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A DIAMOND IN THE 
 ROUGH 
 
 EMBRACING 
 
 ANFXDOTE, BIOGRAPHY, ROMANCE AND 
 HISTORY 
 
 BY 
 
 Captain John Worrell 
 
 CLAYTON, INDIANA 
 
 F>RICE: Sl.OO MET 
 
 INDIANAPOLIS 
 
 W.M. B. BURFORn. PRINTKK 
 
 1906 
 

 
 
 LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
 TwoCoDies Received 
 
 FEB 26 1906 
 
 Q Copyright Entry 
 CLASS CC XXC. No. 
 COPY B. 
 
 Copyrighted, 1906, 
 
 BY 
 
 John Worrell 
 
 —2— 
 
To My Wifk 
 ^re, Margaret a* 3!aiiorren 
 
 With Whom I Have Threaded My Way Through Near 
 
 Forty-eight Years of Married Life, Do 
 
 I Most Gratefully and Sincerely 
 
 IInbcribe this Volume 
 
 John Worrell 
 
A Word Preliminary 
 
 HAVING traveled all that portion of the 
 United States lying east of the Rocky 
 Mountains many times over while in 
 the employ of the Government as a revenue 
 agent, and w^hile discharging "my duties in 
 Texas, which took me to every part of the 
 State, and hearing so many persons speak of 
 General Sam Houston in such complimentary 
 terms, — to the effect that he was the George 
 Washington of Texas — and having learned 
 from tradition while in Tennessee the sad story 
 of his unfortunate separation from his first 
 wife under appalling circumstances at the 
 time ; and having by good fortune, when un- 
 aware, visited Lampasas, Texas, — in June, '92 — 
 on the occasion of the reunion of the Old Vet- 
 erans who had fought under General Houston 
 for the independence of Texas from Mexico, I 
 formed the purpose at some future time of writ- 
 ing a brief sketch of the history of General 
 Houston, and the following has, for the most 
 part, been prepared from things gleaned while 
 traveling in the State, and very largely at the 
 meeting of the Old Comrades of Houston at 
 
A WoKD Preltminaky. 5 
 
 Lampasas. And I fully believe and hope that 
 when the brief story of the General shall have 
 been read that it will awaken in the breast of 
 every lover of his country a kindly regard for 
 ''Sam Houston," whom I esteem as one of the 
 great men of the pioneer days of our history. 
 
 Being also familiar with Longfellow 's ' ' Evan- 
 geline," and after becoming acquainted with 
 the descendants of the banished Acadians from 
 Grand-Pre, and other sections of Nova Scotia 
 by the English in 1755, who found homes in the 
 "Opelousas" of Louisiana, I felt there were yet 
 other beauties in the pathetical story of Evan- 
 geline and Gabriel not brought to view by 
 Longfellow, and have essayed the task in this 
 little volume, but with what success the reader 
 must judge. 
 
 In addition to the foregoing narratives, the 
 reader will find a short eulogy on General John 
 A. Logan in "The battle-born babe of Flint 
 River," and some observations on other mat- 
 ters, with answers to inquiries, and all bound 
 disjunctively, but not in a way to perplex the 
 reader. 
 
Table of Contents 
 
 CHAPTER 1 
 
 The Life and Character of Sam Houston, One of the 
 Unique and Striking Figures in the Pioneer Days of 
 American History !) 
 
 CHAPTEK 2 
 The Mistake of Saying Too Much 27 
 
 CHAPTEK 3 
 
 After dwelling with the Cherokee Indians for a Time, 
 
 Houston Goes to Texas 35 
 
 CHAPTEK 4 
 What I Think of Florida 05 
 
 CHAPTER 5 
 
 The Lone Star State of Texas, and a Thrilling Event in 
 
 its History— The Siege of the Alamo 75 
 
 CHAPTER 6 
 
 A Description of the Opelousas and Teche Regions of 
 
 Southern Louisiana 87 
 
 CHAPTER 7 
 
 From the Massacre of the Alamo to that of Fannin's 
 
 Prairie, or Goliad 103 
 
 CHAPTER 8 
 
 "Shell Anna"-The Battle Born Babe of Flint River. A 
 
 Story of the Civil War 121 
 
 -6- 
 
Table of Contents. 7 
 
 CHAPTER 9 
 
 The Defeat of Santa Anna at San Jacinto by Greneral 
 
 Houston 145 
 
 CHAPTEK 10 
 
 The Early History of New Harmony, Indiana, and its 
 
 Founders 157 
 
 CHAPTER 11 
 
 From the Victory of San Jacinto to the Admission of 
 
 Texas into the Federal Union 175 
 
 CHAPTER 12 
 Houston in the United States Senate 191 
 
 CHAPTER 13 
 
 A Contribution to an Entertainmejit Held in the Town 
 Hall in Clayton, Indiana, December 31, 1887, entitled 
 "Thrice Happy New Year" 203 
 
 CHAPTER 14 
 
 The Story in Prose, of Evangeline and Gabriel. The Most 
 
 Pathetical, Perhaps, In the English I^anguage .... 221 
 
 CHAPTER 15 
 
 The Discomfiture of an Infidel, Prepared at the Request 
 
 of Leading Citizens of Hendricks County, Indiana . . 245 
 
 CHAPTER 16 
 
 The Peregrinations of Evangeline from St. Martinsville, 
 Louisiana, to the Ozark Mountains, then to the 
 Saginaw River and thence to the City of Penn .... 259 
 
Chapter 1 
 
 THE LIFE AND CHARACTER OF SAM HOUSTON, ONE OF 
 
 THE UNIQUE AND STRIKING FIGURES IN THE 
 
 PIONEER DAYS OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 Twice in Congress, the Governor of two States, the President 
 of a Republic, and a United States Senator 
 
 WHILST traveling" in Texas in the Spring- 
 time and early Summer of 1892, by 
 chance I dropped into Lampasas on the 
 occasion of the reunion of the old veterans of 
 the War for the Independence of Texas from 
 Mexico; and ever since that time I have re- 
 garded it as one of the most pleasurable events 
 of my life. The War for the Independence of 
 Texas was fought during the years 1835 and 
 1836. Those present of the old soldiers at the 
 reunion were, therefore, very old men, whose 
 ages ranged from 77 to 93 years. 
 
 Having myself been a soldier in the Civil 
 M^ar, Avith an experience which enabled me to 
 enter into the spirit of such a meeting; and 
 although a stranger to all, my comradeship in 
 arms, when made known to those old veterans, 
 opened wide the doors of their heart's greeting 
 to me, in a two days' feast of joy ; and in a com- 
 radeship, to be known, has to be experienced. 
 
 -9— 
 
10 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 Those old comrades had fought their battles 
 fifty-six and fifty-seven years before their com- 
 ing together on that occasion, while I had 
 fought mine but twenty-eight to thirty-one 
 years before. And I felt toward them as Daniel 
 Webster expressed it on the occasion of the 
 reunion of the Old Revolutionary Patriots in 
 Philadelphia in September, 1824, at the time of 
 General Lafayette's last visit to America. 
 
 In speaking of the Old Revolutionary Pa- 
 triots, Mr. Webster, the great orator, said: 
 ''These, my fellow countrymen, are a band of 
 ancient and renowned heroes who have come 
 down to our day from a former generation." 
 And so I felt, that those old Texan Veterans 
 were a Band of Immortal Heroes who had come 
 to Lampasas from a former generation. 
 
 When the day's program was ended, and the 
 private carriages of the city — all driven by 
 young ladies — had called at the meeting place 
 to convey the old veterans to the private homes 
 of the city for the night's entertainment, it 
 chanced that there were more carriages to con- 
 vey, than old soldiers to be entertained, as Lam- 
 pasas was a watering place and health resort, 
 with many conveyances: and as the disap- 
 pointed lady drivers drove away without an 
 old soldier to accompany them to their homes 
 for entertainment by the family over night, 
 tears were seen trickling down their faces. 
 
Sam Houston. 11 
 
 Don't tell me, therefore, that in the human 
 heart and breast, there is no esteem and regard 
 for the defenders of our country and our homes. 
 Should there be such, their assignment merits 
 companionship with the thugs of India, or the 
 Modocs of the Lava Beds. 
 
 It was while attending the reunion of the 
 Old Texan Veterans at Lampasas, and hearing 
 from them so much respecting General Sam 
 Houston, that I formed the purpose at some 
 future time of writing a brief sketch of his 
 history. And as thirteen years have already 
 slipped away since that event, and the sixty- 
 eighth mile stone of my life's journey having 
 been passed, I shall have to write soon, or not 
 at all. 
 
 Sam Houston, in many respects, possessed 
 strong and original qualities of mind. And 
 while at times his conduct deserved censure, 
 as well as approval, yet the good greatly pre- 
 dominated ; and he had many devoted friends, 
 attracted to him by his wonderful achievements 
 and great personal magnetism; and the few^ 
 written records of him vary from extravagant 
 and fulsome eulogy to harsh criticism. But the 
 remembrance of his original and impressive 
 personality is still strong among his contempo- 
 raries, and the reminiscences of those who took 
 part in the events with him are cherished in 
 high degree: and the Old Veterans at the Lam- 
 
12 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 pasas reunion never tired of relating to me the 
 experiences they shared with him during the 
 War for Texas Independence. 
 
 The period of Sam Houston's life was a 
 heroic one in the achievement of personal vigor 
 and daring in the early history of our country. 
 The defense of the Alamo will always be re- 
 garded as one of the most striking examples 
 of desperate and determined valor during all 
 the ages, and the Battle of San Jacinto demon- 
 strated conclusively the superiority of the 
 American race in war over the Mexico-Span- 
 iard. And the ferociousness, cruelty and bar- 
 barity of General Santa Anna, the self-styled 
 Napoleon of the Western World, finds no paral- 
 lel in the wars of the last two centuries, as the 
 massacre of Goliad, or Fannin 's Prairie, clearly 
 evinces, a description of which will be given in 
 these pages. 
 
 Sam Houston came from the strong and 
 sturdy Scotch-Irish stock which has given so 
 many notable names to American history. John 
 Houston was the founder of the American 
 branch of the family, and came to this country 
 in 1689. He was a man of means, and was the 
 leader of a colony of emigrants who settled near 
 Philadelphia. John Houston's grandson, Rob- 
 ert Houston, moved to Virginia, and married 
 a Scotch lady by the name of Davidson. Robert 
 Houston had a son Samuel who served with 
 
Sam Houston. 13 
 
 distinction in the brigade of General Morgan 
 during the Revolutionary War. Tradition de- 
 scribes Samuel Houston as a man of large 
 frame, and the possessor of indomitable cour- 
 age, with a passion for military life. His wife 
 was also a woman of great force of character, 
 and deeply impressed her influence upon the 
 minds of her children. After the death of her 
 husband, who had been appointed an Assistant 
 Inspector General of the frontier troops, and 
 died on a tour of duty in the Allegheny Moun- 
 tains, in 1806, Mrs. Houston moved to Tennes- 
 see, and settled in Blount County at a point 
 northeast of the Tennessee River, then the 
 boundary between the Cherokee Indians and 
 the white settlers. 
 
 Mrs. Houston's son Samuel, (the subject of 
 this sketch) was then in his thirteenth year. 
 His schooling was in the "Old Field School;" 
 where only the rudiments of an education could 
 have been received, in the early pioneer settle- 
 ments of East Tennessee. Whatever education 
 Sam Houston acquired, must, therefore, have 
 been due to his active mind and fervid imagina- 
 tion, and the diligent reading of such books as 
 came in his way ; and by thoroughly mastering 
 them, which does not always happen with those 
 who are satiated and dulled with an abundance 
 and variety of books. Among the few books 
 which found their way in pack-saddles and 
 
14 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 among the home-spun garments of the pioneer 
 settlers of East Tennessee, and were read by 
 the light of pine knots, was, according to tradi- 
 tion among Houston's contemporaries, a trans- 
 lation of the Iliad. This, Houston's associates 
 have said, was read and studied by him until 
 the battles on the "windy side of the Scaman- 
 der, and the camp-fires around the walls of 
 Troy," were as visible and real to him as the 
 woods and fields of the Tennessee valley. 
 
 Such a book was an education in itself, in all 
 that tends to the elevation and kindling of the 
 imagination. Through his whole life, his con- 
 temporaries say, Houston was a man of few 
 books. When commander of the Texan army 
 his chief book was Caesar's Commentaries on 
 War, which he drank in with a native intui- 
 tion for their benefit to him in the Texan strug- 
 gle, as well as for the fascination of the narra- 
 tive. He also read the Bible constantly and 
 thoroughly, until its phraseology tinged and 
 embellished his oratory, in a certain art of 
 which he was a master. 
 
 The knowledge and wisdom of Sam Houston 
 came more from contact with men and nature, 
 than from books ; and his power and vigor with 
 the pen, on great subjects, coupled with his per- 
 suasive and forceful eloquence, were due to 
 native peculiarities, and to the force of his 
 genius in common speech, and not to any train- 
 
Sam Houston. 15 
 
 ing in the arts of rhetoric, or to the study of the 
 masters of language. 
 
 Soon after the arrival of the Houstons in 
 Tennessee, there occurred the first of young 
 Houston's escapades, which characterized his 
 whole career in after life. He had been placed 
 by his mother as clerk in a store, but his rest- 
 less spirit revolted at a life behind the counter, 
 and one day he fled across the Tennessee River 
 and took up his abode with the Cherokee In- 
 dians. He was received in their favor as a 
 friend and a brother, whose natural tastes were 
 their own. And he soon acquired that knowl- 
 edge of, and sympathy with, the Indian char- 
 acter which he manifested through his whole 
 life. In a great measure it is an instinct, and 
 enables a man like Houston to be at home in 
 the Indian camps ; for he had many of the char- 
 acteristics of the Indian in his nature, — ^his hot 
 blood, his fondness for adventure, and the un- 
 trammeled freedom of the wilderness. All 
 these qualities were doubtless in the j^outh, as 
 in the man, and Houston was made welcome 
 by the Cherokees, whose language he soon 
 learned. 
 
 When his family at home learned where he 
 was, two of his brothers visited and endeavored 
 to persuade him to return home. But he replied 
 that he preferred hunting deer, to measuring 
 tape, and refused to leave his Indian friends, 
 
16 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 and remained with the Cherokees until his 
 eighteenth year. He then returned to civiliza- 
 tion and attended school for a time, in the 
 Academy at ]Maryville, which was all the educa- 
 tion he was ever to receive in school. 
 
 The war between Great Britain and the 
 United States had now broken out, and the 
 drum was beating on the frontier for recruits, 
 and Houston enlisted as a private soldier, being 
 then in his twentieth year. In after life, in 
 speaking of his enlistment, Houston said that 
 on his return home after volunteering, that his 
 mother, — having already heard of it — met him 
 at the door of their cabin and handed him his 
 gun, and said : ' ' There, my son, take this gun, 
 and never disgrace it; for I had rather all my 
 sons should fill one honorable grave, than that 
 one of them should turn his back on an enemy 
 to save his life. And remember, too, that while 
 the door of our house is open to brave men, it 
 is forever shut to cowards." These words of 
 Mrs. Houston, to her son, bespeak the same 
 language once addressed hy a Roman mother to 
 her son, and has the clear ring of valor and 
 true nobility. 
 
 Houston was not long in the ranks until he 
 received a commission. During the British 
 War, much of the fighting was with the In- 
 dians, who were incited to hostilities by British 
 emissaries. It was with the Creek Indians, a 
 
Houston in Battle of ihe Horseshoe. 17 
 
 remnant of which tribe had rallied for a last 
 stand at the Horseshoe, — a bend of the Talla- 
 poosa River in Alabama — that Houston saw his 
 first service. During' this engagement Houston 
 was wounded by a barbed arrow which struck 
 deep in his thigh. He called upon the lieuten- 
 ant of the company to pull the arrow out. Twice 
 the effort was made and failed. Houston then 
 roared to him to try again, and to "pull hard." 
 This time the arrow was withdrawn, but left a 
 jagged wound from which the blood was gush- 
 ing in a great stream. Houston wasv at once 
 rushed out of range to have the bleeding 
 staunched; and while in the surgeon's hands 
 he was seen by General Jackson, who was in 
 command, and ordered him to the rear. Hous- 
 ton did not regard the wound as serious, and 
 disregarded the order of General Jackson. 
 Later in the battle Jackson called for volun- 
 teers to storm the Indian line at a certain angle. 
 And as a body of men were gathering to make 
 the charge, Houston dashed forward, calling 
 upon his men to follow; and after advancing a 
 few paces he received a bullet in the shoulder, 
 and one in the upper part of the right arm 
 which shattered the bone, and he drew back 
 out of range, and was borne from the field and 
 put in charge of the surgeons a second time. 
 This exploit of Houston 's gained General Jaek- 
 
 (2) 
 
18 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 son's friendship and confidence the remainder 
 of his life. 
 
 It was nearly two months before Houston 
 reached his mother's home. /And he w\is so 
 emaciated by his wounds and sufferings that 
 she could scarcely recognize him. As surgical 
 aid was required he was removed to Knoxville, 
 and finally to Washington City, which he 
 reached soon after the Capitol wr.s burned by 
 the British troops. 
 
 After being treated so as to be on the way to 
 recovery^ Houston returned to his mother's 
 home, where he learned of the battle of New 
 Orleans. At the close of the war, and having 
 been promoted for his gallantry at the battle 
 of the Horseshoe, Houston was ordered to re- 
 port to New Orleans for duty. And made the 
 journey down the Tennessee River to the Ohio, 
 thence down the Ohio to the -Mississippi, and 
 thence down that to his destination, in a row- 
 boat with two companions. 
 
 On his arrival in New Orleans, Houston's 
 wounds were again operated upon, which came 
 near costing him his life, and they never ceased 
 to discharge until the day of his death. Soon 
 after this, Houston was ordered to report for 
 duty in Nashville, Tennessee, and was appointed 
 Agent of the Cherokee Indians, at the request 
 of General Jackson, who wrote the Secretary 
 of War, — Graham — saying: "He is a young 
 
Houston's Bhaveky in Battle. I'J 
 
 man of sound integrity, who has my entire con- 
 fidence; and is every way capacitated to fill the 
 appointment. ' ' 
 
 It was Houston 's bravery under his own eves 
 that attracted the friendship and confidence 
 of General Jackson, which he retained through 
 all the vicissitudes of his career. And this re- 
 spect and esteem was reciprocated by Houston 
 to the fullest. It is said of him that General 
 Jackson was the only person who could influ- 
 ence Houston's actions. Alike in many respects, 
 in temperament and passion, the characteristic 
 product of the untamed and vigorous life of the 
 frontier, yet there was from one angle of vision 
 a wide difference in the habits and character of 
 the two men. The stronger and more self-con- 
 tained nature of Jackson, dominated in a meas- 
 ure the enthusiastic disposition of Houston. 
 
 In a speech in the United States Senate in 
 favor of acknowledging the independence of 
 Texas, immediately after the Battle of San 
 Jacinto, Senator Benton bore strong testi- 
 mony to the good qualities of Houston; and 
 stated that he was the Lieutenant-Colonel of 
 the regiment to which Houston belonged, and 
 saw his gallant conduct at the Battle of the 
 Horseshoe. ''I then discovered in him the same 
 soldierly qualities which have since distin- 
 guished his eventful career. He was gallant, 
 brave, and generous; and ever ready to do, or 
 
20 A DiA^kioxD IN TUE Rough. 
 
 suffer, whatever the obligations of duty im- 
 posed upon him ; and was always prompt to 
 answer the call of honor, patriotism, and friend- 
 ship" — noble (jualities of the mind and soul. 
 Although possessing a limited education, on 
 leaving the army, Houston determined to be- 
 come a lawyer, which, in those days, was syn- 
 onymous with politician. He entered the law 
 office of James Trimble, in Nashville, and was 
 admitted to tlie bar after six months' study. 
 A knowledge of the intricacies of the law and 
 the precedence of the courts was at that time not 
 of much consequence to a successful lawyer. 
 Not nearly so much so as a good flow of popu- 
 lar oratory for the jury, and a courage that 
 would not fail him Avith the fighting attorneys. 
 Houston at no time pretended to be a lawyer 
 in the i)roper sense of the word. And yet after 
 he went to Texas he many times made effective 
 speeches to juries in criminal cases, although 
 he knew but little of law beyond a few general 
 principles, which were readily appreciated and 
 understood by a strong and capacious mind. 
 In this lack of legal knoAA^ledge, however, 
 Houston was at no great disadvantage, for he 
 was not inferior to most of his associates who 
 traveled the judicial circuits at that time. 
 What he lacked in legal learning was more than 
 compensated for when it came to arguing a 
 case, either before the Court or a jury, in the 
 
Houston as Lawyer. 21 
 
 strong and masterful way he brought to view 
 the equities in the case ; and many times gained 
 the cause by trampling down and ridiculing, in 
 his inimitable manner, the frivolous technicali- 
 ties of law. ^ 
 
 After being admitted to the bar, Houston set- 
 tled at Lebanon, Tennessee, and being very 
 poor at the time, he was kindly received by 
 Isaac Galladay, the postmaster at Lebanon, who 
 extended to him many favors and much kind- 
 ness. One of the pleasant glimpses of Houston 's 
 life is given in a letter by a son of Isaac Galla- 
 day, showing Houston's gratitude for Mr. Gal- 
 laday 's kindness when he began the practice 
 of law in Lebanon. The event occurred after 
 Houston had gone to Texas. "I was traveling 
 in Texas, ' ' said young Mr. Galladay, ' ' and was 
 taken quite sick very suddenly at Hunts ville 
 on a Sunday, and took to bed immediately on 
 my arrival at the hotel. Remembering that 
 Sam Houston, who had formerly lived at Leb- 
 anon, Tennessee, was now living in Texas, I 
 asked the landlord in what part of the State 
 he resided, and he replied: 'He lives but a 
 short distance from town, and has just passed 
 the hotel on his way to church. ' To this I said : 
 'As he returns from church, please inform him 
 that Frederick Galladay, of Tennessee, is sick 
 in the hotel.' Soon, a large, portly, and ele- 
 gant-looking gentleman walked into my room, 
 
22 A Diamond ix the Rough. 
 
 and asked me if I was the son of Isaac Galladay. 
 I answered that I was. 'I then recognize you 
 as the son of an old and true friend, and you 
 must go to my liouse.' I replied with thanks 
 that I was too sick to go ; but he insisted on 
 coming for me, and I consented, and went to 
 the home of Mr. Houston, where I lay sick for 
 some two weeks, and was cared for very ten- 
 derly by Mr. Houston himself. During my 
 sickness, Mr. Houston spent much of his time 
 with me in my room ; and at intervals, when 
 T was able to converse, he gave me much of his 
 early history." Any effort to enlarge upon or 
 magnify this quality of true manhood, with 
 which Houston was so happily blessed, would 
 end in failure, and I will not venture further 
 than the mere statement of the incident. 
 
