation of Texas into the United States. Partly in recognition of his efforts toward statehood, Henderson was elected Texas’ first governor when it became a state in 1845. Henderson was born in North Carolina on March 31, 1808. He studied law and was admitted to the … Read more

John Coffee “Jack” Hays, Texas Ranger, Sheriff & Politician

A noted Indian fighter and early Texas Ranger, John Coffee (Jack) Hays was a man of less than average size. He was exceptionally wiry, however, and had almost supernatural powers of endurance in the rugged west Texas terrain. Born in Tennessee, Hays spent some time in Mississippi before arriving in Texas around the beginning of … Read more

William P. Hardeman “Old Gotch” (1816-1898)

William Polk “Old Gotch” Hardeman has the distinction of having served Texas, in either a military or official government position, spanning a period longer than any other Texan. In 1835, within days after he arrived in Texas at the age of eighteen, he became an active participant in the Texas Revolution. When Hardeman died in … Read more

Thomas Green (1814-1864)

As a 21-year-old college graduate when he first came to Texas in 1835, Tom Green was no doubt one of the most schooled of all Texans. Over the next twenty nine years in Texas, he would also prove to be one of the most courageous. Green was born in Virginia on June 8, 1814, but … Read more

John S. Ford “Rip” (1815-1897)

John S. “Rip” Ford was a mover and shaker in Texas for nearly fifty years. He not only participated in most of it’s military struggles, but served in the Congress of the Republic and Legislature of the State, and later, in the state Secession Convention. Unlike many of his less fortunate comrades, he lived to … Read more

Resolution Annexing Texas to the United States – March 1, 1845

The annexation of Texas was a key issue in James K. Polk’s U. S. presidential election campaign of 1844. As a result, Polk’s victory that November was interpreted in the United States as a mandate to annex the ten-year-old republic. Early the following year, a joint resolution for annexation passed both houses of the U. S. Congress–even … Read more