Sam Houston (1793 to 1863) was an American soldier in the War of 1812, a statesman, a general in the Texas Revolution, the first president of the Republic of Texas, and a citizen of the Cherokee Nation. He was a White man who lived among Native Americans, a farmer who hated farming, a slave owner who opposed the spread of slavery, a Southerner who supported Northern policies, and a politician who disliked politics.

He could be considered a man of two worlds at any given time in his life, moving between different spheres, not completely at home in any of them. Charismatic and a natural leader, Houston drew people to him while often simultaneously pushing them away. He remains one of the most fascinating and controversial figures in American history.

Sam Houston was born on 2 March 1793 to Samuel Houston and Elizabeth Paxton Houston of Rockbridge County, Virginia. He had five brothers and three sisters, all born on the Timber Ridge Plantation that was worked by slaves. Samuel Houston died in 1807, and his wife moved the family to Maryville, Tennessee.

Sam Houston attended school as a boy for perhaps half a year and later may have attended an academy near Maryville, but he was largely self-taught, spending time in his father's library reading classical literature and history.

Although he was born into a farming family, he had no taste for it, preferring to spend time reading or exploring the woods around his home. His older brothers did not take kindly to what they saw as his 'idle disposition' and tried to force him to take on more responsibility. In response, Houston ran away from home when he was 16 and went to live with the Cherokee.

He was taken under care by their chief, Ahuludegi (also known as John Jolly) on Hiwassee Island, learned their language, observed their traditions, and was given the name, "Raven." He remained with the Cherokee for three years, returning to the world of the White Man in 1812 and taking a position as schoolmaster in Maryville at the one-room schoolhouse.

The sedentary life in Maryville did not agree with him, and so, at the age of 20, he enlisted in the army, and in 1813, he was a soldier in the War of 1812, fighting the British and their Native American allies, notably the Creek. He quickly rose through the ranks and, by the time of the Battle of Horseshoe Bend (27 March 1814), was a third lieutenant. Scholar Michael Wallis describes Houston's actions during the battle:

One of the first soldiers to scramble over the wall into the village was a bold lieutenant from Tennessee named Sam Houston… was shot in the groin with an arrow, which he asked a fellow lieutenant to remove. When the man tried but failed, Houston brandished his sword and bellowed out a threat, causing the perplexed officer to rip out the barbed arrow and, along with it, a hunk of flesh and a torrent of blood.

Ordered by Jackson to remove himself from battle, Houston took up a musket and returned to the fray, only to be struck twice by bullets to his shoulder and arm. Despite the loss of blood, Houston somehow survived, but the wound from the arrow never completely healed and bothered Houston for the rest of a long and illustrious life.

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Also serving under Andrew Jackson during the Creek Wars was the young scout and hunter David Crockett – though the two would not actually meet until years later.

Jackson was especially impressed by young Houston and promoted him to second lieutenant, ensuring he retained his commission after the war and helping to get him a position as an army clerk. Jackson, knowing of Houston's experience among the Cherokee, appointed him subagent in the tribe's removal from Tennessee in 1817.

In 1818, when John C. Calhoun sharply criticized Houston for wearing traditional Cherokee attire to a meeting between Calhoun and Cherokee representatives, Houston resigned his commission, left the army, and returned for a while to Native American life, helping in the resettlement of Cherokee tribes in the West.

Again returning to the White Man's world, he decided to become a lawyer, studied under Judge James Trimble in Nashville, Tennessee, and was elected the city's district attorney in 1819. In 1823, he ran for a seat in the United States House of Representatives and won. In 1827, he was elected governor of Tennessee.

Houston married for the first time in 1829 to Eliza Allen, but the marriage quickly failed. Shortly afterwards, Houston resigned as governor and returned to life among the Cherokee. Scholar James L. Haley writes:

Calling to see Houston the day he resigned was Tennessee's first-term congressman and fellow Jackson protégé, David Crockett, who asked what the former governor intended to do now. As an infantry lieutenant and Indian agent, Houston had exiled his Hiwassee Cherokees west to the Arkansas Territory; now, he replied, he intended to share their exile with them.