 Houston soon began to be a power in public 
 life. His friendly and impressive manner, along 
 with his natural adaptability to all societies, 
 placed him at ease, whether before the plain 
 people in a stump speech, or in the parlor with 
 ladies, for his urbane and highly cultivated dig- 
 nity of part and gesture, gave him the essen- 
 tials of gallantry and of political success. And, 
 moreover, he was the friend and devoted fol- 
 lower of Andrew Jackson, who exercised at 
 that time a sort of political kingship in Tennes- 
 see. While practicing law in Lebanon, Houston 
 
Houston Governor of Tennessee. 23 
 
 was, in 1819, appointed Adjutant-General of the 
 State, and in October of the same year, he was 
 elected prosecuting attorney for the Davidson 
 District, which necessitated his removal to 
 Nashville. 
 
 On taking leave of his friends in Lebanon, 
 where he began the practice of law, with a 
 wolf at the door, and had been greatly assisted 
 by friends, and being now in better circum- 
 stances, and having reimbursed all, Houston 
 thought it proper to deliver a farewell address 
 to the citizens of Lebanon who had done so 
 much for him, which he did from the court- 
 house steps, which was his choice, instead of the 
 court room. In the course of the address he 
 said: **I came to you while athirst, and you 
 gave me drink ; I came to you hungry, and you 
 fed me ; I came to you naked, and you clothed 
 me." This, along with much more in kind, 
 moved the hearts of his hearers to such a de- 
 gree that there was not a dry eye, says tradi- 
 tion, in the whole assembly. In the above is 
 the key to the secret of Houston's power and 
 influence in swaying the feelings and sympa- 
 thies of men. 
 
 Ever restless, Houston soon resigned the office 
 of prosecuting attornej^, and was, in 1821, 
 elected Major-General of the Tennessee Militia. 
 Soon after this, in 1823, at the age of thirty, 
 
24 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 he was elected to Congress, and served four 
 years, taking part in the debates, and acting 
 with the Jackson wing of the Democratic party. 
 
 It was during Houston's second term as a 
 member of Congress that his first and only duel 
 was fought, which was with General AVhite ; 
 and was fought at sunrise, September 23, 1826, 
 just across the Tennessee line in Kentucky 
 White was severely wounded, while Houston 
 escaped unharmed. In a speech at Tillico, 
 after his duel with White, Houston said that he 
 was opposed to dueling, but had been compelled 
 to fight General White, in defense of his honor, 
 and expressed thanks to God that General 
 White was not killed. 
 
 In this same year, 1827, Houston was elected 
 Governor of Tennessee. And while he doubt- 
 less owed much to his personal popularity, his 
 nomination and election was more largely due 
 to the fact that he was the representative of 
 the Jackson party. Houston was a candidate 
 for re-election for a second term, with the prob- 
 abilities of election strongly in his favor, when 
 an event occurred which put an end to his suc- 
 cessful career as a politician in Tennessee, and 
 at the same time seemed the ruin of him forever. 
 
 We have now reached an event in the history 
 of Sam Houston, about which there is much 
 that is vague and uncertain. In January, 1829, 
 Houston was married to Miss Eliza Allen, the 
 
Separation from Wife. 25 
 
 daughter of a wealthy and intiuential family. 
 And on the 16th of April following, he sent in 
 his resignation as Governor, to the Secretary 
 of State, and left Nashville in secret, and went 
 to his old friends, the Cherokee Indians, beyond 
 the Mississippi, in the Indian Territory. 
 
 (Continued on page 35.) 
 
Chapter 2 
 
 THE IvnSTAKE OF SAYING TOO MUCH 
 
 SOME time ago a party of elderly gentlemen 
 were discussing some of the rules and pre- 
 cepts of life which make for peace and 
 happiness, when one of them remarked that 
 his mother, on her dying bed, had admonished 
 him never to say too much ; and that many 
 times' during his life, when the temptation was 
 great, and the disposition to talk strong, that in 
 giving heed to his mother's advice at this point, 
 had saved him much trouble and humiliation. 
 
 Soon after the separation of these gentlemen, 
 the mother's advice to her son came into my 
 mind, and after pondering the matter for some 
 time, my thought then was, and is now, that 
 the dying mother's advice to her son may justly 
 be applied, not only to young men, but to the 
 old, as well ; and to each and every individual, 
 in every grade of society, and may profitably be 
 heeded by many in each grade. 
 
 In the private walks of life there are thou- 
 sands who say too much. The liar, the back- 
 biter, and the slanderer, are continually saying 
 too much. The whisperer of scandal, the myste- 
 rious guesser, the impertinent meddler, the 
 
 -27- 
 
28 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 fiery and passioirate, the jealous and suspicious, 
 along with the malicious and revengeful, are 
 always and forever saying too much. 
 
 Evil speaking, from the innuendo to perjury, 
 is a great wrong. Petty scandal, which is more 
 or less practiced by many, produces more mis- 
 chief than a blighting sirocco. The sly whisper, 
 the mysterious hint, the anxious inquiry, and 
 the uncharitable inference, gather importance 
 as they pass from one to another until they be- 
 come dreadful realities in the public mind. By 
 the small envenomed worm of petty scandal, 
 many a fair chnracter has been ruined, that 
 would, pei-haps, have outrode the storm of open 
 and violent slander. 
 
 There is a propensity, it would seem, in oui' 
 perverse nature, to listen to the retailers of 
 petty scandal. With many it is the elixir and 
 spice of conversation — the exhilarating gas of 
 their minds. Without any intention of injur- 
 ing a neighbor, a careless remark, many times, 
 in relation to a fancied fault of his, may be 
 seized by a babbler, as it passes through the 
 babbling tribe, and each one adds to its import- 
 ance until it assumes the magnitude and black- 
 ness of a base slander. Few are without faults, 
 and errors of judgment, and upon such petty 
 scandal delights to feast. 
 
 Nor are those safe from the filth and scum 
 of this poisonous tribe, who are free from 
 
On Saying Too Much. 29 
 
 wrong; for at an}^ moment envy and jealousy 
 may create a noise that will attract attention, 
 and start the bloodhounds of suspicion until 
 many may be led to suppose there is real game, 
 when there is nothing but thin air. 
 
 Many times an unjust accusation is started 
 against an innocent person, and before truth 
 can get her shoes on to pursue, and correct the 
 wrong, a stain, dark and damning, has been 
 inflicted on the otherwise fair name of an inno- 
 cent person. If more caution was used by the 
 would-be prudent, less mischief would be ef- 
 fected by dealers in detraction. If self-respect- 
 ing and decent people would cea.se to lend a 
 listening ear to the babbling tribe, they would 
 soon cease their nefarious and scandal-monger- 
 ing habit. 
 
 A word of rebuke, well administered, has a 
 magical effect upon this tribe of paltry cowards. 
 It suffocates them like the fumes of burning 
 brimstone does flies. It may, perhaps, be the 
 possibilities these fumes suggest to such in the 
 future, that dampens their ardor. Churches, 
 too, are sometimes cursed with babblers, who 
 paralyze religion with their envenomed breath, 
 and who would make a common sewer of some 
 of their most worthy members. But let us 
 hasten away from this branch of our subject, 
 lest we be accused of saying too much, and 
 thereby be accused of violating our own pre- 
 cept, and turn to one more pleasing. 
 
30 A Diamond in jhe Rough. 
 
 In the second place, there are others, who, 
 in the innocence of their dear hearts, say too 
 much. The individual whose stock of knowl- 
 edge is small, by talking when he should keep 
 still, and listen, may miss gaining information 
 that might be of great benelit to him. The man 
 who engrosses or monopolizes all the conversa- 
 tion in company, to make a display of his learn- 
 ing, and of his self-supposed superiority, often 
 disgusts his companions by saying too much. 
 
 And those also who are given to relating long 
 fish stories of their bold exploits and hair- 
 breadth escapes, whether from bear, wildcats, 
 or in war, render themselves many times ridic- 
 ulous by saying too much. In this utilitarian 
 age, where all is rush and hurrj^, long-meter 
 anecdotes, too, are never relished ; but on the 
 contrary, they surfeit, and are like a book with 
 a preface longer than the contents, or text. 
 
 The fond and loving twain, too, not yet out 
 of the halo of their honeymoon, who relate long 
 yarns about their conjugal bliss, and what a 
 paragon of perfection Charley is, as a husband, 
 — so plain and so simple in his tastes that it is 
 not a 'Svee" bit of trouble to cook to suit him; 
 or, perchance, find a ''kitchen girl" who can; 
 Or, what a dear, sweet little wife I have, just 
 the one, among all God's millions, that suits me ; 
 or, later on, wear their friends out by extolling 
 the shining intellect of their children. 
 
On Saying Too Much. 31 
 
 We are almost tempted to say that the prayer 
 which wells up from the deepest recesses of the 
 heart is for a rest from too much of this kind of 
 talk. In a sense, and to a reasonable extent, 
 the pride of doting parents is to be admired, 
 but many forget that others, too, have bright 
 children, and talk too much. 
 
 Some persons, when intrusted with a secret, 
 get a half dozen or more friends to help them 
 keep it ; and these, in turn, get a half dozen or 
 more to help them, and so on, ad infinitum, all 
 of whom talk too much. At parties, at levees, 
 in mixed company, in public meetings, and in 
 private conversation, many men and women, 
 yea, very many, say too much. 
 
 In the court room, too, is frequently to be 
 heard and seen lawyers, while addressing a 
 jury, apparently lose sight of the jury and their 
 client's interests, in an effort to gain the ad- 
 miration of the spectators. Looking and listen- 
 ing to such a speaker, with true discrimination, 
 one can see that he is saying too much, and that 
 he has in his mind 's eye, not the interest of his 
 client, but some one whose style and pose as an 
 orator he greatly admires; and is looking for- 
 ward to the day when he can equal, if not ex- 
 cel, him ; and that he is destined at some future 
 time to electrify and sway great audiences with 
 his matchless oratory. Fudge ! All such, talk 
 too much. 
 
'ri2 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 It is a fact, well known to all who have 
 given the matter study, that the speaker who, 
 without flourish or parade, comes to the sub- 
 ' ject-matter of his address at once, and who pre- 
 sents in a clear, concise and forceful manner, 
 the strong points in his argument, whose every 
 sentence strikes home : and who says just that 
 which is necessary, and no more, is always list- 
 ened to with pleasure ; while those of the 
 spread-eagle style, who are wont to indulge in 
 top-lofty flights of oratory, and in plucking 
 flowers from the region of fancy, instead of 
 relying upon sound logic and plain common 
 sense, soon tire their auditors hy talking too 
 much. 
 
 Now, I would not extinguish these brilliant, 
 but superficial lights; these versatile, but not 
 profound speakers; but instead, I would trim 
 them just a little, so they would emit less 
 smoke. At the proper time, and under proper 
 circumstances, a speech, perfumed with nose- 
 gays, and the culled flowers of rhetoric and 
 poesy, is to be enjoyed, but not at the expense 
 of the subject-matter of the address. If so, the 
 speaker makes the mistake of saying too much. 
 
 Nor does the evil stop here. The printing 
 press, in many instances, is converted into a 
 trumpet-tongued instrument, and is often made 
 to say too much. "When the public press is 
 made the means of the circulation of error. 
 
On Saying Too Much. 33 
 
 falsehood, slander, calumny, and vituperation, 
 it is made to say too much. 
 
 Let all, therefore, strive to arrest the evil. 
 Let all our public business speeches be short, 
 and to the point. Let the sermons in the pulpit, 
 too, point to Jesus Christ and Him crucified, 
 and not contain more than seventeen subdivi- 
 sions, and each ten minutes long. If so, one- 
 fourth of the audience will be asleep, one-half 
 the remainder in a state of comatose, languor 
 and ennui, and the residue thoroughly con- 
 vinced that the preacher is saying too much. 
 We once heard a sermon with thirty-two divi- 
 sions, and many of these were divided into the 
 infinitesimal. In this instance the preacher 
 certainly said too much. It were better to have 
 remembered what the wise man said : "A word 
 fitly spoken/' and not a volume of Avords, for 
 that would be talking too much. 
 
 In private conversation, much, of necessity, 
 will be said; but it should be better said than 
 it usually is. Let all remember that for every 
 idle and superfluous word, we must render an 
 account at the dread tribunal of the great Je- 
 hovah, and be careful and not say too much, for 
 the balances of God are not popular opinion, set 
 afloat by the babbling tribe, but are the princi- 
 ples of eternal Justice and Right. 
 
 (3) 
 
Chapter 3 
 
 AFTER DWELLING WITH THE CHEROKEE INDIANS FOR 
 A TIME, HOUSTON GOES TO TEXAS 
 
 THE separation of Houston and his wife, 
 without a word of explanation from 
 either, was startling in high degree ; and 
 to the death of both, no satisfactory explana 
 tion was ever given, that has reached the public 
 ear. The event having occurred in the very 
 midst of a political campaign, in which Houston 
 was a candidate for re-election to the office of 
 Governor, with a strong probability of being- 
 elected, added greatly to the mystery. 
 
 Some years ago while traveling in Tennessee 
 I obtained the following version of the matter, 
 which was corroborated to me at Lampasas. 
 Texas, by one of the old soldiers in attendance 
 at the reunion, above referred to, and is as fol- 
 lows : That on his returning home one evening 
 from his office in the Capitol at Nashville, Gov- 
 ernor Houston found his wife weeping, and 
 greatly depressed in feeling. Houston besought 
 her to tell him the cause. But she at first 
 declined to do so. 
 
 He said to her, "Tell me, and if it is in my 
 power to relieve your distress of mind, I will 
 do so, without regard to the suffering it may 
 
 -35- 
 
36 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 cost me." Mrs. Houston then said to her hus- 
 band, ''Mr. Houston, I married you under the 
 constraint of my parents and friends, when T 
 loved another. My thought then was that I 
 might in time come to forget him, and learn to 
 love, and to be to j^ou the devoted wife you 
 have a right to expect. Anything less would be 
 dishonorable in me. And while I respect you 
 highly, and feel that you have a bright future 
 before you, yet I am profoundly impressed with 
 the belief that I can never be to you the loving 
 and devoted wife I should be, and that you 
 would expect. This is the source of my grief 
 and distress of mind, and I am conscience 
 stricken that I lacked the fortitude and courage 
 to tell you sooner." 
 
 Silence, awful and profound, except by the 
 soul's convulsions in deep grief, now intensifies 
 the awful gloom of the Governor's home. Just 
 three months married to an excellent lady of 
 one of Tennessee's noble families, and unex- 
 pectedly confronted with this paralyzing and 
 reason-dethroning condition of marital rela- 
 tion, mental pangs, whose poignancy is now con- 
 vulsing the Governor and his wife to the limit 
 of human endurance, are plainly visible ; for in 
 their minds is raging a tempest of confused 
 thought and anguish that no tongue can fitly 
 describe, and often brings one to the precipice 
 over which reason plunges. 
 
Leave-Taking from J'irst Wife. 37 
 
 Remembering his promise, ''that if in his power 
 he would relieve her distress,'' Governor Houston 
 now rises to his feet, and with a depth of feel- 
 ing that no human being could fathom, he takes 
 his wife by the hand, and in a voice trembling 
 with emotion, he says: ''Eliza, this night 
 YOU SHALL BE FREE. ' ' He then made some hasty 
 preparation, left his home and went to the Gov- 
 ernor's office in the Capitol, wrote his resigna- 
 tion as Governor of Tennessee, and directed 
 it to the Secretary of State, and never met his 
 wife again. And as already stated, he at once 
 left Nashville, and for a time dropped into the 
 great unknown. When we next heard of him. 
 it was learned that he had gone and taken up 
 his abode with his old friends, the Cherokee 
 Indians, beyond the Mississippi. 
 
 When the news of the Governor's resignation 
 had spread, which it did like 'Svild fire," there 
 was the wildest excitement possible to conceive 
 of, and his opponents sent forth an explanatiou 
 of scandal ; and soon there were in circulation 
 the most outrageous reports of the matter ; and, 
 as is generally the case, the mystery surround- 
 ing it was interpreted at its worst. 
 
 As Governor Houston now took to drink, it 
 was, no doubt, as a result of this appalling 
 event in ^lis life; and he soon became greatly 
 dissipated. But nothing could ever be learned 
 from Houston as to the cause of the separation 
 
38 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 between himself and wife, even when he was 
 under the influence of drink ; and when he did 
 speak of her it was in the most respectful lan- 
 guage. On one occasion, J. H. Ragan (who was 
 Postmaster-General of the Confederacy, and 
 later, a United States Senator, with whom I 
 became acquainted while traveling in Texas, 
 and conversed with him upon the subject now 
 in hand) related to me that on one occasion 
 he called Houston's attention to a long account 
 of his separation from his wife which had just 
 been published. To this, Houston merely 
 replied, ''There has been much written about 
 that matter by men who know but little of it. 
 Tt is an absolute secret and will so remain." 
 
 During Houston's early residence in Texas, 
 he was without a settled home for a time, and 
 while spending some days with Colonel Sublet, 
 at San-Augustine, he came home one night very 
 greatly intoxicated, and had to be assisted to 
 his room. Thinking it a good opportunity to 
 obtain a knowledge of Houston's separation 
 from his wife, the Colonel began to question 
 him on the subject. This angered Houston, and 
 he refused longer to remain in a home that 
 would attempt to obtain a knowledge of his 
 secret while imder the influence of drink, which 
 he considered an ungentlemanly and^ dishonest 
 act. 
 
 The mist of secrecy, therefore, yet surrounds 
 
Resigns Governorship of Tennessee. 39 
 
 this matter in a large measure, and will, in all 
 probability, remain so to the latest ages, as the 
 characters therein have gone hence and are now 
 numbered with the pale-sheeted nations of the 
 dead. 
 
 When Houston separated from his wife he 
 disguised himself and took a boat on the Cum- 
 berland River at a point below Nashville, and 
 was not recognized on the way to the Indian 
 Territory, except by a friend, from whom he 
 secured a promise not to betray his identity or 
 location. The boat carried him to the mouth 
 of the Arkansas River, and from thence he 
 traveled by way of Little Rock to the mouth of 
 the Illinois Bayou, which flows into the Arkan- 
 sas, some thirty miles below Fort Gibson. There 
 was here a settlement of the Cherokee Indians, 
 who had settled there some years before this. 
 
 At the mouth of the Bayou was Tah-lan-tees- 
 kee, the principal town and council house of 
 the tribe, and the wigwam of Oo-loo-tee-kah ; 
 or, as he was better known by his English name, 
 John Jolley, who had received Houston into his 
 family when a boy in Tennessee, when he fled 
 from home, as narrated in a previous chapter. 
 John Jolley, the chief, gave Houston a cordial 
 welcome on his arrival back to the tribe. And 
 so Houston took up his residence with him, and 
 resumed his Indian name, Co-lon-neh, or, The 
 Raven. John Jollv is described as a man of 
 
40 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 great intelligence and force of character, and 
 was at this time about sixty, or more, years of 
 age. He lived in the patriarchal Indian fash- 
 ion, and he and Houston were many times seen 
 seated on the floor of their wigwam together 
 eating with their spoons from a vessel of 
 ka-nau-kee-na, or boiled hominy. 
 
 Houston lived with John Jolley for more than 
 a year, and was formally adopted as a member 
 of the tribe. On state occasions Houston 
 appeared in all his glory as an Indian brave, 
 for he yet retained his fondness for dress and 
 display on great days among the Indians, which 
 he had shown among the whites. It is said of 
 him that on August 2, 1827, when elected Gov- 
 ernor of Tennessee, that he wore a tall bell- 
 crowned, shining black beaver hat, shining 
 black patent-leather military cravat, with a 
 high standing collar; a ruffled shirt, black 
 satin vest, and a pair of shining black silk 
 pantaloons, gathered at the waist-band, with 
 full legs, — the same size from the seat to the 
 ankle — and with a gorgeous and a many-colored 
 Indian hunting shirt, covered with fancy bead- 
 work, and fastened at the waist hy a huge red 
 sash ; along with embroidered silk stockings, 
 and bright and shining shoes with silver buck- 
 les. Thus dressed, and mounted on a dappled- 
 gray horse, Houston appeared on the streets in 
 Nashville on the dav of his election as Governor 
 
Houston With Cherokee Indians. 41 
 
 of Tennessee ; and was, as well may be supposed, 
 the observed of all observers. 
 
 However fantastical Houston's appearance 
 may have been on the day of his election to the 
 governorship of the State, after his election and 
 inauguration, his practical good sense and 
 statesmanship was shown in the office of Gov- 
 ernor, and his administration was regarded as 
 successful in high degree. 
 
 While with the Indians, Houston has been 
 described as wearing, when in full dress, a white 
 hunting-shirt, brilliantly embroidered, along 
 with a pair of moccasins which were elaborately 
 worked with beads : and over all, a circulet of 
 turkey feathers around his head. And in addi- 
 tion to this, he let his hair grow, and wore it 
 in a long queue, which hung down his back. 
 
 Houston Avas not destined to sink out of sight, 
 and to disappear from public view, on account 
 of his misfortune in the separation from his 
 wife, even if he had gone to live among the 
 Indians. He was entirely too restless a spirit 
 for a humdrum life. And it having been re- 
 ported to President Jackson about this time 
 that Houston had designs of the conquest of 
 Texas, the President wrote him a very affec- 
 tionate letter, in which he dissuaded him from 
 such a "wild scheme." Whether Houston ever 
 had any such thought at this time does not cer- 
 tainly appear, and with his good sense I do not 
 
42 A Diamond jn the Rough. 
 
 believe that he had in contemplation any such 
 move, under the condition of matters at that 
 time. 
 
 Not long after the above nimor, Houston 
 reappeared in public life in an effort to have 
 redressed some of the wrongs inflicted upon the 
 Indians by the agents and contractors, who 
 were swindling them in an outrageous manner. 
 As an illustration, the Cherokees, who had been 
 induced to part with some of their lands on the 
 Lower Arkansas, were to receive twentj^-eight 
 dollars per capita of the population, in monej^ 
 which was never paid; only in trinkets, gew- 
 gaws, powder and whiskey, at fabulous prices. 
 
 These frauds and others aroused Houston's 
 indignation, and in 1830 he accompanied a dele- 
 gation of Cherokees to Washington, D. C, 
 where his representations and evidence resulted 
 in the removal of five Indian agents. This 
 caused a bitter fight in the Indian trust. But 
 in all these matters no breath of suspicion ever 
 attached to Plouston's name. And his whole 
 career is unstained by any charge of pecuniary 
 dishonesty or corruption in the matter. It is 
 further well known that while at the head of 
 affairs in Texas, that he put aside and refused 
 many temptations to accumulate a fortune 
 which were placed before him. 
 
