Sam Houston

Sam Houston was an American soldier and politician who served as governor of Tennessee before living for several years among the Cherokee. He later commanded the Texan army at San Jacinto, became president of the Republic of Texas, represented Texas in the United States Senate and served as state governor. A Unionist, he opposed secession and was removed from office in 1861.

Lucia St. Clair Robson’s Walk in My Soul concentrates on Houston’s relationship with Dianna Rogers and his return to Cherokee society after the collapse of his Tennessee career. Other fiction focuses on the Texas Revolution and often turns him into a straightforward founding hero. His longer life allows novels to examine contradictions among ambition, Indigenous alliances, slaveholding, nationalism and opposition to secession.