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His return to the Cherokee was not without problems. Houston had a long history with alcohol, but now, following his failed marriage, he drank more than usual. Haley notes:

Houston's personal consumption of alcohol was disgusting to even the Cherokees, whose tolerance for souses was well known. Even Houston's Indian name, the Raven, which he always carried so proudly, was occasionally replaced by a taunt less flattering… "Big Drunk."

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In time, Houston slowed his drinking and married Tiana Rogers Gentry, with whom he ran a trading post near Fort Gibson. The Cherokee, however, recognized that Houston could be especially influential in dealings with the US government and so asked him to go to Washington, D.C., to help them in negotiations for promised supplies. In 1832, Congressman William Stanberry charged Houston with fraud in attempting to supply rations to the Cherokee, and, when Stanberry refused to answer Houston's repeated denials of wrongdoing, Houston found the congressman and beat him with a cane.

The House of Representatives censured Houston, and he was fined. This time, instead of fleeing back to the Cherokee, Houston headed south to the Mexican territory of Coahuila y Tejas, soon to be known as Texas, leaving his wife and the Cherokee behind.

Why Houston went to Texas is still debated by historians, but whatever the specifics, it seems certain he went for the same reason so many others did: to make a new start. Houston arrived in December 1832 and, in 1833, was baptized into Roman Catholicism, a requirement of the Mexican government to be eligible for land. He was given his land grant and, based on his reputation as a soldier and politician, was elected to represent Nacogdoches at the Convention of 1833.

The Convention of 1832 had been convened to work out problems between Anglo-American colonists and the Mexican government. Mexico had invited Anglo-American settlers to colonize their northern district beginning in 1821 – the first families brought in by Stephen F. Austin – but beginning in 1830 and escalating in 1832 with the Anahuac Disturbances – Texians were increasingly in favor of declaring independence from Mexico and forming their own republic.

The Convention of 1833 was of a different nature than the earlier meeting and focused on declaring independence. Houston favored this course and chaired the committee that drafted an early version of the new republic's constitution. That same year, Austin went to Mexico City to try to resolve problems in person and was arrested for inciting rebellion in Texas. He spent the next two years in prison, which only added fuel to the fire of the War Party in Texas – which included William Barret Travis and James Bowie.

The Texas Revolution broke out at the Battle of Gonzales (2 October 1835), and Houston was elected general of the army in November. A major problem, however, was that there was no army, only militia, which was commanded by Stephen F. Austin after his release from prison. Austin commanded the troops in the fall of 1835 until he resigned in December and was sent as a delegate to the United States to bring back arms, ammunition, supplies, and recruits that would form an army.

Houston participated in none of the battles of the Texas Revolution in the fall of 1835. Edward Burleson took over command from Austin in December, defeating the Mexican forces under General Cos at the Siege of Béxar (12 October to 11 December 1835), capturing the Alamo, and forcing the Mexican army to leave Texas.

In January 1836, Houston sent James Bowie to the Alamo to remove ordnance and supplies and then destroy it, to prevent the fort from being taken by President/General Antonio López de Santa Anna, as Houston was sure he would return to try to retake Texas. Bowie and Colonel James C. Neill insisted the Alamo be held, however, and sent word out calling for reinforcements and supplies.

Houston believed Santa Anna would not be able to return to Texas until the spring, perhaps early March, but he arrived in San Antonio de Béxar on 23 February, initiating the siege of the Alamo, which was then co-commanded by William Barret Travis and James Bowie. On 24 February, Bowie fell ill, and Travis assumed full command, sending out his famous "Victory or Death" letter that same day, asking for assistance.

Houston had arrived at Washington-on-the-Brazos for the convention called to discuss declaring independence, began drinking heavily again, and, according to scholar William C. Davis, dismissed Travis' letter as "a damned lie", claiming "there were no Mexican forces there" (547). Haley disagrees with Davis on this (and also dismisses reports of Houston's drinking), but, for whatever reason, it is clear that Houston did not respond to Travis' letter and also talked others out of taking action to relieve the siege of the Alamo.

The garrison at San Antonio fell on 6 March 1836 in the Battle of the Alamo, and all of the defenders, including David Crockett, were killed. When news of the fall reached Houston at Gonzales on 11 March, he dismissed it as more lies until it was confirmed on the 13th. Houston then ordered Gonzales burned and the people evacuated, starting the so-called Runaway Scrape.