 In 1832 Houston was again in Washington, 
 and while there a member of Cong'ress from 
 
Houston as Friend of Indians. 43 
 
 Ohio, by the name of Stanbury, in an attack 
 upon the Administration, referred to Houston 
 in a discreditable manner, which set him all 
 "on fire," which ended in a street fight on 
 Pennsylvania Avenue, where the two men came 
 together very unexpectedly, and were soon 
 engaged in a hard fight, as both men were 
 strong and athletic. Finally Houston succeeded 
 in knocking Stanbury down, and beating him 
 severely. As Stanbury lay on his back under 
 the blows of Hoviston, he drew a pistol and 
 would have killed him, but it snapped; and 
 Houston wrenched the gun from Stanbury and 
 threw it away. 
 
 The next day, as Houston had been a member 
 of Congress, Stanbury wrote the Speaker of the 
 House a letter, saying that he had been 
 assaulted by Houston the evening before for 
 words used in debate, and was confined to his 
 room, and asked that the information be laid 
 before the House. Houston was arrested by the 
 Sergeant-at-Arms, and taken before the bar of 
 the House. Houston unhesitatingly admitted 
 that he had assaulted and beat Stanbury, but 
 denied that the assault was a breach of the 
 privileges of the House. The trial lasted sev- 
 eral days, during which Houston made a most 
 wonderful and passionate speech, which bore 
 evidence of having been carefully prepared; 
 for it contained many allusions to Draco, Cali- 
 
44 A Diamond ix the Rough. 
 
 gula, and other classical figures, in the orator- 
 ical fashion of those days, and with a good 
 deal of high-flown and bombastic rhetoric; and 
 being delivered with such vigor and eloquence, 
 and coupled Avitli Houston's splendid physique 
 and commanding personality, it produced a 
 deeply sensational effect. 
 
 The following is a scrap of the speech : 
 ''If," said Houston, "in following the gen- 
 erous impulse of my heart, Avhen deeply 
 Avronged, I have violated the privilege of this 
 honorable body, I am willing to be adjudged 
 accordingly. ' ' 
 
 It appears that Stanbury had referred to 
 Houston as a "man of ruined fortune and 
 blasted reputation." To this Houston replied: 
 "Though the plowsliare of ruin and misfortune 
 has been drawn over me, and laid waste my 
 brightest hopes, yet I am proud to think that I 
 have under all circumstances endeavored to 
 maintain the laws of my country, and to sup- 
 port her institutions; and whatever may be 
 thought of me in the past, I am here to be tried 
 for a matter wholly disconnected from my for- 
 mer life ; and I have only to say to those who 
 rebuke me at this time, when they see adversity 
 sorely pressing me down, that my only answer 
 is. That I ask no sympathies, no need. The 
 thorns which I have reaped, are of the tree T 
 planted. They have torn me, and I bleed. " 
 
Difficulty With Member of Congress. 45 
 
 The effect of this speech may well be imag- 
 ined. It so mollified and softened the temper 
 of the House of Congress that the reprimand 
 inflicted by the Speaker was exceedingly mild, 
 and should have been, as in the eyes of Eternal 
 Right. And there is no doubt but Houston's 
 assault on Stanbury, in view of all the circum- 
 stances, increased his popularity. For on his 
 return to the Indian Territory through Ten- 
 nessee he received an ovation, and was pressed 
 to remain and re-enter public life again, but he 
 refused to remain in Tennessee. 
 
 There is no evidence that Houston ever 
 regretted the Stanbury occurrence. On the 
 contrary, in alluding to it he said: "I was 
 dying out, and had my enemies at Washington 
 taken me before a Justice of the Peace and had 
 me fined five or ten dollars for assault and bat- 
 tery, it would have been the end to me. But 
 they gave me the National Capitol for a court 
 room, and the Congress of the United States 
 for a tribunal, and that set me up again, and 
 gave me new life. ' ' 
 
 During Houston's residence in the Indian 
 Territory he fell in love with a Cherokee 
 woman, named Tyania Rogers. She was a half- 
 breed, of great personal beauty, and as tall and 
 handsome of build for a woman as Houston was 
 for a man. He made her his wife in Indian 
 fashion, and left the abode of his friend, John 
 
46 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 Jolley, and built him a log cabin on Grand 
 River, nearly opposite Fort Gibson. Here he 
 founded a small trading post, and combined 
 with it some stock raising. 
 
 Houston at this time had reached the lowest 
 depth of degradation in his personal habits. 
 His otherwise manly form was many times seen 
 stretched in a state of helpless intoxication. 
 One who was well acquainted with him said to 
 me that Houston at this time was marked by fits 
 of deep melancholy, which he would seek relief 
 from in liquor; and after the effect of it had 
 passed, he would for a time be cheerful again. 
 These fits of despondency were the consequence 
 of his sense of degradation and great mishap 
 in life, already referred to, and showed the 
 warrings of his better spirit. 
 
 That Houston was sincerely attached to his 
 Indian wife is proved by the fact that he sent 
 for her to join him after his removal to Texas ; 
 but she refused to leave her people, as no 
 Indian woman was ever known to do for a 
 "pale face" (except Pocahontas), and died a 
 few years afterward in the house which Hous- 
 ton had built as their home. No papoose ever 
 came to bless their union. 
 
 Houston was a sincere friend of the Chero- 
 kees, and procured the removal of many swin- 
 dling agents while living among them and per- 
 formed many valuable services for them while 
 
Houston's Fkiendship for the Indians. 47 
 
 in power in Texas, as well as while in the 
 United States Senate. When delegations of 
 the Cherokees were in Washington they were 
 always welcome to Houston's rooms at his 
 boarding place, and he spent some of his hap- 
 piest hours of evenings with them seated around 
 him on the floor in council, and in heart-to-heart 
 talks. 
 
 The men who were the early settlers in Texas 
 had, in many instances, traveled more than a 
 thousand miles with ox-teams from beyond the 
 Mississippi to the eastward, or from Missouri, 
 amid all the perils and hardships of the wilder- 
 ness, in crossing great stretches of prairie and 
 forest without a road or trail to mark the way. 
 And yet the fascination of this kind of life was 
 irresistible to those early pioneers. No age 
 could tame the spirit of adventure in these peo- 
 ple, but this state of things could not longer 
 last, and it was soon inevitable that the pouring 
 of Americans into Texas would arouse the jeal- 
 ousy of the Mexicans, and that a conflict of 
 races for supremacy would soon begin. 
 
 By the constitution of 1824, which made 
 Mexico a republic, Texas and Coahuila were 
 united into one province, and the capital estab- 
 lished at Saltillo, Mexico, near five hundred 
 miles from the center of the Texan colony. The 
 two colonies had no interests in common, as a 
 basis for union, — one being inhabited by Mexi- 
 
48 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 cans, and the other by Americans, for the most 
 part. And moreover, the g-overnment of the 
 united colonies was given into the hands of the 
 Mexicans of Coahuila, by allowing the Texans 
 but two representatives in the provincial assem- 
 bly. This was a great source of dissatisfaction 
 with the Texans, which was soon intensified by 
 the jealousy of the IMexican government be- 
 cause so many Americans were settling in 
 Texas. And when the United States proposed 
 to purchase Texas from Mexico, which was 
 made during the administration of President 
 Adams, and renewed under President Jackson, 
 the Texans were subjected to additional mis- 
 treatment. 
 
 In 1830 a revolution occurred in Mexico 
 which drove President Guerrero from i^ower. 
 It was Bustamente, the Vice-President, who 
 organized the revolution, and who was a tyrant 
 of the most pronounced type. He issued a 
 decree against the immigration of persons from 
 the United States into Texas. He also made 
 Texas a penal colony for criminals and con- 
 victs, something after the fashion of Siberia, by 
 Russia. Bustamente 's military commanders in 
 Texas soon made themselves obnoxious by 
 tyranny, and Colonel Bradburn, a renegade 
 from Virginia, who was in command of the 
 Mexicans at Anahuac, at the head of Galveston 
 Bay, proclaimed martial law\ This brought 
 forth a threat of resistance by the Texans, 
 
Houston Goes to Texas. 49 
 
 which led to a revocation of the order. Promi- 
 nent in the threat of resistance, was .W. B. 
 Travis, afterward the hero of the Alamo. 
 
 About this time news came to Texas that 
 Santa Anna had organized a revolt against 
 Bustamente, and in a short time Colonel Maxia 
 came among the Texans as the agent of Santa 
 Anna, and secured their support in his revolu- 
 tion. This agreement was entered into by the 
 Texans under tlje belief that Santa Anna would 
 restore the liberal constitution of 1824, and that 
 as a result Texas would enjoy self-government, 
 as a state in the Republic of Mexico. 
 
 At this juncture Sam Houston appears in 
 Texas, and that ambitious views respecting the 
 colony had been working in his mind at inter- 
 vals, in which his better spirit was stirring to 
 lift him out of the degradation in which he 
 then was, as a result of his marital infelicity 
 above referred to, there can be no doubt : For 
 there are evidences going to show that such a 
 scheme was in Houston 's mind, and that of some 
 of his friends during his Indian exile. And the 
 settlement of Texas by so many colonists from 
 the United States had created the belief that 
 Texas would ultimately come to be a part of 
 the Federal Union. And among the American 
 colonists in Texas there were many men of 
 ability, such as Dr. B. T. Archer, of Virginia, 
 who had intended joining Aaron Burr's effort 
 
 (4) 
 
50 A Diamond ik the Rough. 
 
 to found an empire in the Southwest, and had 
 moved to Texas. There were also in Texas at 
 this time the two BoAvies^ from Louisiana, who 
 were enterprising and resourceful adventurers. 
 Henry Smith, of Kentucky, was also there, who 
 afterwards w^as the first Secretary of the Treas- 
 ury under Governor Sam Houston. Thomas J. 
 Rush, of South Carolina, a protege of John C. 
 Calhoun, and many others, such as William H. 
 and John A. Wharton, of Virginia; the first, 
 the President of the convention which declared 
 the independence of Texas; and the second, a 
 brilliant soldier of San Jacinto, which secured 
 its independence. 
 
 As early as 1832, at a meeting in Nacog- 
 doches, it was proposed to invite Sam Houston, 
 then living with the Cherokee Indians, to come 
 to Texas and take the lead in a movement for 
 its liberation from Mexico. And in a short time 
 thereafter, Houston landed in Texas with a 
 commission from President Jackson to arrange 
 treaties with the Comanche, and other wild 
 tribes of Indians for the protection of the 
 American settlers. And there was, no doubt, 
 a secret understanding for Houston to investi- 
 gate the conditions of the country and the abil- 
 ity of the people to throw off Mexican author- 
 ity. To this end Houston w^as furnished with 
 a pass from the War Department recommend- 
 ing him to the friendship and good will of all 
 
Incidents of Houston's Trip to Texas. 51 
 
 the Indian tribes he might visit. To say the 
 least of it, the incidents last above named show 
 the trend of thought respecting the annexation 
 of Texas. 
 
 As all is never gloom and discouragement to 
 a high spirited man, such as Houston, although 
 at times he may be ou his back in the slough 
 and valley of despond, so there are some amus- 
 ing and ludicrous incidents related of Hous- 
 ton's trip from the Indian Territory, — where 
 had been his home with the Cherokees for 
 ii time — to Texas. In making the trip Hous- 
 ton was accompanied by Major Arnold Harris, 
 w^io afterward related the story of the trip, as 
 follows : ' ' Houston was decked out in his best, 
 and being of fine build, he was dubbed by the 
 people along the way as 'the fine Arkansaw^ 
 gentleman. ' 
 
 "Houston was mounted on a small bobtailed 
 Indian pony, that was not very tall, and much 
 out of proportion to Houston 's height, — six feet 
 and three inches — which let his feet in the 
 stirrups drop to its knees. The ludicrousness 
 of this was not only amusing to Houston, at 
 first, and those he met on the journey, but 
 downright annoying, at times. Soon, the amus- 
 ing phase of the situation disappeared, leaving 
 the repelling ones growing. Finally Houston 
 could stand it no longer, and began the use of 
 some heterodox expletives; and his whole con- 
 
52 A DiAMUxND L.\ Tiii: Rough. 
 
 versation soon turned to the ignoble appearance 
 lie would make when he should arrive in Texas. 
 And so he appealed to Major Harris to swap 
 his fine large horse for the pony until the trip 
 was completed. Said Houston, "This shocking 
 and dreadful looking bobtailed pony is a dis- 
 grace. It is continually fighting the flies, and 
 has no means of protecting itself from the flies 
 without a tail, and its kicks and contortions 
 render me ridiculous. I shall be the laughter 
 of all Texas on my arrival. I require a steed in 
 keeping with his master, with head up, a rich 
 flowing mane and tail, and gorgeously capar- 
 isoned." 
 
 The horses were exchanged, and as Houston 
 and his friend were to part company for a time, 
 a little present (a small razor) was handed to 
 Houston by Major Arnold Harris, as a memento 
 of their journey. On receiving the razor, Hous- 
 ton said: "God bless you, my dear Major. 
 When you next see this razor it will be shaving 
 the President of a Republic." Positively pro- 
 phetical, this was. 
 
 Houston first went to Nacogdoches, and 
 thence with James Bowie to San Antonio. 
 Bowie at this time w^as a prominent figure in 
 Texas affairs, and introduced Houston to the 
 Mexican Governor of the State, Veramendi, 
 Avho was the father-in-law of Bowie. Houston 
 was well received bv the Mexicans in Texas, 
 
Houston's Report on Texas Matters. 
 
 53 
 
 Soon after this he returned to Nacogdoches, 
 and thence to Natchitoches, Louisiana, whence 
 he sent a report of his councils with the Indians 
 to the War Department at Washington, D. C. 
 and the following patriotic letter to President 
 Jackson, his warm and true friend. 
 
 ''I have," says Houston, "traveled as far as 
 Bexar in the province of Texas, and have 
 gained some information which I think will 
 interest you, and may strengthen your views, 
 if you should entertain any, touching the acqui- 
 sition of Texas by the United States Govern- 
 ment. That such is desired by a very large 
 portion of the population of Texas, I feel 
 assured. Being without laws to protect them, 
 and Mexico involved in war, the people of 
 Texas are determined to form a State govern- 
 ment, and be separated from Coahuila; and 
 unless Mexico is soon restored to order, and the 
 constitution of 1824 re-enacted, the province of 
 Texas will remain separate from Mexico. She 
 has already driven the Mexican troops from 
 her soil, and will not permit them to return. 
 Texas needs money, which will render its trans- 
 fer to some power inevitable. England is now 
 pressing for it, but its citizens will resist, if 
 transfer is attempted to any power but the 
 United States. My opinion is, that by the first 
 of April all of Texas proper will form a State 
 constitution. I expect to be at the convention, 
 and will inform you of the course adopted." 
 
54 A Diamond in the Rough, 
 
 ''My Dear Mr. President, I have with pride 
 and much satisfaction seen your proclamation 
 touching: the nullifiers of South Carolina. And 
 may God grant that you may preserve the 
 Union ! It appears to me that it is reserved to 
 you to render this great blessing to millions 
 yet unborn. All voices commend your course: 
 and especially in Texas, where the preserva- 
 tion of the Great Republic is so important to 
 the people, they are strong in your praise. 
 Permit me to tender to you my sincere thanks 
 and most earnest solicitation for your health 
 and happiness, and your future glory, con- 
 nected with the prosperity of the Union. 
 
 ''Your friend and obedient servant. 
 
 Sam Houston." 
 
 Although not of the Jackson party, being of 
 Whig ancestry, yet the patriotic spirit breathed 
 in the above calls forth from me my heart's 
 approval beyond my ability in words to ade- 
 quately express. 
 
 In a short time Houston returned to Nacog- 
 doches, and was soon with the men who were 
 interesting themselves for Texas independence 
 from Mexico. About this time an English trav- 
 eler came to Nacogdoches, and met Houston, 
 and says of him in a little book which he wrote : 
 "I had no desire to remain long at the place. 
 General Houston was there, leading a mysteri- 
 ous sort of life, shut up in a small tavern, seeing 
 
Houston in Nacogdoches, Texas. 55 
 
 nobody by day, and sitting up all night. But 
 I have been in communication with too many 
 persons and seen too much to be ignorant that 
 the place was the rendezvous of the men who 
 were playing a much bigger game than roulette 
 or faro." 
 
 The war between Santa Anna and Busta- 
 mente ended in a compromise, by placing Presi- 
 dent Pedraza in power. Following which Santa 
 Anna retired to his estate near Vera Cruz. In 
 a short time Pedraza 's term of office expired, 
 and Santa Anna was elected President without 
 opposition, March 29th, 1833. 
 
 Antonio Lopes de Santa Anna was a most 
 remarkable figure in the history of the Western 
 World. And his long period in the eyes of the 
 public embraced every variety of fortune, from 
 the expulsion of the Spaniards in 1821 to the 
 overthrow of Maximilian 's empire in 1866, when 
 General Grant sent "an army of observation" 
 to the Rio Grande. Up to the invasion of Texas 
 in 1835, Santa Anna had been successful in a 
 remarkable degree, and claimed the title of the 
 ''Napoleon of the West;" but he had not yet 
 met American blood in battle, which he soon 
 did. 
 
 About this time the government of the State 
 of Coahuila, Texas being a part of it, was in a 
 condition of anarchy, which left the colonists 
 of Texas without the semblance of a govern- 
 
56 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 ment. In June of this year a mass meeting was 
 held at San Filipe, and an address issued, call- 
 ing upon the people of Texas to arouse them- 
 selves to resistance. And on the 2nd of Octo- 
 ber, 1835, occurred the first clash of arms in 
 the War for Texas Independence. Colonel 
 Ugortchea, the Mexican commander of some 
 troops at Bexar, sent a demand to the people 
 of Gonzales for a six-pounder cannon which had 
 been furnished them for defense against the 
 Indians. The demand was refused, and the war 
 began. 
 
 Now, it is not my purpose to trace minutely 
 the history of the War for Texan Independence, 
 further than to note the part borne by Sam 
 Houston, as it is of him that I am writing. The 
 reader will therefore not expect much of detail, 
 except in the more important battles. 
 
 When circulated, the news of the battle at 
 Gonzales kindled the war spirit of the Texans 
 into a flame. Meetings were held everywhere 
 and companies formed. At a general meeting 
 of committees from different sections of East- 
 ern Texas, at Nacogdoches, October 5th, at 
 which Houston and many other leaders were 
 present, Houston was elected Commander-in- 
 Chief of the forces in Eastern Texas, and at 
 once began organizing and forwarding volun- 
 teers to points where needed. 
 
 On October 8th, was gathered a convention 
 
Commander-in-Chief of Texas Forces. 57 
 
 of citizens at San Pilipe which formed a tem- 
 porary government by electing a council of 
 representatives from each municipality. R. R. 
 Royal was made President of the Council. Hav- 
 ing received the call for help at San Augustine, 
 Houston took out the last five-dollar bill he had 
 and gave it to the messenger whom he sent to 
 summons the citizens to arms. It was desired 
 to capture San Antonio as quickly as possible 
 before it could be reinforced from Mexico, or 
 other troops then in Tex'as, as it was an im- 
 portant point. To this end, therefore, rein- 
 forcements were being pushed to San Antonio 
 as rapidly as possible. Among the arrivals of 
 troops came Houston at the head of a contin- 
 gent. San Antonio at this time contained a 
 population of about 2,500. 
 
 After a siege of nearly a month the Mexicans 
 surrendered without much fighting, and on De- 
 cember 14th, General Cos, with 1120 paroled 
 Mexicans departed for the Rio Grande. Twen- 
 ty-one pieces of artillery, and a large quantity 
 of small arms and ammunition fell into the 
 hands of the Texans. 
 
 As there was now no prospect of any fighting 
 for some time, many of the soldiers were per- 
 mitted to return to their homes. And the mem- 
 bers of the convention to organize a civil gov- 
 ernment at once met at, San Filipe, with B. F. 
 Archer as President, and proceeded to the com- 
 
58 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 pletion of the organization. The sessions were 
 held in a small frame house, with one room 
 only, and without ceiling or plaster. The dele- 
 gates slept a nj^ where, from wood-shed to garret. 
 Houston still wore his Indian dress of blanket 
 and buckskin. In replying to some criticisms 
 of Houston's untidiness, when in the field, and 
 away from female society, Andrew Jackson 
 said: ''I thank God there is one man In Texas 
 whom the Almighty had the making of, and not 
 the tailors." 
 
 The convention appointed a committee to 
 draft a declaration of reasons why Texas 
 assumed the attitude of revolt against Mexico, 
 which were approved by the convention, and 
 closed as follows : ' ' These declarations we sol- 
 emnly avow to the world, and call God to wit- 
 ness their truth and sincerity ; and we invoke 
 defeat and disgrace upon our heads should we 
 prove guilt}^ of duplicity. ' ' 
 
 The affairs of Texas at this time were getting 
 into a deplorable condition. Confusion border- 
 ing on anarchy, reigned everywhere. The Gov- 
 ernor and Council of the provisional government 
 were not working in harmony. There was still 
 a party in Texas in favor of peaceful measures, 
 but a large majority were in favor of absolute 
 independence'; and for a time it seemed that 
 Houston had lost his control. After the capture 
 of San Antonio, certain turbulent spirits wanted 
 
Houston 's Gbeat Power as an Orator. 59 
 
 to project a campaign into Mexico. This was 
 opposed by Houston. Some of the restless and 
 ambitious adventurers who were giving trouble, 
 called a meeting at vSan Filipe, and attempted 
 to break up the provisional government. 
 
 Here again Houston demonstrated the power 
 of his impassioned and forceful eloquence upon 
 the turbulent spirits of the gathering. Houston 
 obtained permission to address the meeting, and 
 then pointed out the folly of discord in a crisis 
 when their liberties were at stake. Said he: 
 ' ' The provisional government was instituted by 
 the sovereign will of the people, and to dissolve 
 it at this time and plunge the country into 
 anarchy would be worse than treason. ' ' Draw- 
 ing himself to his full height, and pointing his 
 finger at Baker, the prime mover in the trouble, 
 Houston said: "I had rather be a slave, and 
 grovel in the dust all my life, than to be a con- 
 victed felon." This referred to an event in 
 Baker's past life, and although he was a brave 
 man, he w^as thoroughly cowled, and attempted 
 to excuse himself by saying that others had 
 inspired his action. 
 
