How Sam Houston Rode into Texas—and History

Houston’s restored national fame made him useful to President Jackson again. Jackson had unsuccessfully tried to purchase Texas from Mexico, but Mexico claimed the Sabine River as the boundary, and the United States claimed the Neches River, a stream thirty to fifty miles west of the Sabine.

If Houston could get into Texas, lead the coming revolution, and lead the Mexican Army into that neutral zone between the Sabine and Neches, Jackson would have an army at the Louisiana boundary ready to conquer Texas for the United States.

Jackson assigned Houston as his emissary to the Comanche Indians in Texas to invite them to Fort Gibson for a Treaty of Friendship. With this specific purpose in mind, Houston returned to the Indian Territory and found his passport waiting for him at Fort Gibson.

He solicited lawful aid and protection for Samuel Houston, a citizen of the United States, thirty eight years of age, six feet and five inches in stature, brown hair, and a light complexion.

For a traveling companion, President Jackson assigned Federal Marshall Urias Rector to accompany Houston to the Red River. As Sam had a new mission of importance and a personal satisfaction in pursuing greater achievements, he stopped by to bid farewell to his Indian wife Diana and left her possession of WigWamNeosho. As he rode on his horse westward, Diana feared she would never see Sam again.

Nearing the Red River, the Texas boundary, Houston mentioned the premium the Spanish placed on fine horses and that Rector’s horse was superior to his. He convinced him to trade, and Rector also gave Houston his razor. Houston said: “Rector, I accept your gift and mark my words, if I have luck, this razor will someday shave the chin of the President of the Republic of Texas.”

Sam Houston crossed the Red River into Texas on December 2, 1832.