Colonel Juan Seguín commanded the rearguard, protecting Houston's army as it fled from Santa Anna, and commanded a company of Tejano cavalry at the Battle of San Jacinto (21 April 1836), where Houston defeated Santa Anna. The provisional government had declared independence on 2 March 1836, and now, with Houston's victory, the Texas Republic could be established. That fall, Houston defeated Stephen F. Austin in the elections and became the first president of the new republic.

As the "Hero of San Jacinto", Houston was extremely popular and, in 1837, the new capital of the Republic of Texas was named for him. The people supported the annexation of Texas by the United States, but the Texas Constitution of 1836 clearly identified the Texas Republic as a slave-holding nation, and President Andrew Jackson rejected annexation as it would upset the balance between slave and free states.

Since the Texas constitution barred a president from serving a second term, Houston stepped down in 1838, and his vice-president, Mirabeau B. Lamar, took over, undoing many – if not all – the progressive policies Houston had established and, through a series of ill-advised and needless wars, plunged the republic into debt.

In 1840, Houston married the 21-year-old Margaret Moffette Lea. Margaret was a strict Baptist and forced Houston to quit drinking, swearing, and fighting. She also convinced him to convert to her faith, and he would be baptized later in 1854.

Houston returned as president in 1841 and pressed for annexation by the USA. He stepped down again in 1844, and annexation was finally achieved by Anson Jones and US President James K. Polk in 1845, an event that ignited the Mexican-American War (1846 to 1848).

Houston played no part in the war, having been elected a US Senator from Texas in February 1846 and traveling to Washington, D.C. In this capacity, he broke from his fellow Southern senators in supporting anti-slavery legislation, notably the Oregon Bill of 1848, establishing Oregon as a free territory. He also repeatedly sought nominations for the presidency, but without success.

He opposed the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, believing it would encourage further political and social divisions over slavery and would also result in Native Americans losing more of their land. When the legislation passed, Houston left the Democratic Party and aligned himself with the American Party (part of the Know Nothing Party). In 1856, he failed to win the nomination as presidential candidate from his party and, in 1857, tired of Washington, D.C. politics, announced his run for Governor of Texas, which he won in 1859.

In 1861, when Texas was considering secession, Houston argued against it and, when it seceded on 1 February 1861, Houston refused to take the oath of allegiance to the Confederacy and was removed from office.

He settled in Huntsville, Texas – a private citizen for the first time in decades – and was generally shunned by his neighbors for his pro-Union stand. The family, and their slaves, rented a two-story dwelling known as the Steamboat House (because it looked like a riverboat), and Houston seems to have enjoyed his time out of office. Contrary to legend, there is no evidence that Houston freed his slaves after reading them the initial draft of the Emancipation Proclamation. Houston's slaves were still listed as his property when he died of pneumonia on 26 July 1863. Houston's slaves were emancipated, along with all others in Texas, on 19 June 1865 – the date commemorated by Juneteenth today.

There have been over 60 biographies written on Houston, and he has been depicted in plays, TV shows, and movies, beginning with The First Texan in 1956 (starring Joel McCrea), up through The Alamo in 2004, in which he is played by Dennis Quaid. Houston continues to fascinate because he is so difficult to define. Haley writes:

He was a creation of enormous contradictions. The Sam Houston who loved classical literature and could recite lengthy segments of Homer, whose usable vocabulary exceeded that of any of his contemporaries, hated school so much that he deserted the classroom after less than a year of formal education. The Houston whose restless energy spurred him through sleepless nights of work and study was so bored by regular jobs that, at sixteen, he fled his family to live with Cherokee Indians. The young man who lived as the adopted son of a Cherokee chief…later received near-fatal wounds fighting other Indians – the Creeks…And the Houston who, as Senator, sought protection for American settlers on the frontier, also thundered against the government's brutal treachery toward Native Americans.

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Houston's contradictory character ensured he would never be completely at home in any definable role, and this same aspect of the man is what contributes to continuing public interest in him. Houston remains today what he was in life – an enigmatic figure, larger than life, but with so many familiar aspects that there seems something in him that can resonate with anyone.