 During these troubles, Houston addfressed 
 letters to Governor Smith and the Council, call- 
 ing attention to the necessity of more activity 
 in the organization of the army, as the Mexicans 
 in large force would soon advance for the sub- 
 jugation of Texas. But the Governor and 
 
60 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 Council were wrangling over the distribution 
 of the offices, and took no measures for the 
 defense of the country. These quarrels between 
 the Governor and the Council paralyzed Hous- 
 ton's efforts, and prevented the organization of 
 a sufficient force to repel Santa Anna 's expected 
 invasion, which would, in all probability, strike 
 San Antonio first. Houston was profoundly 
 affected by such conduct, which threatened the 
 destruction of Texas, and wrote the Governor 
 the following letter : 
 
 ^'Headquarters, Army in the Field, 
 
 January 6th, 1836. 
 *'My Dear Governor: 
 
 "May I be permitted to hope that you will in 
 person see all the officers of government and 
 adopt some course that will redeem our country 
 from such a state of deplorable anarchy as now 
 seems to reign. Manly and bold decision alone 
 can save us from ruin. If the government 
 yields to the unholy dictation of speculators 
 and marauders upon human rights, it were bet- 
 ter that we had yielded to the despotism of 
 Santa Anna at the start. The brave men who 
 have been wounded in the battles of Texas, and 
 the feick, are "without blankets or supplies, and 
 are left to suffer in hospitals as the result of 
 strife and contention among officials. No lan- 
 guage can express the anguish of my soul. 
 
Houston's Influence With Indians. 61 
 
 For God's sake I ask that supplies be sent to 
 the sick, the wounded, the naked and the hun- 
 gry of our soldiers. What will the world think 
 of the authorities in Texas"? Decided and 
 prompt action alone can save our country. 
 
 Very truly, 
 
 Sam Houston. ' ' 
 
 During the troubles above described, and as a 
 result of them, the Indian tribes all through 
 Eastern Texas became turbulent and threaten- 
 ing. Houston, by reason of his influence with 
 the Indians, had to leave his post at the head 
 of the military and go among the Indians and 
 quiet them, which he did. 
 
 While the government of Texas was in the 
 foregoing condition of confusion and anarchy, 
 Santa Anna was making thorough preparation 
 for the subjugation of Texas, and was concen- 
 trating troops at Saltillo. And the troops thus 
 gathered were all veterans and the best disci- 
 plined in the Mexican army. Early in Febru- 
 ary, Santa Anna, with 4,500 men, began his 
 march on San Antonio, a distance of 600 miles 
 away. It was yet winter, and piercing "north- 
 ers" occasionally swept down upon the troops 
 with great severity. As was the custom with 
 Mexican armies, many wives of the soldiers and 
 camp followers accompanied the troops. As 
 the greater portion of the country through 
 
62 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 which the army had to pass was without for- 
 age for teams or supplies for men, there being 
 but few inhabitants along the way, supplies 
 fell short, and the army was reduced to half 
 rations. The animals, — horses and work oxen — 
 died in great numbers. But the energy of 
 Santa Anna was sufficient for anything in the 
 range of human power, and the army was 
 Avhipped along. On February 22nd Santn 
 Anna's army reached the vicinity of San Anto- 
 nio, with some 4,500 men, including artillery 
 and cavalry. 
 
 The garrison was taken by surprise, as there 
 were no outposts or pickets on duty, and hastily 
 retreated across the river to the Alamo. In 
 their retreat the garrison picked up some forty 
 or fifty cattle which were grazing in the river 
 bottoms, and drove them into the plaza of the 
 fortress. Santa Anna immediately sent a flag, 
 and demanded the surrender of the Alamo. 
 Travis, who was in command, met the flag and 
 refused. 
 
 The Alamo mission was established in 1722, 
 by French friars, from the college at Queretaro. 
 The^ chapel faces the west, and its front is 
 decorated with carvings and stone images. It 
 being impossible to defend all the space of the 
 Alamo with the small garrison at Colonel 
 Travis' command, the defense was mainly made 
 in the chapel and convent. 
 
Alamo Besieged by Sakta Anna. i-;;^ 
 
 On February 24th, 1836, Colonel Travis sent 
 the following appeal to the citizens of Texas 
 for assistance : 
 
 "Fellow citizens and compatriots, — I ai)i 
 besieged in the Alamo by Santa Anna with a 
 large force, that has bombarded me incessantly 
 for twenty-four hours. The enemy have 
 demanded surrender. I answered the summons 
 with a cannon shot. Our flag proudly waves 
 from the walls. I shall neither surrender nor 
 retreat, and call on you, in the name of liberty, 
 of patriotism, and everything dear to the Amer- 
 ican heart, to come to our aid with all dispatch. 
 I am determined to defend the place as long as 
 possible, and then die like a soldier \tho never 
 forgets what is due to his own honor, and that 
 of his country. Signed : 
 
 William B. Travis. 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Commanding. " 
 
 (Continued on page 7f>.) 
 
Chapter 4 
 
 WHAT I THINK OF FLORIDA 
 
 OME years ago, in 1892 and '3, whilst travel- 
 ing in Florida, a friend wrote me and asked 
 for a description of the State, and the rela- 
 tive per cent, of population, as between the 
 white and colored races. Answering which 1 
 wrote the following : 
 
 You speak of me as being in a very interest- 
 ing portion of our country in respect to physical 
 features, and its history, climate and popula- 
 tion. As to population, and your questions 
 respecting which, I will say the negroes out- 
 number the whites, but not to the extent that 
 your letter indicates. Just what the per cent, 
 of each is, I can not learn with certainty, as 
 books are not plentiful, and no one seems to 
 know. 
 
 I have now traveled the State of Florida 
 pretty well over, having been in Pensacola, 
 Tallahassee, Jacksonville, Oealla, Sanford, Or- 
 lando, Tampa, Kissimmee and St. Augustine, 
 which includes the leading towns and cities, 
 which are located in the best portions of the 
 State, and I cannot say that I am greatly 
 pleased with it. 
 
 (5) -65- 
 
66 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 Florida is a pine-covered and sandy region, 
 and too poor to be productive without constant 
 fertilization. The climate of the central portion 
 of Florida is all that one could desire. And 
 although this is regarded by the natives as a 
 very cold winter, yet the mercury has been 
 below the freezing point but three times, and 
 then only down to twenty-eight above. Yester- 
 day — February 4th — the mercury was up to 
 eighty-two in the shade. 
 
 The whole truth in a nutshell about Florida 
 is, that ninety-five per cent, is climate, and the 
 remaining five would not be endured long, were 
 it not for the salubrious climate. As a vegeta- 
 ble producing country Florida is not a success, 
 is the consensus of opinion of those who have 
 attempted it as a business, and I have conversed 
 with many. When corn is attempted to be 
 raised, ten bushels is accounted a fair crop per 
 acre. The fact that flower beds and rose bushes, 
 even on fresh ground, have to be fertilized to 
 the highest degree shows the poverty of the 
 soil. Outside of the orange and cabbage cul- 
 ture no crops can be made to pay in Florida: 
 and there are those who insist that the orange 
 is not a paying crop. Had it not been for East- 
 ern capitalists who had money to expend lav- 
 ishly, who came here and undertook to make 
 something of Florida, the State would not be 
 considered as amounting to very much. 
 
The Authob's Tbavbls in Florida. 67 
 
 There are now stopping at the Tropical 
 Hotel in Kissimmee a number of Eastern people, 
 who are here for the winter, who say that mil- 
 lions of money have been spent to make some- 
 thing of Florida, which has all been lost. Mr. 
 George W. Good, the proprietor of the Tropical 
 Hotel in Kissimmee, where we are stopping, 
 owns an orange grove which at one time sold 
 for thirty -nine thousand dollars, for which he 
 paid twenty thousand, and which he is now try- 
 ing to sell for two thousand dollars. 
 
 Orlando, which some Indianians consider the 
 Eden of Florida, is not doing one-half the busi- 
 ness which it did six years ago. In short, the 
 bubble has burst, and men are not throwing 
 their money aw^ay on Florida as they did a few 
 years ago. 
 
 Historically speaking, Florida is great, and 
 can boast of age, having been discovered three 
 hundred and eighty-one years ago, by Ponce de 
 Leon, and contains the oldest city in the United 
 States, which was founded in 1564; and yet 
 there is but little outside of St. Augustine to 
 interest the traveler. To see St. Augustine thor- 
 oughly, one must spend several days viewing 
 the old buildings, narrow streets, overhanging 
 balconies, and its lovely orange and palm 
 groves, which make the *' Ancient City" truly 
 a tropical paradise. No city on earth of its 
 size can boast of as many palatial hotels as St. 
 
68 A Diamond in thb Rough. 
 
 Augustine, with their world renowned baths 
 and flora'] gardens, which make the city the 
 wonder and delight of the age, chief among 
 which are the Ponce de Leon, the Alcazar, The 
 Cordova, and The Magnolia. 
 
 While at St. Augustine some time ago I vis- 
 ited all through and about old Fort "Marion", 
 which was commenced to be builded in August 
 1565, and is therefore near three hundred and 
 twenty-eight years old. No fortress in all our 
 land has so many quaint legends as this thrice- 
 named structure, — San Juan de Pinos, San 
 Marco, and Marion. Its name was changed 
 from San Marco to Marion, January 7th, 1825, 
 in honor of General Francis Marion of the Rev- 
 olution War. 
 
 From the commencement to the completion of 
 the old fort was a period of one hundred and 
 ninety-one years ; and it cost the Spanish Gov- 
 ernment over thirty-one million dollars. It is 
 a noble structure, and requires one hundred 
 cannon and one thousand three hundred men 
 to equip it, and has never been taken by storm 
 or siege, although many times attempted. No 
 one who has not visited the old fortress can con- 
 ceive what it is, and should by twilight view the 
 peculiar shadows cast on its aged and gray 
 walls from surrounding objects ; or from its 
 lofty watch tower see the moon rise out of the 
 broad Atlantic, as it casts a flood of burnished 
 
St. Augustine, Florida. 69 
 
 silver light over the water, as on the evening of 
 my visit, to fully comprehend and appreciate 
 
 it. 
 
 In 1821, on the transfer of Florida to the 
 United States, the standard of Spain, which had 
 been raised over St. Angnstine two hundred and 
 fifty-six years before, was lowered forever from 
 the walls over which it had so long waved, and 
 the Stars and Stripes rose where, sooner or later 
 the hand of destiny would have placed them. 
 True it is, that old Fort San Juan de Pinos, 
 then Fort San Marco, and now Fort Marion, is 
 the only place on this continent that takes us 
 back to the feudal ages, and on its broad ter- 
 replein is one of the finest promenades in the 
 United States, where one may muse o'er the 
 early history of our country, with which it 
 stands so intimately connected. 
 
 In respect of the physical features of Florida, 
 all through the southern arm of the State, from 
 Palatka to Lake Okeechobee, a distance of some 
 two hundred miles, and extending nearly from 
 the Gulf to the Atlantic, there abound a great 
 number of lakes, some small and others large. 
 From this fact one would naturally conclude 
 that this section is the lowest portion of the 
 State, and yet it is the highest, being some 
 sixty-five feet above the sea level here at Kiss- 
 immee, and slightly higher at Orlando, twenty 
 miles to the north of us. Fifty miles to the 
 
70 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 southeast of this place is ''Lake Sawgrass, " 
 the head of the St. John 's River. 
 
 In the letter received, I was asked if the town 
 of Kissimmee was not on Lake Kissimmee. It 
 is on the northwest shore of Lake Tohopekaligo. 
 the waters of which drain into Lake Cypress, 
 thence into Lake Kissimmee, thence down the 
 Kissimmee River to Lake Okeechobee, and 
 thence to the Gulf, in a southwest direction, 
 north of the Everglades, and through the Caloo- 
 sahatchee River. 
 
 Many of the lakes in Florida are full of fish, 
 and we have been having some fine sport catch- 
 ing them in Lake Tohopekaligo, which is about 
 three miles wide by ten long, and distant from 
 the Tropical Hotel, where I am boarding, about 
 two hundred yards. We go out upon the lake 
 in a row boat, from which we fish with long 
 cane reeds and lines, with which we can throw 
 our hooks from thirty to forty feet out from the 
 boat, and when we get a bass or trout hooked 
 it is great sport getting them into the boat. 
 Th6 fish caught usually vary in size from one to 
 fifteen pounds, and occasionally a larger one is 
 caught which will weigh as high as twenty or 
 more. 
 
 All that portion of Florida east, south and 
 southeast, of Kissimmee, except along the 
 Tampa Bay, is a wilderness wild, in which there 
 
Fishing in Lake Tohopekaligo. 71 
 
 are panther, deer, bears, catamounts and wild 
 cats, and a remnant of the Seminole Indians. 
 
 There has scarcely been a day since I came 
 here, the 28th of November last, that venison 
 has not been on the table. If nothing happens 
 to prevent, I am going with a hunting party 
 down through the system of lakes, spoken of 
 above, to a point about one hundred miles south 
 of this, next week. We will go by boat, — a 
 small steamboat — and will land and hunt where 
 and when, as we ma}^ think best. 
 
 While for the most part Florida is covered 
 with pine, not thickly, but sparsely, there are 
 in addition, some cypress swamps, and occa- 
 sionally hummocks, which are thickly covered 
 with live oak, which are low and scrubby, and 
 covered with Spanish moss. These are usually 
 full of squirrels. 
 
 Of all the tropical plants or trees which I 
 have seen since coming to Florida, none attracts 
 my attention like the palm tree, or cabbage 
 palm. It is called the cabbage palm because it 
 resembles the cabbage in some respects. It is 
 a tree, without limbs, and when it starts from 
 the ground the top at the end of the first year 
 of its growth, is as large as it ever becomes, 
 and the body, or trunk, as large in diameter. 
 The only change which the tree undergoes in 
 growing, is extension of trunk. As the tree 
 
72 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 grows taller, the leaves, which resemble cabbage 
 leaves, shed off and leave the body smooth and 
 straight and of uniform size. To see one of 
 these trees, some sixty feet high, with a body 
 the same in size all the way up, with no limbs, 
 and a top in shape like a cabbage head, is truly 
 wonderful. 
 
 When speaking of the lakes of Florida, I 
 failed to mention, which I will do here, that the 
 water in them is always remarkably clear. 
 This is also true of all the rivers and streamlets 
 in the State. It is a mistake to suppose that 
 because Florida is celebrated as the home of 
 the alligator, that its waters are stagnant and 
 murky. With the exception of a certain dis- 
 coloration which comes from decaying leaves 
 and grass, the water is exceedingly clear, for 
 there is no clay or earth substance to render 
 them murky — all being sand. 
 
 Like the ''poor Indian" and buffalo of the 
 ** Western plains", the alligator's days seem 
 numbered. Since their skins have become valu- 
 able they have fast disappeared. To hunt them 
 is a lazy man's delight, which is done with a 
 row boat and torch by night, and while lying 
 upon the water with their eyes blinded by the 
 glare of the light, they are easily shot, for while 
 thus dazzled and dazed they move not. It is 
 quite impossible to kill an alligator with a gun, 
 except at short range, and then by shooting 
 
The Alligator Industry. 73 
 
 them in the front part of the head, which is the 
 more easily done from a row boat when their 
 eyes are dazzled with a bright light. And more- 
 over, the scales of an alligator will glance a 
 small bnllet, and to kill them with large or small 
 ones injures the value of the hides by perforat- 
 ing them with apertures or holes. 
 
Chapter 5 
 
 "THE LONE STAR STATE" OF TEXAS, AND A THRILL- 
 ING EVENT IN ITS .history; "THE SIEGE 
 OF THE ALAMO" 
 
 ON THE completion of my revenue work in 
 Louisiana at the close of January, 1892, 
 I was directed by the authorities at 
 Washington, D. C, to proceed to Texas, which 
 L did; and after visiting Beaumont, Houston, 
 Galveston and Austin, I went to San Antonio ; 
 and afterward traveled the State all over, from 
 end to end, including the western "wilds." 
 
 After traveling the State of Texas all over, 
 I esteemed San Antonio by far the most inter- 
 esting city in the State, which had at the time 
 of my visit in '92 a population of 41,300, and 
 was founded in September, 1692, and is there- 
 fore at the present time more than two hundred 
 years old; and for more than a generation it 
 had stood amidst the lashing and seething 
 waves of two great opposing races and civiliza- 
 tions. Over the western prairies, moving north- 
 eastward from Mexico, had crept the Latin- 
 Indian or Mexican tide of civilization, which 
 had met at this point in Texas the ever restless 
 Anglo-Saxon flood, which was pushing its way 
 
 -76- 
 
76 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 westward. Both floods still remain, but the 
 races composinf^ them now commingle harmoni- 
 ously. San Antonio, therefore, boasts an his- 
 toric past, and traces of the struggles through 
 which she has passed are everywhere present in 
 the city, in spite of its new face and smile of 
 prosperity. 
 
 The quaint customs and traditions of the past 
 are quickly seen and recognized by the scru- 
 tinizing and enquiring stranger's eye. With a 
 jealous remembrance of the part their fathers 
 took in the struggles of the past, the San Anto- 
 nians seem to me to walk with a step that 
 bespeaks tradition, and a pride of country and 
 of ancestry ; and also with a demeanor which 
 says to strangers : ' * Sirs, we have a history : 
 study it, it will repay you, and you will then 
 know why we follow customs that you would 
 not, and why we do many things which you 
 would not do. ' ' 
 
 From any angle of vision by which a thought- 
 ful mind may view San Antonio, it bristles with 
 startling contrasts. Its history, climate, archi- 
 tecture, customs, population and costumes, to 
 say nothing of the different races composing 
 its heterogeneous population, all attracts a 
 stranger's attention, either by force of singu- 
 larity, or because of odd juxtaposition. 
 
 Of the many places of attraction about the 
 city, the Alamo leads the list in point of inter- 
 
San Antonio and the Alamo. 77 
 
 est, for it is a shrine before which every visitor 
 to San Antonio bows; for who has not heard 
 of David Crockett, and the "Massacre of the 
 Alamo." Although when a boy I had read a 
 description of the Alamo, and the massacre, yet 
 it had almost faded from my mind, and on my 
 arrival in San Antonio I was in a measure for- 
 getful of its historical prominence. But ere 
 I was in the city many hours, I descried at a 
 distance upon what appeared to be an old ruin, 
 the name "Alamo, ' ' in large letters. I stopped, 
 looked and pondered, and after a moment's 
 dive into the archives of the innermost recesses 
 of my recollection, I drew therefrom an account 
 of the slaughter of the Alamo, where 176 brave 
 Texans were massacred, all but one, after de- 
 fending themselves against the assaults of Santa 
 Anna and four thousand Mexican soldiers for 
 ten days and nights, during Texas' struggle for 
 independence from Mexico. 
 
 That this description may not extend itself 
 to undue length, I will pretermit mention of 
 other objects of attraction about the city of San 
 Antonio, and write alone of the Alamo. 
 
 In 1835, General Santa Anna overthrew the 
 republican government of Mexico, and violated 
 her constitution. Texas at that time belonged 
 to Mexico, and this instrument the Texan colo- 
 nists had sworn to support. The people of 
 Texas, although numbering less than a hundred 
 
78 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 thousand, resolved on resistance. San Antonio 
 having been the first to show resistance, a Mex- 
 ican force was garrisoned in the town for its 
 defense. Texas at once raised a body of men 
 who drove the Mexicans out, and took posses- 
 sion of the place on the 14th of December, 1835. 
 When Santa Anna heard of the surrender of 
 San Antonio to the Texans, he was wild with 
 rage, and resolved that he would never rest 
 until San Antonio was humbled in the dust. 
 
 After the capture of San Antonio by the 
 Texan army, many of the soldiers were per- 
 mitted to return to their homes. At the time, 
 therefore, of Santa Anna's advance against the 
 place, it was defended by but a handful of men 
 — 144 in number. Knowing the place to be 
 poorly garrisoned, and not being able to rein- 
 force it. General Sam Houston ordered the town 
 abandoned. The order was disobeyed by the 
 heroic men who held it, and they resolved to 
 defend the place to the last. 
 
 Among the little band of Texans who thus 
 resolved, were Travis, Bowie, (of bowie knife 
 fame) Crockett, and Bonham, — four names that 
 will be cherished in Texas for ages to come. 
 On the approach of the Mexican army the little 
 band withdrew from the outer works to the 
 Alamo. To understand what follows, a descrip- 
 tion of the Alamo is necessary. Soon after the 
 French settled this part of Texas, the Alamo 
 
The Siege oj' the Alamo. 79 
 
 was built as a place of protection and safety 
 for the settlers and their property, in case of 
 Indian hostilities. 
 
 The chapel of the fortress is seventy-five feet 
 long, sixty-two feet wide, and twenty-two and 
 one-half feet high, and is of solid stone masonry, 
 four feet thick. The roof, (that portion under 
 roof) at the time -of the siege, was also of solid 
 stone masonry, and arched. The building was 
 therefore constructed entirely of stone and 
 cement, with no lioor but the earth, and was a 
 one-stoiy structure, as at present, with upper 
 windows and portholes, underneath of which 
 were platforms for the garrison to fire from. 
 
 Such, in brief, was the Alamo, when, on the 
 6th of March, 1836, it yielded to the assaults of 
 Santa Anna's army, and its garrison of brave 
 men were massacred. Not through all the ages, 
 since the defense of Thermopylae by Leonidas, 
 has there been anything to compare with the 
 defense of the Alamo. During the night of the 
 first day of the siege. Colonel Travis, who was 
 in command, sent a messenger for reinforce- 
 ments, but not until just before the break of 
 day on the morning of the seventh, did any ar- 
 rive, and then only thirty-two, which brought 
 the number of the garrison up to 176 brave and 
 determined men, who perished, all but one. 
 And what an indescribable strain it must have 
 been upon them : as, day by day, Santa Anna 
 
80 A Diamond in the Rouan. 
 
 drew his lines closer about the fortress ; as, dav 
 by day, the Mexican force increased until they 
 numbered four thousand or more; as, day by 
 day, Santa Anna's cannon poured their mur- 
 derous fire upon the fortress and its noble de- 
 fenders; as, day by day, those heroes strained 
 both eyes and ears to catch the first sign of rein- 
 forcements, so anxiously expected; as, day by 
 day, the red flag at the head of the Mexican 
 army waved before the little band of braves, 
 saying to them: "No quarter will be given 
 you. ' ' 
 
 Finally, on the 5th of March, just before sun- 
 set, Santa Anna 's cannon ceased firing ; and the 
 weary Texans, who for ten days and nights 
 had toiled like giants, sank down to rest, and 
 all was quiet for a time. 
 
 Tradition steps in here (reported by Colonel 
 Bowie's wife, who was the daughter of Vera- 
 mendi, the Mexican, Governor of Texas, and 
 was in the powder house of the Alamo at the 
 time of the siege, and was not harmed) and says 
 that Colonel Travis seemed to know by intui- 
 tion that this lull in the firing was but the calm 
 before the oncoming and furious storm of the 
 battle which would soon lay them all in death, 
 for he ordered his sleeping band of braves into 
 line; and then followed one of the grandest 
 scenes of either tradition or recorded history. 
 In a voice trembling with emotion, Colonel 
 
Hope Abandoned by the Garrison. 81 
 
 Travis spoke to his men, and among other 
 things said : "All hope is gone. Our fates are 
 sealed, and we must prepare for the worst." 
 For a- time after he had finished speaking, the 
 silence of death reigned over all. The only 
 question was, whether they should surrender 
 and be put to the sword, as the red flag at the 
 head of Santa Anna's army plainly told, or 
 whether they should attempt to cut their way 
 out and be mov/ed down with the canister and 
 shrapnel of Santa Anna's cannon, which seemed 
 inevitable. Drawing his sword, Colonel Travis 
 drew a line between himself and his men, and 
 cried out : " Those who wish to sell their lives 
 as dearly as possible, and who desire to die like 
 heroes and patriots, cross the line to me. ' ' Only 
 one hesitated, and he was permitted to go, who 
 spoke the Spanish language, and escaped in dis- 
 guise as a Mexican. Even the wounded, then 
 in the Alamo, dragged themselves across the 
 line to Travis. Bowie, who was wounded, and 
 too ill to stand upon his feet, said to his com- 
 rades: "I can't cross to you. Won't some of 
 you lift me over ? " It was done in a trice. 
 
