Taming Texas

by Moore, Stephen L.

• ISBN13: 9781880510698
• ISBN10: 1880510693
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-09-01
• Publisher: State House Pr

Summary

The history of Texas is usually told in terms of its "giants" such as Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin. Here, instead, is a history of Texas told by one of its lesser giants, William Turner Sadler (1797-1884), whose biography becomes the framework for an exciting view of Texas history.

Sadler, one of the leading pioneers of nineteenth century Texas, participated in most of the major events of the period. He migrated to Texas from Georgia in 1835 to become a farmer. He soon found himself in command of a ranger company that built Fort Houston and served as a private in the battle of San Jacinto. He later helped to quell the Cordova Rebellion but while he was away his wife and infant daughter were killed by the Indians in the "Edens-Madden Massacre". Sadler was a leader in the Cherokee War and is said to have fired the shot that killed Chief Bowles. Sadler eventually served as a representative in both the Republic Congress and the state legislature. In 1849 he went to California seeking gold but returned in 1851 to resume farming, became involved with the early

Table of Contents

Prologue	1	(5)
Texas Bound: Lamar And The ``Unassuming Gentleman''	5	(20)
Sadler's Early Years	7	(8)
Alabama River To New Orleans	15	(5)
River Passage To Natchitoches	20	(5)
Pioneers of the Fort Houston Settlement	25	(14)
Wagons West From Nacogdoches	29	(6)
The Original Town Of Houston	35	(1)
The Texas Revolution	36	(2)
Formation Of The Early Texas Rangers	38	(1)
Sadler's Rangers and the Nacogdoches Volunteers	39	(12)
The Nacogdoches Volunteers March Out	45	(2)
The Fall Of The Alamo And The Goliad Massacre	47	(4)
A Time To Fight: The Fork In The Road	51	(8)
Rendezvous With Santa Anna: The Battle of San Jacinto	59	(18)
Sherman's First Skirmish	60	(3)
Dawning Of A New Freedom	63	(9)
The Capture Of Santa Anna	72	(5)
Post-San Jacinto: A New Threat in East Texas	77	(20)
Driving The Mexican Army From Texas	78	(2)
The Parker's Fort Attack	80	(6)
Completion Of Fort Houston	86	(5)
The New Life, The New Wife And The New County	91	(6)
Cordova's Rebellion and General Rusk's Texas Militia	97	(18)
The Rise Of Cordova's Rebellion	100	(3)
General Rusk's Militia Takes To The Field	103	(2)
Defense Of Fort Houston	105	(5)
The Violence Escalates Again	110	(5)
Mabbitt's skirmish and The Battle Of Kickapoo	115	(16)
Battle At Kickapoo Village	124	(7)
The Edens-Madden Massacre	131	(10)
Aftermath At San Pedro Creek	139	(2)
The Republic's New First Regiment of Infantry	141	(18)
Sadler's Texas Land Grants	145	(4)
President Lamar Revamps The Texas Military	149	(10)
Sadler's Appeal To President Lamar	159	(8)
New Depredation Brings Call To Action	163	(4)
Frontier Freedom: The Cherokee War	167	(28)
The Assembly Of Texan Troops	172	(6)
``Between Two Fires'': Final Negotiations Fail	178	(3)
July 15: The Evening Engagement	181	(5)
July 16: Finale At The Delaware Village	186	(9)
Transition Years Of A Young Nation	195	(14)
Expulsion Of The Cherokees	197	(3)
Protecting Austin's Frontier Settlements	200	(3)
The Early 1840s In Houston County	203	(4)
Home Front Politics	207	(2)
The End of a Republic: Ninth Congress	209	(10)
The Texas Capital In Washington	209	(10)
The First Legislature Shapes the New State	219	(20)
Creating A New County	228	(11)
Early Anderson County And The Second Legislature	239	(12)
California Gold, Texas Railroads And The Civil War	251	(20)
The California Gold Rush	252	(4)
Life In 1850s Anderson County	256	(2)
Early Railroads In Texas	258	(5)
Final Call To Duty: The Civil War	263	(3)
Terrell's 34th Texas Cavalry Regiment	266	(5)
Final Years of a Texas Veteran	271	(60)
Deadly Twister On Sadler Plantation	273	(2)
Providing For The Children	275	(2)
Pension Papers And A New Land Grant	277	(3)
A Final Wish Observed	280	(7)
Appendices
A: Ranger/Frontier Units of Texas, 1835-1839	287	(10)
B: Complete Muster Roll Of The Nacogdoches Volunteers	297	(1)
C: Roster Of Participants In The Cherokee War	298	(9)
D: Captain Sadler's Texas Land Grants	307	(1)
E: Sadler Family In Lincoln County, North Carolina	308	(5)
F: Family Tree Of William Turner Sadler	313	(18)
Chapter Notes	331	(24)
Bibliography	355	(8)
Index	363