 That same night Santa Anna held a council 
 of war, and it was decided to storm the Alamo 
 at daylight the next morning ; and just as the 
 first gray of d'dvm. was discernible in the east, 
 the Mexican troops were seen forming for the 
 assault. The infantry were provided with lad- 
 le) 
 
82 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 ders and crowbars, in addition to their guns 
 and sabers, with which to scale the walls and 
 make a breach therein. Back of the infantry 
 came the cavalry, who were ordered to see that 
 no Texan escaped, and to shoot down any Mex- 
 ican soldier found skulking behind. 
 
 Thus, amidst the roar of cannon, Santa 
 Anna's troops advanced to the attack. When 
 they reached the vicinity of the Alamo, his 
 cannon ceased firing ; and then by fifties and by 
 hundreds the Mexican soldiers mounted the lad- 
 ders to scale the fortress, and were shot down. 
 Others immediately took their place ,and met 
 the same fate. Finally the assault was centered 
 upon the front entrance to the fortress, in which 
 there was made a successful and decisive 
 breach. 
 
 Matters were now fast culminating, for 
 there is a limit to all human power; and more- 
 over, what could one hundred and seventy-six 
 men do against four thousand? At last, with 
 Mexican soldiers swarming all over the fortress, 
 the barricade at the front entrance was broken 
 through, and then commenced the massacre of 
 those who had survived the siege to that awful 
 and terrible moment. The gallant Bowie, 
 though too weak to rise to his feet, shot two 
 fiends who were in the act of butchering him. 
 
 The fortress now ran with blood, but not 
 until the last one of the noble band of braves 
 
Massacre of Defenders of Alamo. 83 
 
 lay a bleeding sacrifice upon his country's altar, 
 did the conflict cease. The brave and intrepid 
 Crockett being- among the last to fall, as he 
 stood at thB entrance with the slain bodies of 
 more than a dozen Mexican soldiers laying at 
 his feet, as the result of his giant strokes with 
 the saber. At last the bloody work of murder 
 ceases for the want of victims, and death and 
 Santa Anna hold the place. 
 
 It would seem that the demon of destruction 
 was now satisfied, but no I The slain bodies 
 of the noble dead Texans, 175, in number, were 
 gathered into a heap and burned, by order of 
 Santa Anna, which should consign his name to 
 oblivion's vale for evermore. 'Twas on a Sun- 
 day's morn when this transpired, and as the 
 Sabbath evening's shadow gathered o'er the 
 scene, the smoke from the funeral pyre of those 
 immortal heroes went curling toward the 
 heavens, whither their spirits had just gone. 
 
 And well may the reader be assured, that 
 when I entered the sacred precincts of the 
 Alamo, with the above facts in my mind, that I 
 did so with uncovered head, for I then felt, and 
 still feel, that I was in a place made sacred by 
 the death of brave men in the cause of right. 
 And to my certain knowledge, there are times 
 Avhieh come to a man when human speech is 
 powerless. 
 
 Such was my thought as 1 stood in the Alam«^ 
 
84 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 at San Antonio, Texas, in February, '92, and 
 mused upon the scenes therein enacted, for as 
 I stood and gazed by the dim opalescence of 
 moonlight upon the sombre walls of the interior 
 of the old fortress, which I knew to have been 
 standing more than a hundred years before the 
 scenes of the massacre above described, I in 
 thought addressed them, saying: "Couldst 
 thou but speak, "svho would not desire to be a 
 listener, for you alone possess the secrets of 
 the closing scenes in one of earth's sublimest 
 tragedies. Time-worn, solemn and silent art 
 thou, old, and battered walls. No feats of valor 
 or words of heroes' prowess do your portals tell. 
 Those deeds are your secrets. Nevertheless, 
 echoed from you, adown the farthest corridor 
 of time, there will be heard the whisperings of 
 an immortal story, of how brave men have died 
 for home and for fireside. ' ' 
 
 After visiting the Alamo in the afternoon, 
 and having the events connected with it very 
 strongly impressed upon my mind, on retiring 
 for the night, and being unable to sleep, as a 
 result of the visit, I arose after midnight and 
 went to the old fortress again. And while there, 
 and under the spirit of deep musings o'er its his- 
 tory, I felt for a certainty, — scout the thought 
 who may — that the spirits of its noble defend- 
 ers were about me, and so impressed me that I 
 could in fancy hear the deep tones and far- 
 
In the Alamo. 85 
 
 away groans of the wounded and dying; and 
 wrote the lines last above, immediately on my 
 return to my room at the hotel. For years prior 
 to this, I had been a disbeliever in the conscious 
 state of the dead ; but not since. Either my 
 fancy had carried me captive, which I do not 
 believe, or I was in touch with the spirits of 
 Crockett, Travis, Bowie and Bonham. and oth- 
 ers of the dead heroes. 
 
 (Continued on page 103.) 
 
Chapter 6 
 
 A DESCRIPTION OF THE OPELOUSAS AND TECHE REGION 
 OF SOUTHERN LOUISIANA 
 
 SOME thirteen years ago, in 1892 and '93, 
 while in the internal revenue service of 
 the Government, I traveled much in the 
 southern section of our country, and over 
 Louisiana very thoroughly. My expense ac- 
 count at "Washington, D. C, shows me as having 
 traveled more than six thousand miles in Louis- 
 iana from August 23, 1891, to February 1, '92— 
 thirty-six hundred miles by railroad, and more 
 than twenty-four hundred by livery. During 
 these travels, I found the country so pleasant 
 and agreeable that I formed the purpose of 
 writing a brief description of the southern sec- 
 tion of the State at some future time, and will, 
 at the present, write of the Opelousas, or Teche 
 region— that portion of the State celebrated by 
 Longfellow in ''Evangeline." 
 
 All have read of the "Sunny South," famous 
 in poetry, song and story, and has never been 
 overdrawn, for it is a most wonderful and de- 
 lightful country, in many respects. 
 
 Leaving New Orleans by the Southern Pacific 
 Railroad, and traveling eighty-seven miles west, 
 brings one to Morgan City, where the railroad 
 
 -87- 
 
88 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 crosses the Atchafalaya River, at the head of 
 Burwich Bay, which extends to the Gulf of 
 Mexico. 
 
 The Atchafalaya River bounds the Opelousas 
 of Louisiana on the east. And some three or 
 four miles to the north of Morgan City is the 
 point where the Teche, which flows from the 
 west, empties into the Atchafalaya. The lands 
 in the southern portion of the Opelousas are 
 low-lying, and marshy, and are in large measure 
 unsuitable for cultivation, and are threaded 
 with bayous and moor'ys, rendering them a 
 veritable paradise for alligators, whose blow- 
 ing, or bellowing, — similar to that of a cow — 
 brute — may be heard at twilight, or later in the 
 evenings, for two or three miles away. 
 
 The lands to the northeast of the Opelousas 
 are also low-lying and swampy, and are manj^ 
 times overflowed by the waters which come 
 from the north and west by the Red River. To 
 the west, the lands are drained by the Teche, 
 which flows eastward, and rarely ever gets out 
 of its banks, and then only in a few places. 
 
 All the rivers in Southern Louisiana are very 
 deep. The Vermillion River, although not more 
 than one hundred and fifty to two hundred feet 
 wide, will average from twenty to thirty feet 
 deep. The Atchafalaya, next in size to the 
 Mississippi, is one hundred and twenty feet 
 deep at Morgan City, at low water, and more 
 
The Atchafalaya River of Louisiana. 89 
 
 than a half a mile wide. The Southern Pacific 
 Railroad bridge at this point is of iron struc- 
 ture, and is erected on double-length cypress 
 piling over this wide and deep water. 
 
 The most striking and picturesque river of 
 the Opelousas is the Teche, a stream of the 
 average width of about one hundred and fifty 
 feet, and from ten to twenty feet deep, and, as 
 already stated, courses its way from the west 
 through the center of the Opelousas to its con- 
 fluence with the Atchafalaya, and is navigable 
 to near its source. 
 
 In the central portion of the Teche region 
 of Louisiana, — in St. Mary's Parish — is the 
 location of the richest sugar lands in America, 
 and is also the seat of the greatest rural opu- 
 lence, splendor and refinement ever met with in 
 all my travels. To go through this section at 
 evening, over the Southern Pacific Railroad, 
 during the ''grinding," or sugar-making sea- 
 son, — from September to January — when the 
 sugar factories are all in operation, some of 
 which are three stories high, and all brightly 
 lighted with electricity, (as they run day and 
 night) there is presented a most wonderful 
 spectacle of energy, thrift and resourcefulness. 
 In addition to sugar, considerable cotton is also 
 grown in the Opelousas of Louisiana. 
 
 Whilst traveling in the southern section of 
 the State I many times went by stage from New 
 
90 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 Ibera, on the Southern Pacific Railroad, to Ab- 
 beville, some twenty-five miles distant, toward 
 the southwest. This stage road runs through 
 the celebrated "Joe JeiTerson plantation," of 
 Rip Van AVinkle fame, which consists of some 
 seven or eight thousand acres of as beautiful 
 land as lies beneath the vault of heaven. The 
 road, or "lane/' as it is called, which runs 
 through the plantation, is fenced with the 
 "Cherokee Hedge," which very much resembles 
 the wild rose bush of the north, in that it is a 
 vine, and bears a white flower, but grows much 
 larger. The fence, when I saw it thirteen years 
 ago, was from seven to eight feet high, and in 
 full bloom. 
 
 No crops are grown on the plantation, except 
 in a small way, it being devoted to cattle rais- 
 ing, which is exclusively by grazing, as no other 
 feed is required. A superintendent, with his 
 family, lives upon the place and conducts it. 
 Taken all in all, the plantation is a princely 
 estate. Much money has been spent to orna- 
 ment and beautify the grounds about the build- 
 ings, which were, at time of my sojourn in the 
 State, occupied but a small portion of the year 
 by Mr. Jefferson, the proprietor and actor who 
 is now dead. 
 
 The great house upon the plantation, with 
 other necessary buildings, is embowered in a 
 magnificent grove of stately trees on the banks 
 
The ''Joe Jefferson" Plantation. 91 
 
 of a beautiful lake, which abounds in a great 
 variet}^ of delicious fish. Numerous antique 
 specimens of bric-a-brac and statuaiy, along 
 Avith many rare old volumes, have been col- 
 lected by Mr. Jefferson in his travels and sent 
 to the place. Although the plantation is some 
 ten or eleven miles from any town, yet it is 
 visited by the traveling public who go that way, 
 because of the great fame of Mr. Jefferson, 
 whose mirth and pathos on the stage have won 
 so many hearts. 
 
 The stage road from New Iberia to Abbeville, 
 for the most part, runs through a sparsely-set- 
 tled prairie country, with ever and anon a small 
 cultivated grove of trees, amid fields of cotton, 
 rice, and sugar cane. About seven miles before 
 reaching Abbeville, the road, for nearly two 
 miles, runs through a low-lying belt of timber, ' 
 dense in growth and thickly hung witli Spanish 
 moss, making the way dark and dismal in the 
 extreme, even at high noon, and much more so 
 after dark, although the far-off smile of the 
 twinkling stars, and the full-orbed moon, with 
 its opalescent light, should struggle to relieve 
 the gloom. 
 
 Abbeville, the seat of government for Vermil- 
 lion Parish, is the point where I usually spent 
 the night when making visits into the lower 
 Vermillion River region, when on business to 
 that section, while traveling in Louisiana, and 
 
92 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 I will here give a description of the country 
 to the south of Abbeville, as written at that 
 time. 
 
 On the morrow I set out with livery for a 
 twenty-five-mile drive down the Vermillion 
 River to within a few miles of the Gulf. Some 
 sixteen miles of the distance was whirled over 
 in a light buggy behind two of the nimblest 
 Creole ponies that ever sprang forward at crack 
 of whip, through a thinly-settled prairie coun- 
 try ; passing which we came to the timber belt, 
 from five to seven miles ride, stretching between 
 the prairie and the sea marsh of the Gulf. 
 
 At this point we entered upon a drive which 
 was truly picturesque in high degree. At inter- 
 vals the team was slackened to a walk that we 
 might behold and admire ; and having in other 
 days and sections of our country, viewed some 
 fine and highly reputed mountain scenery, we 
 were constrained to declare the mountain not 
 above the vale in respect of the pleasing and 
 the beautiful ; for on no mountain top is to be 
 witnessed such sights, enjoyed such fragrance, 
 or heard such music, as is to be enjoyed in the 
 festooned forest, the aromatic-laden air, and 
 among the beautifully plumed and sweet-noted 
 songsters of the lower Vermillion River region 
 of Louisiana, as they warble their native wood- 
 notes wild on the swinging boughs of trees ever- 
 green and deciduous. 
 
The Vermillion River Region. 93 
 
 This section is well to the south, in Louisiana, 
 and below the southern border of what is prop- 
 erly regarded as the Opelousas, and is pre- 
 eminently the home of the mocking bird, and 
 many other beautifully feathered songsters, 
 which keep this otherwise silent and somber 
 solitude always enlivened, in Springtime and 
 Summer, with the continuous warbling in uni- 
 son their musical notes from shadowy bowers. 
 After reaching the forest, the road follows 
 the meanderings of the Vermillion River as it 
 courses its way to the Gulf, or Vermillion Bay, 
 and is at no point more than a fcAV yards from 
 its banks, which are low and even, and not more 
 than three or four feet above water. The road 
 itself, owing to the nature of the soil, is as 
 smooth as a floor ; and on either side of it were 
 commingled in thick growth at the time of my 
 trip, the holly, the elm, the live-oak, the mag- 
 nolia, and the pecan tree, along with many other 
 kinds, and all richly draped in Spanish moss. 
 
 For the most part the road was a complete 
 archway, beautiful and grand to behold, while 
 underneath the trees at its side, and thickly 
 growing, from three to six feet high, was the 
 palm plant, from which the palm-leaf fan is 
 made. Along this winding way, more beautiful 
 by nature than art has yet constructed, did I 
 proceed until I reached my destination,— the 
 plantation of Mr. Nunes, with whom I had 
 
94 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 business, and where I tarried for the night. 
 Mr. Nunes is the gentleman with whom the Con- 
 gressional Committee treated, when sent to 
 Louisiana during the Hayes and Tilden matter. 
 He wns at the time a member of the State 
 Senate, and a man of sterling worth and wide 
 influence, and of sound probity. 
 
 The plantation of Mr. Nunes comprises some 
 nineteen thousand acres of land, which is for 
 the most part devoted to cattle raising, as only 
 about four thousand acres of the plantation 
 proper is dry enough for cultivation, leaving 
 fifteen thousand acres, and nearly the same ex- 
 tent of sea marsh, — lying between his land and 
 the Bay — for grazing purpose, which is all in 
 one inclosure, being bounded on the north by 
 the land in cultivation: on the east by the 
 Bayou Petti John ; on the south by the bay, or 
 Gulf, and on the west by the Vermillion River. 
 It therefore needs not to be fenced, and from 
 one year's end to another not a penny's worth 
 of feed is required for the cattle, and they are 
 fat and sleek all the year roimd, for no blizzard 
 sweeps that way, and not since 1853, as Mr. 
 Nunes informed me, has there been even a stray 
 snowflake upon the plantation. 
 
 Having a nice yacht, Mr. Nunes took me a 
 sail around his plantation, and while making 
 the trip I came to know for the first time 
 what is meant by "floating island," or ''float- 
 
''Floating Island," ob ''Land.'" 95 
 
 ing land." Bordering the Gulf, and its bays, 
 in many places, where the lands are low-lying 
 and marshy, owing to the nature and heavy 
 growth of the marsh grass, it extends out over 
 the water and forms a sod, somewhat similar 
 to that on marsh land. Through the centuries 
 of the past the growth of blade of this marsh 
 grass has ripened and fallen until there has 
 formed a sod, or thick tuft of blade and root, 
 from one and a half to three feet thick, which 
 extends far out over the water. This, in some 
 places, acquires sufficient strength for cattle to 
 graze over it, which they do, and instinctively 
 know enough not to venture too far out. If a 
 hole be cut through this tuft of sod, one may 
 fish successfully iinder this "floating island." 
 Knowing of the wide and deep Atchafalaya 
 River at Morgan City, intervening between the 
 plantation of Mr. Nunes and New Orleans, I 
 asked him how he got his cattle across it when 
 driving them to New Orleans before the South- 
 ern Pacific Railroad was extended west of the 
 river, and he answered : "I swam them over, 
 and then explained that a gentle steer was 
 selected, one that had been trained to lead with 
 a halter, and when the river was reached a row- 
 boat was entered by the man leading, and 
 rowed across with the lead steer swimming 
 after the boat. Following these, the entire 
 drove would quickly enter the river and swim 
 
96 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 across, in a straight line, with but little show- 
 ing except heads, horns, and tails. 
 
 Replying to a question as to whether many 
 cattle were drowned while thus crossing them. 
 Mr. Nunes stated that he had rarely ever lost 
 one, although he had crossed thousands of head. 
 During the Civil War, 'til the fall of Vicksburg. 
 western Louisiana and Texas was the source of 
 the beef supply for the Confederate Army, and 
 nearly all of these cattle were driven by this 
 route. 
 
 In olden time, before the Southern horizon 
 was made to glow with the campfires of revolt, 
 the Teche country of the Opelousas of Louisiana 
 bordered close upon a paradise, so far as sub- 
 lunary conditions and surroundings could con- 
 tribute. And it was at the time of my sojourn 
 in the State fast regaining the splendor of ante- 
 war times. 
 
 The lands bordering the Teche on both sides 
 are rich and fertile in high degree, and are 
 nearly all under cultivation. The banks of the 
 little river are oval, and sodded with grass to 
 near the water's edge, and have no rocky pro- 
 jections or abrupt places to mar their beauty; 
 nor are there swift places or eddies therein, as 
 in most waterways. The surface of the water 
 in the river is therefore placid and smooth, and 
 just suited for boat rowing. 
 
 The great houses, antique in structure and 
 
Of the Lands Bordering the Teche. 97 
 
 palatial in dimensions and proportion, on the 
 plantations abutting on the Teche, which face 
 the stream, are not only objects o-f beauty and 
 splendor, but are pre-eminently the abode of 
 hospitality and refinement. Wide open at all 
 times are the doors of these mansion homes to 
 the real and true noblesse of the Opelousas, — 
 the husbands, wives and children of families of 
 well-known probity, and of morals unques- 
 tioned. To step into one of these elegant homes 
 is to breathe refinement, by reason of the rare 
 quality of the manhood, womanhood and child- 
 hood which is found therein. 
 
 These homes are nearly all built on the imme- 
 diate banks of the Teche, amid grounds made 
 beautiful with trees, shrubs and flowers, both 
 native and exotic, which run to near the water's 
 edge. Fruit trees, not many, do well in south- 
 ern Louisiana. The pear, alone, seems to thrive 
 and flourish. 
 
 The mansion houses along the Teche are not 
 only resplendent in architectural beauty, and 
 surrounded with highly ornamented grounds, 
 where hospitality and a high standard of neigh- 
 borly intercourse prevails, but they are the 
 abode of a high order of musical talent, both 
 vocal and instrumental ; and where all, both old 
 and young, are lovers of the poetry of motion — 
 in waltz, quadrille and cotillion. Many times, 
 on the Teche, have I heard solos, duets, quar- 
 
 (7) 
 
98 A Diamond ix the Rouqj] 
 
 tets and sextets, as well as choirs of highly 
 trained voices, in richly caparisoned pleasure 
 boats, whose music was unsurpassed in opera, 
 church choir, or * * Ma v f estivaL ' ' 
 
 The beautiful Teche,with its calm and smooth 
 surface, lying stretched in the salubrious cli- 
 mate of this delightful region, and bordered 
 with such magnificent groves, from whose shad- 
 owy bowers the notes of song birds are continu- 
 ously ringing, makes it by all odds the most 
 delightful place for boat rowing ever enjoyed 
 by lovers of the sport : for it is never locked 
 in ice, by the rigors of winter, and is therefore 
 perennial. And being now well down the west- 
 ern slope of life, and loking back to other days, 
 now more than half a century away, I am prone 
 to the belief that of all the delightful places for 
 those who may be matrimonially inclined, and 
 should be fitting out their barks for a voyage 
 on an ocean wider, and in many instances far 
 more tempestuous, than old ocean itself^ that 
 this, above all others, is the supreme place for 
 calm thought and deliberation. 
 
 As nearly all the towns and villages in the 
 best portion of the Opelousas lie along the 
 Teche, where the churches are located, the fam- 
 ilies above referred to have each a row-boat, 
 and the beautiful stream is utilized for church- 
 going purposes. In construction these boats are 
 long and light, with sharp keel and prow, and 
 
A Description of the Teche. 99 
 
 can be propelled through the water by an ex- 
 pert oarsman or oarswoman at such a high rate 
 of speed that it is an unalloyed pleasure and de- 
 light to see one of them glide through — I might 
 almost say, over — the water so swiftly and so 
 noiselessly with bright streamers and happy 
 voices. 
 
 Before the railroad from New Orleans to Mor- 
 gan City was built, the chief mode of travel 
 from the Opelousas to New Orleans was by sail, 
 or steamboat. This was by way of the Teche, 
 thence down the Atchafalaya River and across 
 Burwich Bay to the Gulf of Mexico, and thence 
 along its coast to the mouth of, and then up the 
 Mississippi River to New Orleans, a distance of 
 more than two hundred miles. New Orleans at 
 that time was the mart in which the mercantile 
 needs of the Opelousasians were supplied. 
 
 It will therefore be seen that frequent com- 
 munication and travel between New Orleans 
 and the Teche country was next to impossible 
 at that time, and quite infrequent in comparison 
 with railway travel at the present time; and 
 to this fact I am quite inclined to attribute 
 much of the high moral standing and probity 
 among the Teche country people, the early an- 
 cestors of whom were educated and refined emi- 
 grants who came to America from France, just 
 before, and during the Revolution, to escape the 
 storm that then seemed to be gathering; which. 
 
100 A Diamond ix the I^ouqh. 
 
 when it did eventually break forth, it attempted 
 the subversion of Christianity, as the Commune 
 did in a vote declaring there was no God, and 
 which struck the Sabbath from the calendar, 
 and made the week consist of ten days instead 
 of seven, and that wrote above the gateways 
 to the cemeteries, "Death is an eternal sleep." 
 
 The ancestors of the early Opelousasians were 
 therefore refined and cultured Christian people. 
 This was before the purchase of Louisiana by 
 President Jefferson in 1803. The emigration of 
 these French people was therefore from the 
 parent country to a province of their own gov- 
 ernment : and their purpose doubtless was to 
 found a settlement, or colony, in which educa- 
 tion, excellence and purity should prevail, in- 
 stead of ignorance and sloth. 
 
 About this same time, and during the Napo- 
 leon wars, there was a great influx of French 
 to the western part of the Opelousas, who 
 founded St. Martinsville, and called it ''Little 
 Pairee." Two wealthy families of the names 
 of ^louton and Brusard came about this time, 
 and are at the present owners of vast wealth 
 in plantation lands in western Opelousas, with 
 one of whom — Judge IMouton — I became quite 
 well acquainted during my stay in Louisiana. 
 
 Having now placed before the reader some- 
 thing of the early history of the first civilized 
 inhabitants of the Opelousas, and something of 
 
Of the Pioneers of the Opelousa.s. 101 
 
 their environment thereafter up to the time of 
 my sojourn among them, I will, for a moment, 
 direct attention to the causes underlying and 
 vitalizing the healthful and solid foundation 
 of their society, which I have ever regarded as 
 ideal, and that has made such an impression on 
 my mind. 
 
 That the pioneer inhabitants of the Opelousas 
 of Louisiana were, for the most part, an edu- 
 cated and industrious class of people, with re- 
 fined tastes and lofty ideals, founded upon a 
 solid Christian character, appears certain ; and 
 that from the first their efforts were to build 
 up and maintain along this line, which they 
 have succeeded in doing in high degree, seems 
 to be perfectly apparent. And the strongly con- 
 tributing circumstance in their favor, up to a 
 recent period, was their isolation from the con- 
 taminating influence of a greatly congested cen- 
 ter of population. v 
 
 I therefore believe, and hesitate not to make 
 statement of such belief, that the congested 
 centers of population in our country, — the large 
 cities — are in many instances the sin-breeding 
 and soul-polluting centers whence go forth 
 much of the wickedness that drags down. The 
 Opelousasians, therefore, not being subjected to 
 this, by reason of their isolation from the con- 
 taminating influence in large centers, being so 
 inaccessible to New Orleans, were enabled to 
 
102 A Diamond ik the Rough. 
 
 maintain the probity and high standing: in 
 mortals that characterized their early ancestors 
 in Louisiana. Hence the corollary ; morallj^ 
 speaking, there is less temptation in living amid 
 an urban or rural population than in a greatly 
 congested center. 
 
 And whilst this is unquestionably true, yet 
 it goes without saying that there are good, hon- 
 est and pure people in great numbers in the 
 large cities of our country, who are as unflinch- 
 ing in their Christian integrity and devotion to 
 high moral ideals as are to be met with any- 
 where. 
 
 Taken all in all, the Teche country and its 
 people, of the Opelousas of Louisiana, is a most 
 delightful and interesting region; and I would 
 feel much like dropping a tear on taking leave 
 of it here, were I not going to return to it again, 
 in tracing the pathetical story of Evangeline 
 and Gabriel, which will be done in this little 
 volume of narratives. 
 
Chapter 7 
 
 FROM THE MASSACRE OF THE ALAMO TO THAT OF 
 FANNIN'S PRAIRIE, OR GOLIAD 
 
 THE sad fate of the garrison of the Alamo 
 not only sent a tremor of horror into the 
 soul and spirit of the Texans, but it cast 
 a deep gloom over the friends of the colony 
 everywhere. And had the authorities heeded 
 General Houston's advice to hasten the organi- 
 zation of troops more energetically, the disaster 
 of the Alamo would not in all probability have 
 happened. The quarrel which had broken out 
 between the Governor and Council, had para- 
 lyzed all of Houston's efforts, and no adequate 
 force had been recruited to resist Santa Anna's 
 invasion. 
 
 Not only were the Texans discouraged from 
 enlistment by these quarrels among the civil 
 authorities, but the volunteers who had begun 
 to arrive from the United States, to assist the 
 Texans, became disgusted at the feeble manage- 
 ment and lack of efficient organization, to re- 
 ceive and provide for them. ''At this time," 
 says Houston, "I found a company from Ken- 
 tucky, and one from Alabama, who were threat- 
 ening to return home." 
 
 It seems inscrutable, yet all histoiy shows it 
 
 -103" 
 
104 A DiAMOXD IN THE RoUGH. 
 
 to be true, that in the beginning of wars more 
 or less blundering appears inevitable. In the 
 present ease, immediately after the surrender 
 of San Antonio by General Cos, on the 4th of 
 December, 1835, and the Mexican troops had 
 started homeward across the Rio Grande, Dr. 
 Grant, who had fought valiantly for the Texans 
 in driving the Mexicans out of San Antonio, 
 and had thereby gained their confidence, in- 
 sisted that an invasion of ^Mexico was now the 
 thing to do. as in all probability the people of 
 Coahuila were ready to revolt against Santa 
 Anna. This stimulated and excited the minds 
 of some of the less thinking of the volunteers, 
 with visions of conquest and rich reward in 
 land and booty. 
 
 These short-sighted visionaries were forgetful 
 that in the past every attempt at the invasion of 
 ]^Jexico by foreign troops, who were expecting 
 support from the Mexican inhabitants, had 
 failed ; as such moves had always aroused Mex- 
 ican jealousy and had united all factions 
 against the foreign foe. Not heeding this, Dr. 
 Grant succeeded in collecting together a force 
 of some four hundred volunteers for the under- 
 taking, and then wrongfully seized some of the 
 arms and munitions of war belonging to Texas, 
 and set out on his march to Mexico. 
 
 As this move by Dr. Grant was not to Hous- 
 ton's liking, and as matters were in such shape 
 
Discord Among Officials of Texas. 105 
 
 at the time that he could not prevent it, he 
 directed Colonel Bowie to organize a force and 
 proceed to the frontier and be ready for what- 
 ever might seem best. Houston also sent orders 
 to New Orleans, directing that any volunteers 
 from the United States en route to Texas by 
 water, be sent to Refugio, and Goliad. His pur- 
 pose in this doubtless was to head off Dr. 
 Grant's expedition, and try to bring his force 
 into co-operation with his, — Houston's — to op- 
 pose the invasion of Santa Anna. But at the 
 very time Houston was trying to concentrate 
 troops to the southwest, as above stated, the 
 Colonial Council superseded his authority. 
 
 Such was the discord which reigned in Texas 
 at this time that Houston's efforts to be ready 
 when Santa Anna should attempt to invade it 
 were rendered abortive. And while the colony 
 had thus fallen into a condition of confusion 
 and anarchy, Santa Anna was enabled to reach 
 San Antonio with the result as given, which was 
 so appalling. Dr. Grant, who was mainly to 
 blame for this, was not a citizen of Texas, and 
 therefore not as much interested in her inde- 
 pendence as he was in recovering his estate and 
 rich mines at Parras, in Coahuila, Mexico. 
 
 From the very start, Houston had more trou- 
 ble in thwarting the intrigues and schemes of 
 freebooters and adventurers who were on every 
 hand in Texas "for personal aggrandizement, 
 
106 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 than he had in fighting the Mexicans. While 
 matters were thus drifting badly in Texa^, the 
 Commissioners sent to solicit aid in the United 
 States were meeting with fair success. The 
 members of the Commission were addressing 
 the people in many of the principal cities, and 
 giving them assurances that the revolt in Texas 
 was not a filibustering enterprise, but was for 
 freedom. Under these assurances subscriptions 
 of money and arms were being given, and also 
 a warm feeling of sympathy for the success 
 of Texas in the struggle. 
 
 The massacre of the garrison of the Alamo 
 and the burning of the bodies of the patriotic 
 dead, by order of Santa Anna, forever closed 
 the mouths of those who had hitherto advocated 
 a mild policy, and from this onward there was 
 but one sentiment in Texas, — independence or 
 death. Soon a convention was called, and on 
 the following day the declaration of independ- 
 ence was adopted. 
 
 It said : ' ' We, the delegates assembled, and 
 being invested with plenary power by the peo- 
 ple of Texas, and appealing to a candid world 
 for the rectitude of our cause, do hereby resolve 
 and declare that our political connection with 
 the Mexican nation has forever ended, and that 
 the people of Texas now constitute a free, sov- 
 ereign, and independent Republic, and are fully 
 invested with all the rights and privileges which 
 
Texas Declares Independence. 107 
 
 belong to independent nations; and, conscious 
 of the rectitude of our intentions, we fearlessly 
 and conlidently commit the issue to the Supreme 
 Arbiter of the destinies of nations." 
 
 In a few days Sam Houston was re-elected 
 commander-in-chief of all the forces in the new 
 Republic. There was yet great excitement over 
 the Alamo disaster, and a complete change of 
 feeling had come over the malcontents and 
 those whose turbulent action had contributed 
 to it. Now all is changed. General Houston is- 
 sued an address to the people, in which he said : 
 "The enemy must be driven from our soil, or 
 desolation and rapine will accompany their 
 march upon us. Independence has been de- 
 clared, and must be maintained." 
 
 In a short time a government, under the dec- 
 laration of independence, was organized, and 
 authorized to contract a loan of $1,000,000. The 
 President, David G. Burnet, issued a strong and 
 earnest appeal for sympathy and aid from the 
 people of the United States, which was ren- 
 dered, and the seat of government established 
 at Harrisburg, on the Bayou of Buffalo. 
 
 When the news of the disaster at the Alamo 
 reached General Houston, he instantly sent a 
 swift courier with it to Colonel Fannin, at 
 Goliad, and ordered him to blow up the fort and 
 evacuate the place and take with him as much 
 of the artillery as possible and to sink the rest 
 
108 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 in the river, and to march to Victoria, on the 
 Guadalupe River, and intrench himself. Prompt 
 action was urged by Houston, as Santa Anna 
 was reported as having left San Antonio in the 
 direction of Goliad. 
 
 About this time General Urrea left Mata- 
 moras, Mexico, with a force of one thousand 
 cavalry to reinforce Santa Anna, and for such 
 other enterprise as might present itself. Hear- 
 ing there was a force of Texans at San Patricio, 
 Urrea made a detour and assaulted the garri- 
 son of forty men, and after killing sixteen in 
 the assault, twenty-two were taken prisoners 
 and shot by order of Urrea. Dr. Grant and a 
 party of thirty-five men were at this time away 
 from the garrison a^t San Patricio, and were on 
 a horse raiding expedition toward the Rio 
 Grande ; and immediately after the capture of 
 San Patricio, Urrea started after Grant, and set 
 an ambush. Soon Grant and his men were in 
 the ambush, and were charged by the Mexicans 
 from two belts of timber, and the most of the 
 men were killed in the charge. Grant, and 
 one of his men, named Brown, escaped, and 
 fled across the prairie. They were hotly pur- 
 sued, and after a race of seven miles. Grant was 
 killed, and Brown lassoed from his horse and 
 dragged to death. Thus ended the life of Grant, 
 the renegade Mexican, whose intrigue and fili- 
 bustering had cost the Texans so much suffer- 
 ing and sorrow. 
 
Col. Fannin's Retbeat fkom Goliad. 109 
 
 When Colonel Fannin received Houston's or- 
 der to abandon Goliad and fall back to Victoria, 
 he had a force of some five hundred men. They 
 were for the most part volunteers from the 
 United States, — from Georgia, Alabama, Louis- 
 iana and Kentucky. Learning of the advance 
 of Urrea, Fannin had sent an order to the gar- 
 rison at San Patricio to join him. But the order 
 was disobeyed by Grant and Captain Pierce, 
 who, in a short time thereafter paid the penalty 
 with their lives, as outlined above. 
 
 Colonel Fannin, for some cause, was tardy 
 in getting away from Goliad, as ordered by 
 General Houston ; and before he got away, Ur- 
 rea, with his cavalry, had reached a point south- 
 east of Goliad, in the direction of Victoria ; and 
 some skirmishing had taken place with Urrea 's 
 advance guard of cavalry. A scouting, party of 
 cavalry was at this time sent toward the north- 
 west, and soon returned to Fannin with infor- 
 mation that a large force was advancing from 
 the direction of San Antonio. More skirmish- 
 ing during the day also took place southeast. 
 with Urrea 's cavalry. Colonel Fannin now be- 
 gan the execution of General Houston's hurry 
 order, which should have been executed at least 
 eight days before, ''to dismantle the fort at 
 Goliad, take with him all the cannon he could, 
 sink the rest in the river, and fall back to 
 Victoria." 
 
110 A Diamond ix the Rough. 
 
 On March 19th Fannin set out from Goliad 
 on his march toward Victoria with 350 men, 
 nine field pieces, one howitzer, and some am- 
 munition wagons. The column was late in start- 
 ing, as the morning was thick with fog. The 
 march was over prairie, skirted with belts of 
 timber, toward Coleto Creek, some ten miles 
 away. The day, until evening, was uneventful, 
 as no Mexicans appeared. When the column 
 was within some three miles of the timber belt 
 along Coleto Creek, Fannin ordered a halt, at 
 a point where the grass was good, that his ox- 
 teams might graze for a time. 
 
 A halt of an hour or so was made, and just 
 as the order was given to move on, a line of 
 cavalry was seen by Fannin about two miles 
 away over the prairie, which was approaching 
 from the southeast very rapidly, and were soon 
 in line of battle between the Texans and Coleto 
 Creek. A body of infantry soon followed and 
 took position to the rear of the cavalry. Fannin 
 had blundered greatly in halting his column in 
 a depression, and was driven to form a hollow 
 square. The wagons were put in the center. 
 and the artillery was planted at the corners. 
 Meanwhile the Mexicans had been posted so as 
 to surround the Texans. And moreover, the 
 Mexican force more than doubled that of the 
 Texans. Fannin ordered his men to lie down, 
 and not fire, until the enemy were in close 
 
Battle of Fannin's Pbairib. HI 
 
 range. They did so, and at the first charge, by 
 the unerring aim of the Texans' rifles, many of 
 the Mexican saddles were emptied. 
 
 General Urrea reformed his lines, and dis- 
 posed his troops so as to charge Fannin on two 
 sides and in the rear. But they met with such 
 a withering fire from the artillery and rifles of 
 the Texans with such coolness and precision 
 that the Mexicans were compelled to fall back. 
 An effort was made by a massed cavalry charge, 
 led by Urrea himself, in the hope of breaking 
 the Texan line, which advanced with great 
 force and impetuosity. But the Texan fire was 
 so rapid and deadly, and being coupled with 
 discharges of grape-shot from the Texan how- 
 itzer, that the Mexican charge broke and fled 
 through their infantry lines in great confusion, 
 leaving many dead and wounded horses and 
 men on the field. 
 
 After a time the Mexican troops were rallied, 
 and formed in line out of range of the Texan 
 fire. Colonel Fannin was severely wounded in 
 the thigh in the early part of the engagement, 
 but continued the command with wonderful 
 coolness. There were some Compeachy Indians 
 with the Mexicans in this engagement, who 
 crept up around the Texan lines wherever there 
 were little mounds, or bunches of thick grass, 
 and were occasionally killing a Texan, in skir- 
 mish line fashion. Four of these Indians had 
 
112 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 crept up quite closely, when Captain Duval, a 
 fine marksman, concluded to stop them. He 
 took position behind a gun carriage, and every 
 time an Indian showed his head, he fell over. 
 It was discovered after the- battle that each of 
 the four had a hole in his head, and lay where 
 they fell. 
 
 One other remarkable exhibition of courage 
 and bravery was that of Harry Ripley, a boy of 
 eighteen, the son of General Ripley of Louis- 
 iana. He had his leg broken soon after the fight 
 began. Among the women who followed Fan- 
 nin from Goliad, to escape the fury of the Mexi- 
 cans, was an old lady by the name of Cash, who 
 had a cart. Having a leg broken, and not being 
 able to stand on his feet, and thinking the cart 
 a good place to fire from, young Ripley asked 
 Mrs. Cash to help him into the cart. She did so, 
 and fixed him a rest for his gun. Young Ripley 
 soon dropped four Mexicans, and was then him- 
 self shot again, which broke one of his arms. 
 He said to Mrs. Cash: "You may take me 
 down, now, mother, I have done my share. They 
 have paid exactly two, for one, of my wounds.'* 
 
 The night following the battle was a very 
 dark one, and it was Colonel Fannin's judgment 
 that their only way for escape was in a retreat 
 during the night to the timber belt of the Coleto 
 Creek. But this would compel them to leave 
 their wounded behind : of whom there were be- 
 
Fannin's Subbendek. 113 
 
 tween sixty and seventy. The men refused to 
 abandon their wounded comrades to the mercy 
 of the Mexicans. In the early morning^ as soon 
 as it was light, some three or four hundred re- 
 inforcements were seen coming to the Mexicans. 
 The position of the Texans was therefore now 
 rendered untenable, as they had but a small 
 amount of ammunition. A council of the offi- 
 cers was called, and a majority were in favor of 
 surrendering, if honorable and safe terms could 
 be obtained. 
 
 The white flag was at once raised, and an- 
 swered, by the enemy. It was agreed that the 
 wounded should be taken to Goliad and prop- 
 erly cared for ; and that the men, able for duty, 
 should be sent to New Orleans, under parole 
 not to serve any more during the war. This 
 was no doubt correct, for on receiving the sur- 
 rendered arms, Colonel Holzinger, the Mexican 
 officer receiving the arms, said: ''Well, gentle- 
 men, in ten days, liberty and home." 
 
 The prisoners were marched back to Goliad, 
 and confined in the old Mission Church, with 
 nothing but fresh meat to eat. The wounded 
 were taken in carts the next day to Goliad, also, 
 and placed in an old shanty hospital. 
 
 In a short time Santa Anna, who was at San 
 Antonio, was informed by courier of the cap- 
 ture of Fannin and his force. He immediately 
 dispatched instruction to the Mexican com- 
 
 (8) 
 
114 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 mandant at Goliad to have the prisoners all 
 shot. This order of Santa Anna's was not ap- 
 proved by mam^ of the Mexican officers, espe- 
 cially the more humane. Colonel Portilla was 
 much distressed on the receipt of the order. The 
 surgeons and some others who were taken with- 
 out arms were not shot. 
 
 The preponderance of evidence goes strongly 
 to show that Colonel Fannin, Major Wallace, 
 and Captain Durange, in arranging terms of 
 capitulation with the Mexican officers ; Colonel 
 Salas, Colonel Holzinger, and Lieutenant Gon- 
 zales, secured an agreement that the Texans 
 should surrender as prisoners of honorable war, 
 and be treated according to the usage of civil- 
 ized nations. And all the circumstances go to 
 show that they laid down their arms upon such 
 a pledge. The odium of the butchery, therefore, 
 rests entirely upon Santa Anna. He was no 
 doubt greatly enraged at the defenders of the 
 Alamo, and thought to strike terror into the 
 Texan colonists by an example of merciless se- 
 verity. But he was mistaken in the men he was 
 dealing with. For the effect of his cruelty and 
 savagery was simply to arouse the Texans, — 
 and the whole United States, for that matter — 
 to a pitch of fury, and the'cry, "Remember the 
 Alamo, and Fannin's Prairie Massacre," was 
 all that was needed ever after to call the last 
 Texan to arms against Santa Anna and his 
 brutal Mexicans. 
 
Santa Anna Orders Prisoners Shot. 115 
 
 On the Saturday night before the massacre. 
 Colonel Fannin was cheerful in high degree, 
 and spoke of his wife and child, in Georgia, 
 whom he said he would soon see. The enlisted 
 soldiers, too, who were prisoners, were greatly 
 rejoiced at the prospect of being again with 
 friends, and spent the evening in singing, 
 "Home, Sweet Home." Alas! Alas!! How 
 soon all is changed ! 
 
 On the morrow, in the early morn of Palm 
 Sunday, the prisoners were awakened early, 
 while the gray dawn of the morning yet cur- 
 tained the east, and were formed in line, 384 
 in number, with no suspicion of their doom. 
 The description that I shall here write, was 
 given me by Dillard Cooper, one of the 384, and 
 the last one then living, too, at Lampasas in 
 June, '92, at the aforementioned reunion of the 
 old Texan veterans who fought for her inde- 
 pendence from Mexico. 
 
 Does the reader query as to how I *an remem- 
 ber to write of the matter, after the lapse of 
 thirteen years? I answer: The story, as told 
 me by Dillard Cooper, then 87 and more years 
 of age, is as indelibly stamped upon the tablet 
 of my memory at the present, as it was when 
 first narrated to me. It is as follows: "We 
 were taken from the old Mission Church and 
 formed in line, without the least idea where we 
 were going. As we started in the direction of 
 
116 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 Matagorda, to the eastward, some said, ' We are 
 going to New Orleans.' Others said, 'No, the 
 appearances do not indicate that we are going 
 very far, for we have no supplies. Nor are the 
 guards supplied either.' The only satisfactory 
 answer given us Avas that the old church was 
 needed for Santa Anna's troops." 
 
 ''We were marched in double file, with Mex- 
 ican soldiers on each side of us, and a cavalry 
 squad in the rear. When we had gone near a 
 mile from Goliad we were filed to the left, and 
 halted; then right faced, which brought our 
 line facing the east. The Mexican guards, then 
 in our front, were moved to our rear, and joined 
 with those already in our rear: And thus the 
 guards were formed the same as a double file 
 line of battle. As we were without arms of an}- 
 character or kind whatever, I thought it strange 
 that there should be such a heavy guard about 
 us. There w^ere more Mexican soldiers, all thor- 
 oughly armed, than there were prisoners. One 
 other circumstance I could not understand. Our 
 files were closed to the last limit, with the right 
 and left flanks slightly advanced, putting our 
 line in the figure of a slight arc of a circle at 
 its right and left." 
 
 "The Mexican line at our rear overlapped 
 ours slightly at both flanks. These conditions 
 were not at all quieting to my nerves, and I 
 became greatly suspicious that a massacre was 
 
EXBCUTIONEKS OF GOLIAD PRISONERS. 117 
 
 at hand,— that more assassination and murder 
 was required to satiate the thirst for blood by 
 the IMoloch at the head of the Mexican Army in 
 Texas. The very air surrounding- us at this 
 time became oppressive, and seemed to fore- 
 bode that something awful was on the eve of 
 transpiring. The prisoners' faces, too, were 
 now all blanched to the pallor of death ; and 
 while the pulse's beat was quickened somewhat, 
 it was less strong, and the blood seemed clogged 
 in the veins. This intense and awful suspense 
 was fast becoming excruciatingly painful. 
 Finally there rang out in clear tones from the 
 Mexican commander of the guards,— and was 
 repeated by the Captains and Lieutenants— the 
 command, 'Ready, aim, fire.' And then what a 
 scene. All of the 384 prisoners but eight were 
 either shot dead, or wounded, to a greater or 
 less degree, by the first volley. Some of us 
 understood the Spanish language sufficiently to 
 understand the command given our execution- 
 ers, and at the word 'fire' there were eight of 
 us who instantly dropped to the ground, then 
 springing to our feet quickly, and we bounded 
 off across the prairie toward a tributary of the 
 Coleto Creek, in an east-northeast direction, 
 some half or three quarters of a mile away." 
 
 Said Mr. Cooper: ''If there was ever a race 
 for life, this was it ; and no tongue can describe 
 it. The verv air before me as I ran. seemerl to 
 
118 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 part, that my speed might not be hindered, and 
 thoughts of my wife and baby nerved me to 
 the strength of a Hercules. On, and on, I flew. 
 Presently the cavalry squad of the guards, 
 after dispatching some wounded with their 
 sabers, came dashing after the eight who had 
 escaped harm from the volley fired into the 
 prisoners, and were aiming to lasso and drag 
 us to death. Four met this fate, and four 
 gained the thick jungle along the Coleto Creek 
 tributary, and were then safe from further pur- 
 suit. Once or twice," said Mr. Cooper, "just 
 before I reached the jungle, as the cavalry came 
 near, and close enough to throw their lariats, I 
 heard the swish of the lasso over my head, and 
 threw up my arms, with my hands extended to 
 the right and left, and was thereby enabled to 
 throw the loop from over my head before the 
 Mexican cavalryman could tighten on it." 
 
 ''Seeing the four' dart into the jungle, the 
 cavalrymen ceased the pursuit of us, and 
 returned in the direction of the massacre, where 
 pandemonium was yet reigning awful and 
 appalling, as many of the Texan prisoners were 
 but slightly wounded, — able to run, but not fast 
 — while others had arms or legs broken, and all 
 amid screams and yells sufficient to make angels 
 weep and demons rejoice." And 'twas on a 
 Sunday's morn, too, when this transpired! 
 Truly did General W. T. Sherman rightly define 
 war. '' 'Tis hell! "said he. 
 
Race foe Life by Dillard Cooper. 119 
 
 Colonel Fannin was not shot with the rest of 
 the prisoners, but was taken out later. He 
 received notice of the time when he should be 
 executed with apparent composure, and re- 
 quested that his watch be sent to his wife in 
 Georgia, at his home, where he had enlisted a 
 company, called the Brazos voluteers, and 
 came to Texas in 1834. Dr. Shackelford, one 
 of the surgeons whose life was spared, was the 
 Captain of a company— the "Red Rovers"— 
 which he had raised in Alabama, in which there 
 was a son and nephew of the Doctor's. As this 
 company was in the massacre, and all perished, 
 it would seem that Dr. Shackelford had suffi- 
 cient of sorrow and suffering over this sad 
 occurrence to send him to the nethermost mael- 
 strom of tantalus, or plunge him into the vortex 
 of mental ruin. Dr. Shackelford was retained 
 a prisoner of war, and sent to San Antonio, and 
 required to treat the Mexicans who were 
 wounded in the assault on the Alamo, which 
 occurred but a short time before the massacre 
 of Goliad, or Fannin's Prairie. 
 
 Mr. Cooper, in relating his experience, fur- 
 ther said: ''After resting a few moments on 
 reaching the jungle of bushes and vines," above 
 spoken of, "I struck out for myself to reach a 
 place of greater safety than I was then in, and 
 followed the timber to Coleto Creek, and thence 
 by long and severe marching over prairies 
 
120 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 toward the northeast till I reached the Colorado 
 River at Rosenburg, where I found friends, and 
 tarried for a time to rest and recuperate, and 
 then journeyed on to my home, wife, and bab3\ 
 In crossing the prairies from the scene of the 
 massacre to the Colorado River, I traveled by 
 night, and lay in hiding by day, and was with- 
 out food four days and nights, and could 
 scarcely walk when Rosenburg was reached." 
 The wounded, after being roughly carted 
 from the battlefield to the old barracks hospital 
 at Goliad, were afterward butchered on their 
 cots, and their bodies were then piled and par- 
 tially burned, the wood and brush piled over 
 them not being sufficient to consume their bod- 
 ies, which was the aim. When the Texan army 
 was pursuing the retreating Mexicans, under 
 General Filisola, after its defeat at San Jacinto, 
 it halted at Goliad, and gathered the bones and 
 half burned bodies of the victims of the mas- 
 sacre and placed them in graves, with military 
 honors. ) 
 
 (Continued on page 145.) 
 
Chapter 8 
 
 ''SHELL anna"— THE BATTLE BORN BABE OF FLINT 
 RIVER— A STORY OF THE OIVIL WAR 
 
 DURING the Civil AVar, and while General 
 W. T. Sherman was prosecuting his cam- 
 paign against Atlanta, Georgia, and after 
 the three terrific battles of Peachtree Creek, 
 East Atlanta, and West Atlanta, were fought, 
 respectively on the twentieth, the twenty-sec- 
 ond, and the twenty-eighth days of July, 1864 ; 
 and it having been clearly developed that the 
 city was fortified on the east, the north, and 
 the west sides very strongly, so much so that it 
 was not thought advisable by the commanding 
 general to attempt the reduction of the city by 
 assaulting such formidable works, the following 
 move was therefore decided upon. 
 
 The force operating against Atlanta, under 
 General Sherman, was composed of three 
 armies, that of the Cumberland, on the right ; 
 the Ohio in the center, and the Army of the 
 Tennessee on the left. The battle of Peachtree 
 Creek, on the 20th of July, was fought mainly 
 by the Cumberland Army; while that of the 
 22nd, two days later, was fought entirely by the 
 Army of the Tennessee, as a result of a flanking 
 movement by the Confederate Army around 
 
 -121- 
 
122 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 General Sherman's left. As on the 20th, the 
 Confederates were badly worsted in this move- 
 ment also, though the Union Army lost, in the 
 person of General McPherson, an officer of rare 
 ability. The battle of the 28th of July was 
 fought by the Fifteenth Army Corps almost 
 alone — one of the three corps composing the 
 Army of the Tennessee — which also was en- 
 gaged in the battle of the 22nd, six days before. 
 
 The plan of campaign now to be executed 
 was to withdraw from before Atlanta, and to 
 station a sufficient force at the railroad crossing 
 of the Chattahoochee River, north of the city, to 
 protect the crossing, and also the commissary 
 stores at that point, — to which duty the Twen- 
 tieth Army Corps was assigned — and with the 
 rest of the army to execute, on a large scale, a 
 flanking movement to the right, and then to the 
 south of Atlanta. It was the aim of General 
 Sherman to execute this movement at a suffi- 
 cient distance from the city of Atlanta to screen 
 the operation from the commanding Confeder- 
 ate general's knowledge, as far as possible, by 
 keeping a force of cavalry between the army 
 and the city, until the railroad, leading south 
 from Atlanta, should be reached at Lovejoy 
 Station, some twenty miles away. 
 
 As a matter of course, when General Sher- 
 man's army withdrew from before Atlanta, and 
 swept around to the south of it, and to General 
 
Flanking Atlanta, Georgia. 123 
 
 Hood's rear, who was in command of the Con- 
 federate Army, the line of march described an 
 arc of a circle, and for the most part was over 
 a newly-cut road, cleared by the Pioneer Corps, 
 through a dense forest of pine, oak, and chest- 
 nut. This was made necessary by the fact that 
 our line of march crossed the roads leading into 
 the city of Atlanta at right angles, as no road 
 circled the city. In this movement, the Fif- 
 teenth Army Corps, — one of the three corps 
 composing the Army of the Tennessee, and com- 
 manded by General John A. Logan — led the 
 advance. 
 
 Now, as there is in the minds of many, a 
 belief that a brave, daring, and resourceful war- 
 rior, is of necessity an unfeeling and cold- 
 hearted person ; and as there have been written 
 many descriptions of the fearless, intrepid, and 
 bold General Logan whilst in battle, which 
 truly depict him as the peer of any who ever 
 drew sword, I will, for the purpose of showing 
 that a soldier, though mighty and terrible in 
 war, may possess a heart as tender and sympa- 
 thetic as a woman's, narrate for the perusal of 
 the lovers of the beautiful in act, the following 
 touching incident, which transpired during the 
 movement outlined "above, and will do so from 
 my own personal knowledge and recollection of 
 the event at the time it happened, for no one 
 who saw it can ever blot it from his memorv. 
 
124 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 A brief account of the event may also be found 
 in Dawson 's Life of Logan. 
 
 As already stated, the Fifteenth Army Corps 
 was in the lead of this flanking movement 
 around General Hood 's left, and to the south of 
 Atlanta ; and on the day of the event to be nar- 
 rated, our regiment — the Ninety-ninth Indiana 
 — was in the advance. In this movement our 
 army met no opposition until we came to Flint 
 River, Avhere we encountered some Confederate 
 artillery, with an infantry support. Finding his 
 way obstructed. General Logan at once ordered 
 up a battery of brass ''Napoleons," and they 
 soon silenced the Confederate cannon, and 
 cleared the way for our onward march. As we 
 advanced further^ the head of the column soon 
 emerged into a small clearing, — a field of some 
 six acres or more — which was surrounded by a 
 dense pine forest. In the western edge of the 
 field stood a lonely cabin, a little to the right 
 of our line of march, which was south, south- 
 east. The cabin had about it a rail fence of 
 medium height — some five or six rails. 
 
 A more forlorn and desolate looking place of 
 human abode I have never beheld. A few 
 stunted and gnarled shrubs of pine, some sickly- 
 looking sunflowers, which seemed too feeble to 
 hold up their heads, and a few decaying bean 
 hills, were the only green things near, without 
 the reader may jump to the conclusion that the 
 
The Bibth of Shell Anna. 125 
 
 inmates of the cabin should be included. In 
 which event I will say, hold ! be charitable and 
 tread gently. 
 
 "For knowledge to their eyes, her ample pages, 
 Rich with the spoils of time, did ne'er unroll; 
 While penury repressed their noble rage, 
 And froze the genial current of their souls." 
 
 As the cabin stood some distance from our 
 direct line of march across the little field, and 
 seeing a yellow flag hanging in a bush near the 
 house, Dr. Woodward, of Logan's staff, sup- 
 posing the cabin to be an improvised hospital 
 of some sort, rode, in company with a few 
 others, up to see. As they did so a decrepit old 
 goose, with a prediluvian quack, and that 
 looked as if it might have come out of Noah's 
 Ark, went hobbling away from the front of the 
 cabin, w^hile a long, lean, and lank old sow, of 
 the ''elm-peeling kind," with ears that hung 
 to her nose, and a tail that dragged the ground, 
 came from behind the cabin, grunting and 
 squealing with a kind of wheez'n squeaky 
 sound that indicated great age, or a bad case 
 of quinsy. No explanation is deemed necessary 
 as to whv that ancient fowl, and mother of 
 swine, were hot appropriated by the soldiers 
 to replenish their commissary stores with fresh 
 meat. A dish of stewed thong, or white leather 
 scraps, would have been more tempting. 
 
 Finally, in answer to the Doctor's "halloo," 
 
126 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 — after being many times repeated, but not 
 heard, on account of the porcine squealing — an 
 old lady, who had been watching the soldiers 
 at the front through a chink in the cabin, came 
 to the door, and the Doctor asked if there were 
 any wounded soldiers there. ''No", said the 
 old lady, "there wa'n't no wounded men thar". 
 When asked what the yellow flag hanging in 
 the scrubby pine near the house, meant, she 
 replied: "Waal, yer see, my gal is sick, and I 
 reckoned ef I put out that hosp'tal rag you'ns 
 wouldn 't be pesterin us. " " What is the matter 
 with your child"? asked Dr. Woodward. "We 
 are medical officers, and can, perhaps, help 
 her". "Waal now", the old lady quickly re- 
 plied, "ef you'ns is real doctors, jest come in 
 and see what yer shellin' hes done. When my 
 gal was sickest, two of y ourn shells went t 'ar 'n 
 clar through my cabin ; and I tell you 'ns it was 
 right skeery fer a time". 
 
 The officers went in, and, sure enough, it was 
 just as the old lady had said ; the cabin had been 
 badly riddled with cannon shot. It was built 
 of rough pine logs, and a cannon ball, which 
 had crashed through the cabin, had cut one of 
 them in two, and forced the jagged end of one 
 of the pieces out into the room until it hung 
 over a bed, on which was lying a young mother, 
 by whose side there was a newly born babe. In 
 addition to the bed, the only household articles 
 
Christening of Shell Anna. 127 
 
 visible were a few cooking utensils, two or three 
 rickety chairs, some gourds, and an old loom. 
 It was a strange and touching sight. Never 
 before, under similar circumstances, perhaps, 
 did mortal eyes behold such. There, surrounded 
 by a dense pine forest, with no human habita- 
 tion in sight, in a lonely cabin, all shattered 
 and torn by the flying shot and shells of artil- 
 lery, and in the midst of the storm and fury of 
 battle, with its deafening roar and crash of can- 
 non, was born that helpless and innocent babe. 
 How appropriate the name, ''Shell Anna". 
 
 The mother was the wife of a Confederate 
 soldier, who had but recently lost his life in the 
 Army of Virginia, and was grief stricken over 
 the loss of her husband, while the babe, now an 
 orphan, was still clad only in its own innocence. 
 
 Here is subject and theme for the brush and 
 easel of artistic skill and talent of the highest 
 order ; for there was speedily cut from an unfin- 
 ished web in an old loom, in one corner of the 
 house, a piece of coarse homespun, in which 
 the babe was soon swaddled, by the hands of 
 tender-hearted but grim-visaged soldiers, for 
 the remembrance of their own wives and small 
 children at home, had, for the moment, trans- 
 formed them into angels of mercy, with a deli- 
 cacy of touch that was sylph-like, and as soft 
 as eiderdown ; and everything was soon done 
 to relieve the wants of the mother and child 
 
128 A D11.MOND IN THE Rough. 
 
 that was humanely possible under the circum- 
 stances, and speaks volumes for the sterling 
 integrity and high standing of the American 
 soldiery in the art of true manliness under try- 
 ing circumstances. 
 
 As matters now began to assume a more 
 cheerful aspect, it was suggested by some 
 kindly hearted soldier, from whose heart the 
 Christian sentiment had not been driven out 
 and crushed by cruel war, that the babe ought 
 to be christened. 
 
 ' ' Oh yes ' ' ! said the grandmother, ' ' baptized, 
 I reckon, ef you'nshes got any preacher along". 
 An orderly was at once sent back to General 
 Logan, with the compliments of Dr. Woodward, 
 and a request for a chaplain. This being unu- 
 sual, under all the circumstances, the General 
 asked for what purpose a chaplain was wanted, 
 and the orderly told him that Dr. Woodward 
 was going to have a "baptism". A chaplain 
 was at once sent to the front ; and in a few 
 moments, on pondering the matter, and think- 
 ing that perhaps some deviltry was at hand, 
 General Logan mounted and put spurs to ' ' old 
 black John", and was soon to the front, and at 
 the cabin. "General", said Dr. Woodward, 
 "You are just the man we are after". 
 
 "After, for what purpose", said General 
 Logan. "For a godfather", replied the Doctor. 
 "A godfather to what" ? demanded the General. 
 
Logan Made a Godfather. 129 
 
 The matter was explained, and the Doctor led 
 the way into the cabin. 
 
 Those standing around, not being acquainted 
 with the big-hearted and generous souled quali- 
 ties of General Logan, having only known him 
 in touch and contact with the relentless sur- 
 roundings of cruel and blood curdling war, 
 expected this event to furnish an occasion for 
 the display of the General's characteristic 
 Immor, which seemed ever present with him; 
 but in this they were doomed to disappoint- 
 ment, for they soon noticed something in 
 "Black Jack's" face very different from its 
 accustomed look, and instead of their usual 
 flashing brightness, there w^as a certain humid 
 tenderness in his eyes. 
 
 The General stood for a moment, silent, while 
 gazing at the mother and the child, and their 
 humble surroundings, and then turning to the 
 soldiers about him, said: "This looks rough". 
 Then glancing at the ruin and havoc wrought 
 by the shells, he called out : "I say, boys, can 't 
 you fix this up a little? Repair that place in 
 the roof up there, and push that log back in its 
 place, and help the old lady clear out the litter 
 those shells have made; and, I don't think it 
 will hurt if you leave something for these peo- 
 ple to eat, and if you get short, come round to 
 corps headquarters". 
 
 In a little while the roof was patched, the 
 
 (9) 
 
130 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 room cleared, and a big pile of provisions stored 
 in one corner of the cabin, consisting of meat, 
 coffee, sugar, and *' hardtack". This done, the 
 next thing was the christening of the babe, and 
 as the chaplain was about to proceed, the grand- 
 mother asked: ''What is you'ns goin' to give 
 her for a name? I want suth'in re'l nice". 
 She was assured the name would be all right, 
 and forthwith brought the baptismal bowl — in 
 this case, a gourd, filled to the brim with clear 
 limpid water. Then General Logan, the big- 
 hearted soldier, grim looking, but gentle and 
 tender, took the babe, as wrapped in its swad- 
 dling clothes of homespun, and held it while the 
 chaplain performed the ceremony ; which was 
 done with due solemnity, the spectators, mean- 
 while, all being soldiers, behaving with becom- 
 ing respect and reverence; and thus the ''Bat- 
 tle Born Babe of Flint River," was christened, 
 "Shell Anna." 
 
 Years afterward, in speaking of this event, 
 Dr. Woodward is reported as saying, "I like 
 even now, at this distance, to look back and 
 think, that as the chaplain 's prayers were wing- 
 ing their way to heaven, the gory goddess of 
 war, who is ever and always supposed to be 
 nursing a gorgon at her breast, stayed her red 
 hand awhile". 
 
 All things possible to be done for the comfort 
 of the child, its mother, and grandmother, hav- 
 
A Happy Old Grandmother. 131 
 
 ing now been accomplished, General Logan left 
 the cabin, and as he did so he handed the old 
 lady a twenty-dollar gold coin, as a christening 
 gift to his godchild ; and the officers and men — 
 for there had gathered at the cabin quite a num- 
 ber — each gave her something, until the amount 
 was much greater than the brave-hearted and 
 good old grandmother was accustomed to hav- 
 ing on hand at one time. 
 
 As Logan and his men left, the old lady bade 
 them good-bye, and as she stood in the door of 
 her cabin and watched their departure, with 
 a heart overflowing with joy and gladness, and 
 with a countenance all beaming and radiant 
 with smiles, she turned to her daughter and ex- 
 claimed, ' ' Waal ! waal ! Ef them thar Yanks 
 aint the beatenist critters I ever seen". 
 
 At length the fratricidal war was over, and 
 one by one the years came and went, during 
 which General Logan was elected to the United 
 States Senate. Did he forget his godchild, the 
 "Battle Born Babe of Flint River!" Not by 
 any means did he. On the contrary, through 
 the Mayor of Atlanta he made enquiry and 
 gained information of her often, and many 
 times whilst a member of the Senate. The last 
 time being when she was no longer a helpless 
 infant, but a young lady in her later teens, in 
 school, in the city of Atlanta. And quite fre- 
 quently did General Logan remember her with 
 
132 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 gifts of money, whilst in need ; and thus placed 
 upon his brow a crown, in the eyes of the pure 
 and the noble, whose splendor was ne'er over- 
 shadowed by his distinguished service as a 
 statesman in after years, although his niche in 
 fame 's monument, as such, is high. 
 
 As General Logan's career during the Civil 
 War is without a parallel, he having never 
 fought a losing battle, I will here give a descrip- 
 tion of him in an engagement, the same as I 
 gave by request in an address on the 30th of 
 May, 1887, to the Union Veterans of Clayton, 
 Indiana, the theme of the address being ''The 
 Battle of Atlanta," which, as already stated, 
 was fought on the 22nd day of July, 1864. 
 
 The position of the Union Army before At- 
 lanta, on the morning of July 22nd, '64, was as 
 follows : The Army of the Cumberland on the 
 right ; the Army of the Ohio in the center ; and 
 the Army of the Tennessee on the left, which 
 extended from a point southeast of the city 
 around to the northwest side of it. The morn- 
 ing of the 22nd opened bright and clear, and 
 with no indication that anything unusua! 
 would transpire that day. But as a calm nearly 
 always precedes a storm, whether among the 
 elements, as exhibited in the lightning's flash, 
 the hurricane's roar; or in the carnage of war, 
 amid the trampling of horse, the roar of can- 
 non, or the crash of musketrv : so it was on 
 
The Battle of July 22d, '64. 133 
 
 the morning of this eventful day. All nature 
 seemed bright and serene, with unusual quiet 
 prevailing all along our front. Somehow, a 
 vague feeling had taken possession of our army, 
 that Atlanta would be taken without any more 
 hard fighting. And as two months and a half 
 had now gone by, since the campaign, with 
 Atlanta as the objective point, had begun, the 
 great body of the soldiers were somewhat jubi- 
 lant over the prospect of a speedy termination. 
 
 But alas ! How soon all this composure and 
 quiescence was to be broken up, we had little 
 dreamed, and w^ere therefore unsuspecting of 
 what a few hours would bring forth. Well 
 indeed v/as it that the awful shock of battle 
 many times came upon us without much fore- 
 warning to be brooded over and dreaded. And 
 so about half-past eleven, a. m., on this day, or 
 shortly thereafter, musket shots were heard to 
 our left, and in our rear. Some said, **0 ! that's 
 nothing but the boys foraging for hogs in the 
 rear". Others said ''It's the cavalry firing off 
 their carbines." Presently, the booming of 
 cannon was heard. ''There", said one. "No 
 hog killing in that. They don't forage for 
 swine with cannon ' '. 
 
 All is now changed. Doubt and uncertainty 
 takes possession of our minds, whilst anxiety 
 and concern soon become depicted upon every 
 countenance, as "ranks are formed" and guns 
 
134 A Diamond jn thp: Rough. 
 
 and swords are tightly gripped, as we began to 
 realize that an awful struggle was at hand, 
 which soon broke upon us with its awful fury; 
 during which, even the sun, that had hitherto 
 shone with such brilliancy during all the fore- 
 noon, soon became almost obscured by the 
 smoke of battle, and seemed to shine with reluc- 
 tance upon the bloody scenes there being en- 
 acted. And now, after the lapse of more than 
 forty years, it is my deliberate judgment that 
 nothing but the preservation of the best gov- 
 ernment on earth, the issue then at stake, will 
 justify such carnage and bloodshed. For noth- 
 ing but the most desperate fighting saved the 
 Army of the Tennessee that day from over- 
 whelming defeat, as General Hood — the Con- 
 federate commander — Avas executing a most 
 brilliant flanking movement, with an impetu- 
 osity and dash unsurpassed in any of the wars 
 of Napoleon, in which he had withdrawn the 
 veteran brigades and divisions of his army from 
 the formidable works in front of the armies of 
 the Cumberland and the Ohio, and had moved 
 them beyond General Sherman's left, — the 
 Army of the Tennessee — and was now hurling 
 them against his flank and rear, with fury and 
 desperation. 
 
 Wangeland's Brigade of the First Division, 
 and Martin's Brigade of the Second Division, 
 of the Fifteenth Corps, were ordered away to 
 
General McPherson's Death. 135 
 
 fill a gap at the left of the Seventeenth Corps ; 
 but before these brigades reached their new 
 position, the Confederates had forced their way 
 through between the right of the Sixteenth 
 Corps and the left of the Seventeenth, and were 
 in the rear of the latter. This was a densely- 
 wooded district, and the point where General 
 McPherson w^as caught in ambush, unaware, 
 and shot. 
 
 In quite a short time the General's body was 
 recovered, and the fact of his death reported 
 to General Sherman; who at once directed the 
 staff officer who brought the report, to find Gen- 
 eral Logan and acquaint him with the fact of 
 General McPherson's death, and the conditions 
 at the point where he was killed, and to direct 
 General Logan to take command of the army, 
 in McPherson's stead, and to fight the battle to a 
 finish with the Army of the Tennessee. These facts 
 may be found on page 77, volume 2. Memoirs of 
 General Sherman. And on page 82, of the same 
 volume. General Sherman further says: '^I 
 purposely allowed the Army of the Tennessee 
 to fight this battle, July 22nd, '64 — nnaided, 
 save by General Schofield and General Thomas, 
 in demonstrations against the fortifications in 
 their immediate front. The purpose of which 
 was to hold the troops in the trenches defending 
 Atlanta from going to the assistance of those 
 operating against General Sherman's left. So 
 
136 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 the battle of July 22nd, '64, on the east of 
 Atlanta, was fought by the Army of the Tennes- 
 see without reinforcements from other portions 
 of Sherman's army. 
 
 But as it is not my purpose to describe this 
 battle, further than to reach the stage of it 
 when General McPherson was killed, and Gen- 
 eral Logan assigned to the command of the 
 Army of the Tennessee, in McPherson 's stead, 
 which I have reached, I will now give my atten- 
 tion especially to General Logan. And in doing 
 this, I realize that some further description of 
 the conditions present at this time is necessary, 
 to properly present General Logan to the atten- 
 tion of the reader. 
 
 The position of General Logan's Corps, the 
 Fifteenth, when the battle opened on this day, 
 lay astride the railroad running east from At- 
 lanta through Decatur, and when the two 
 brigades above spoken of, were ordered away, 
 to fill a gap at the left of the Seventeenth Corps, 
 our line of battle crossing the railroad, — which 
 runs through a deep cut at this point — was 
 greatly weakened by the withdrawal of the two 
 brigades. Discovering this, General Cheatham, 
 with a strong force, charged our men at the 
 railroad, and broke through and forced our 
 weakened line of battle back to a breastworks 
 to the rear, which had been constructed by our 
 corps two days before. 
 
A Most Wonderful Leap. 137 
 
 Now, as war is rarely ever so serious, but that 
 many amusing and ludicrous incidents happen, 
 I will relate one, personal to myself, which 
 transpired at this time. On leaving the works, 
 from which we were flanked by Cheatham's 
 men, in our retreat we had first to run down a 
 considerable slope, and as my company, — G, 
 99th, Indiana — was on the right of the regi- 
 ment, and our line of retreat was to the left and 
 rear, and in tarrying a moment to see that the 
 men of my company got away in good shape, 
 I was soon running with all my might to catch 
 up, and whilst nuining down the slope, just 
 spoken of, and about to pass between a high 
 stump, from which a dead tree had broken, and 
 a small hickory sapling, that stood close by it, 
 which had been struck with a cannon ball about 
 four and one-half feet high, causing it to break 
 and fall away from the old stump, but left 
 hanging on its own. 
 
 Just at the moment I was about to pass 
 between these stumps, and while running at a 
 rate that fairly "split the air", a little short- 
 legged soldier, whose legs were too short to run 
 fast, entered the space between the stumps, 
 which made a collision inevitable if I attempted 
 to pass that way ; and as there was no alterna- 
 tive for me, — being much the larger of the two 
 — but to leap the body of the hickory sapling, 
 or break myself against it, as there were some 
 
138 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 limbs projecting downward from the body, 
 rendering it difficult to pass under; and as 
 there was no time to debate questions, I sum- 
 moned all my energy for the vault ; and whilst 
 in midair, just above the body of the sapling, 
 the little short-legged soldier, who at the 
 moment was between the stumps, and seeing 
 the wonderful leap, exclaimed: 'Tlreat God"! 
 His exclamation, and the look of astonishment 
 which he gave, was so provocative of laughter, 
 that by the time I struck the ground I had 
 nearly forgotten the rebels at our heels, and for 
 a moment could scarcely run. But when 1 
 glanced back and saAv the Confederates dashing 
 over the works after us, some of whom wore 
 long-skirted bark-colored coats, the skirts of 
 which were flapping in the air as they came over 
 the Avorks like great wings, I needed no further 
 incentive to run, and soon forgot the vault over 
 the hickory sapling. 
 
 AVhen Chaplain D. R. Lucas, of the Ninety- 
 ninth Indiana, catches me at a G. A. R. Camp 
 Fire, he rarely ever lets the opportunity pass to 
 have some fun at my expense, by telling the 
 story on me, that I was asked by a jesting com- 
 rade at the time of the above, why I was run- 
 ning, and that I replied: ^^Why, T am running 
 hecause I canH fly'\ 
 
 The distance from, the line of works aban- 
 doned by us to those to which we were retreat- 
 ing, was some five or six hundred yards, and 
 
Logan's Appearance in Battle. 139 
 
 there was a battery of twelve guns, or two bat- 
 teries of six guns each, in this line which had 
 been pouring shot and shell into the Confeder- 
 ates over our heads, as best they could, before 
 our retreat, and afterwards, until we got under 
 cover in the works, to which we had retreated ; 
 when the battery ceased the use of large mis- 
 siles, and commenced to rain a perfect torrent of 
 grape, canister, and sharpnel into the ranks of 
 the hooting ''Johnnies", who had flanked us 
 out of our works, and sent them pell-mell in 
 confusion, all who were not mowed down, back 
 toward Atlanta. 
 
 It was at this juncture that General Logan 
 dashed up from our right, beyond the railroad, 
 where he had rallied the troops on that side, 
 who were compelled to fall back to keep from 
 being enfiladed, and crossed over to our side, 
 to whose assistance the General had ordered up 
 some reinforcements, to take the place of the 
 brigades sent away, and we immediately 
 advanced and drove the Confederates back, and 
 took possession of the line of breastworks from 
 which we were flanked but a short time before. 
 
 Now, I can but wish that I could in fitting 
 terms give the reader a picture of General 
 Logan as he appeared that day. For no one in 
 all history, of whom I have knowledge, among 
 the ancient, mediaeval or modern warriors, is 
 to be poiTipMi-ed with him: unless it be Murat. 
 
140 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 as he entered ^loscow, at the head of Napo- 
 leon's Army in his disastrous winter campaign 
 against Russia. In the first place, no General 
 ever bestrode a finer war steed than did Logan, 
 which he always kept perfectly groomed, and 
 richly caparisoned with gilded bridle, breast 
 girth, saddle cloth and surcingle. His horse 
 was large, high-headed, and of matchless form 
 and symmetry, with a rich flowing mane and 
 tail, the latter eA^er up, when moving, and was 
 a-s black as a raven's wing. The chariot hoses of 
 Ben-Hur and Messala were not to be compared 
 with him, as General Logan dashed up to the 
 right of our regiment that day and halted, while 
 we were yet panting, perspiring, dust-covered 
 and powder-stained from the struggle at the 
 works just flanked out of, and were watching 
 the twelve-gun battery just in our front, as it 
 sent the last Confederate with breath in him 
 hurrying and scurrying back toward Atlanta. 
 
 Having caught the war spirit of his master, 
 this matchless steed of Logan stood proudly 
 champing the bit, with dilated eyes, smoking 
 flanks and distended nostrils ; and, withal, in an 
 apparent listening mood, as if he understood 
 what was being said ; while the General, — whom 
 the soldiers of the Fifteenth Army Corps 
 delighted to call "The Mohawk Chief," or the 
 '^Blackjack General" — who was spotlessly 
 attired in army blue, of sky color, and wore a 
 
Qen. Logan Invincible in Wak. 141 
 
 heavy mustache, long black hair, and whose 
 build was faultless as a soldier, sat his horse a 
 perfect specimen of the equestrian art, and 
 looked like a very son of Mars himself, or the 
 personified spirit of all that is grand, brave, 
 glorious and mighty in war. 
 
 No wonder General Logan never lost a battle. 
 He had the power of infusing his own dauntless 
 and indomitable spirit into his soldiers. It 
 was easy to follow where he led. And when 
 General Logan set about regaining the position 
 lost at the railroad, just spoken of, there fol- 
 lowed one of the most terrific onslaughts by a 
 single line of battle ever witnessed on this 
 earth, the brunt of which was borne by the 
 Second Division, the left of the First, and the 
 right of the Fourth, of the Fifteenth Army 
 Corps. No, indeed! Neither the tongue nor 
 the pen of the soldier engaged, nor skill of 
 artist who may have witnessed it, though a 
 Titian, a Holbein, or Raphael, could ever over- 
 paint it. 
 
 When the great Hannibal crossed the Medi- 
 terranean Sea into Spain, then across the Pyre- 
 nees into Gaul, and thence over the Alps into 
 the valley of the Po, in northern Italy, and had 
 met and defeated the Roman Army, at Cannae, 
 in his report to the Carthaginian Senate, he 
 described the battle as so awful that he heard 
 the very bones in his men crush, as they were 
 
142 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 mowed down around him, and yet the victory 
 was his. 
 
 And what will be thought when I state as a 
 fact of history, (in Dawson's Life of Logan) 
 that on the 22nd day of July, '64, that soldiers 
 of the Army of the Tennessee — the Seventeenth 
 Corps — fought with clubs, guns, and swords, in 
 a hand to hand conflict with the Confederate 
 soldiers under General Hood, over breastworks 
 and across parapets ; and during these hand to 
 hand conflicts the flags of the opposing armies 
 were flaunted in each others' faces by the Ser- 
 geants who bore them, while men were being 
 bayoneted by each other across the works ; and 
 in one instance a Confederate Colonel, of the 
 Forty-fifth Alabama, was literally pulled by his 
 coat collar over the works and made a prisoner, 
 as may be learned in Dawson's Life of Logan. 
 
 General Sherman knew his man, then, when 
 he assigned General Logan to the command of 
 the Army of the Tennessee, on July 22nd, '64. 
 when General McPherson was killed, and 
 remained at his headquarters in the rear of the 
 Army of the Ohio, in perfect confidence that 
 General Logan would fight a winning battle, 
 without assistance from any source. . And in his 
 report to the Secretary of War, at Washington, 
 as well as in his memoirs, General Sherman 
 truly says that General Logan and the Army of 
 the Tennessee ' ' Nobly did their work that day. 
 
LoGAis's Statement After Battle. 143 
 
 and while terrible was the slaughter done to 
 our enemy, j^et it was at sad cost to ourselves". 
 
 It is related in Dawson's Life of Logan, that 
 late in the night, after the battlt^ was ended, 
 and while he and his staff were at supper, that 
 General Logan said: "When I learned of the 
 death of General McPherson, and was assigned 
 to the command of the Army of the Tennessee 
 I resolved on fighting a victorious engagement, 
 or perishing in the effort ; for, as the Army of 
 the Tennessee, under General McPherson, had 
 always been victorious, for me to have per- 
 mitted it to be defeated and humiliated, I 
 could not, and would not permit, and live". 
 
 We therefore see that in the mental make up 
 of General Logan that he possessed two great 
 qualities of mind. One, as exhibited at the 
 christening of the "Battle Born Babe of Flint 
 River, ' ' wherein he exhibited a childlike tender- 
 ness of heart ; and the other for heroic courage, 
 Spartan like, and unsurpassed in the annals of 
 war on many hotly-contested battlefields. 
 
Chapter 9 
 
 THE DEFEAT OF SANTA ANNA AT SAN JACINTO BY 
 GENERAL HOUSTON 
 
 AFTER the capture and destruction of Col- 
 onel Fannin 's army near Goliad, and the 
 receipt of the reinforcements under 
 Urrea, Santa Anna became imbued with the 
 belief that the Texans were now practically 
 under his control, and began an assignment of 
 troops to occupy the country until they had 
 time to quiet down. He now ordered a brigade 
 of cavalry, some artillery, and a quantity of 
 military stores to be put in readiness for a 
 return trip to San Louis Potosi, Mexico. His 
 purpose was also to go himself by water from 
 Matagorda to Tampico in a few days, after he 
 should complete the disposition of his troops. 
 
 When General Filisola and Colonel Almonte 
 heard of Santa Anna's purpose, they remon- 
 strated with him, and insisted that the Texans 
 were not subdued. In confirmation of this, they 
 cited the fact that Sesma's force at the Colo- 
 rado was confronted by 1,200 Texans to dispute 
 his passage of the river. Hearing this, Santa 
 Anna changed his mind, and at once left with 
 General Filisola to join General Sesma, at the 
 Colorado. 
 
 (10) -145- 
 
14() A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 When the news of the fall of the Alamo and 
 the destruction of Fannin's army at Goliad had 
 spread through the country, the people became 
 panic stricken and packed their goods in wag- 
 ons and left in a rush for the settlements to the 
 eastward of the Colorado and Brazos Rivers. 
 It was Houston's thought from the beginning of 
 the war that the choice battleground for the 
 Texans was east of those rivers. Hence he had 
 ordered Travis to evacuate the Alamo, and 
 Fannin to fall back from Goliad, when the 
 Alamo was taken, as already described. Had 
 Houston been heeded in these orders the dis- 
 aster of those places would not have happened. 
 
 Houston having retreated from the west side 
 to the east of the Colorado River, on his own 
 chosen ground, and while the inhabitants were 
 rushing hither from the west side also, he sent 
 couriers among the settlements beyond the 
 Trinity River to the east, and urgently called 
 upon them to rally to his standard. ''Let every 
 available man now rush to arms, ' ' said Houston, 
 * ' and in sixty days we will end the war. ' ' 
 
 In the movements now in contemplation 
 Houston kept his own counsel, and let no one 
 into the secret of his purpose. It afterward 
 developed that his tactics were to so maneuver 
 as to prevent a concentration of Santa Anna's 
 forces, even at a point east of the Colorado. 
 His purpose, as afterward shown, was to entice 
 
Houston's Military Sagacity. 147 
 
 some one of the divisions of Santa Anna 's army 
 over the Colorado River, and then fall upon and 
 destroy it. Houston therefore moved toward 
 the Brazos. He was first up and last to bed. 
 The weather at this time was bad in the 
 extreme, for the movement of troops. The 
 streams were overflowing their banks as the 
 result of heavy rains, and the prairies were a 
 perfect morass of mud. Nevertheless, Hous- 
 ton's army increased as he marched. He 
 reached San Filipe on the west bank of the 
 Brazos on the 28th of March. From this point 
 he moved toward the north, and up stream. 
 
 General Sesma, with his Mexican force, now 
 crossed the Colorado and moved toward San 
 Filipe, to join Urrea, who was marching 
 thither. Santa Anna hastened forward to take 
 command of both divisions, in the hope of 
 crushing Houston. When he arrived he found 
 Houston gone. Still thinking the war prac- 
 tically ended, and that Houston would continue 
 to dodge and run, he ordered Urrea to retrace 
 his steps and to proceed to Matagorda. Mean^ 
 time General Gaona had got lost and did not 
 reach San Filipe until April 17th. Santa Anna 
 now thought, as Houston had failed to stand 
 and fight, that all that was necessary to end the 
 war was to capture the government at Harris- 
 burg. He therefore moved his force down the 
 Brazos to a point where he crossed on the 13th. 
 
148 A Diamond ix the iiouoH. 
 
 and on the 15th he reached Harrisburg, and 
 found the town deserted by nearly all the 
 inhabitants. 
 
 From those who remained Santa Anna 
 learned that the State officers had gone to New 
 Washington. He at once pushed on, hoping to 
 catch the officers before they could escape to 
 Galveston. The news of the above movements 
 by, Santa Anna were made known to Houston 
 by the scouts, and he became greatly elated. In 
 an address to his soldiers he said : ' ' The oppor- 
 tunity we have been anxiousl}^ awaiting is near 
 at hand. The victims of the Alamo and Groliad 
 call for blood and vengeance. A supreme 
 moment is just before us. At this time a scout 
 brought word to Houston that Santa Anna had 
 crossed to the east side of the Brazos, and he 
 determined to follow. Houston's only cannon, 
 however, were tw^o six-pounder guns, named, 
 ''The Twin Sisters," which had been sent to 
 Texas by the citizens of Cincinnati. And for 
 these he had no ammunition, except powder. 
 But in a short time some old horseshoes and 
 scrap iron were cut up and tied in small bags 
 to be used instead of canister or grape-shot, at 
 short range. 
 
 Just at this moment information was brought 
 to Houston by scouts which clearly indicated 
 that Santa Anna w^as at the head of the force 
 they would soon encounter. This news was like 
 
Houston Eushing for Santa Anna. 149 
 
 the scent of warm blood to a hungry bear, and 
 intensified the anxiet}^ of the Texans to settle 
 with Santa Anna now and forever. And this 
 feeling soon flamed into a fierce rage for victory 
 and vengeance. And although Buffalo Bayou, 
 then a raging torrent, was to be crossed yet, it 
 was crossed, and the troops pushed on through 
 the night 'till morning. At sunrise they halted 
 to cook some meat, — all the provisions they had. 
 The half-cooked meat was soon devoured, and 
 with an impetuosity unsurpassed in the annals 
 of war, the troops pushed forward to the con- 
 fluence of the Buffalo Bayou and the San 
 Jacinto River, where it was expected that Santa 
 Anna would cross. On reaching the point, no 
 enemy was in sight, but some of his provisions 
 were discovered and seized. Houston then fell 
 back to a grove of live oak, heavily hung with 
 Spanish moss, on the banks of the bayou. 
 Before this grove lay a stretch of prairie, some 
 two miles wide. Beyond the prairie flowed the 
 little river, the San Jacinto, which was soon to 
 be immortalized in a baptism of blood, and to 
 give name to a battle that would forever free 
 Texas from Mexican oppression. In the rear 
 was the swollen waters of Buffalo Bayou. The 
 little army of Houston was screened and shel- 
 tered at the edge of the grove, and the two can- 
 non, heavily charged with hacked up iron, were 
 in position ready for deadly work. Thus the 
 
150 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 Texans waited, watched, and rested from their 
 forced marching. 
 
 On the morning of the 20th, Santa Anna had 
 his troops in line for a march to Lynch 's Ferry. 
 Just then a Mexican scont rushed up to him 
 and called out, "Houston's army is near us." 
 Exclamations in a moment were everywhere 
 heard, ''The Texans are coming"! In the 
 midst of fright and confusion the Mexican army 
 fell into line, and a skirmish line was thrown 
 out and advanced. But were quickly driven 
 back by the Texans. Santa Anna then drew off. 
 Late in lihe afternoon Colonel Sherman ad- 
 vanced with the Texan cavalry and some skir- 
 mishing took place, but nothing decisive. The 
 Mexicans seemed to have regained their com- 
 posure, and appeared indifferent. The Texans 
 rested during the night, and fortified their 
 camp to some extent; as also did Santa Anna. 
 
 April 21st dawned bright and clear, and al- 
 though the crucial hour for the armies had 
 arrived, yet there was a stillness and quietude 
 hovering over the impending scene that was 
 inexplicable. In the early morning Houston 
 had "Deaf Smith," his chief scout, secure some 
 axes, and select two or three reliable compan- 
 ions and be in waiting for orders. About noon 
 Houston ordered Smith and his companions to 
 proceed cautiously, but as rapidly as possible, 
 rind destroy Vance's bridge. This was a bridge 
 
The Battle of San Jacinto. 151 
 
 some five miles to the rear, over which either 
 army would have to pass in case of defeat, and 
 a retreat ; and rendered the coming battle a 
 struggle for life. It was like the burning of 
 his ships behind him by Cortes on landing the 
 first Spaniards in Mexico. 
 
 Houston told Deaf Smith that he would have 
 to hurry with the destruction of the bridge, 
 if he wished to see what was about to happen. 
 At half past three p. m. Houston formed his 
 line. It was drawn up behind the camp, in the 
 timber, and therefore not in view of the enemy. 
 Houston was at the rear of the center. At four 
 o'clock, in full and ringing tones, Houston's 
 wonderful voice rang out in the command, 
 ''Forward, march!" and with trailed arms the 
 line advanced. As they approached the posi- 
 tion of the enemy, who were completely sur- 
 prised, the Texans increased their pace to a run, 
 with Houston dashing back and forth behind 
 the line with his old white hat, now dinged and 
 dirty, in his hand, calling to his men to hold 
 their fire until within close range. When with- 
 in a hundred yards of the Mexican line, "Deaf 
 Smith" dashed up with his horse white with 
 foam, and yelled, "You will have to fight 
 for your lives! Vance's bridge has been cut 
 down." In a moment the "Twin Sisters" were 
 within point-blank range, and were quickly 
 wheeled and discharged. The slugs of iron 
 
152 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 belched from their muzzles went crashing 
 through the fragile barricade and into the 
 panic-stricken Mexicans, who, in a moment, be- 
 came thoroughly demoralized, and were being 
 mowed down frightfully. 
 
 Santa Anna, it appears, had no thought of a 
 battle that day, and didn't want one, as he was 
 expecting reinforcements. Many of the Mexi- 
 can officers and men were sound asleep, while 
 others were absent in the woods cutting boughs 
 for shelter. Some of the officers in frantic 
 alarm ordered their men to lie down and avoid 
 the bullets. Santa Anna also ordered the men 
 to lie down. General Castrillon, however, tried 
 to form the Mexicans into line, but soon fell 
 dead. The Mexicans barely had time to grab 
 their arms and accouterments as the Texans 
 burst over the fragile barricade and began 
 clubbing them with their guns, in some in- 
 stances, and in others, rushing among them 
 with their long knives ; and after a few min- 
 utes of this kind of desperate struggle, the 
 Mexican army broke and fled, and were pur- 
 sued by the hooting and yelling Texans until 
 they ran into the marshes along the San Jacinto 
 River, where they were bogged and shot to 
 death as they struggled in the mire. Those who 
 fled over the prairie were pursued by better 
 runners than they, and were cut down or shot 
 down without mercy. 
 
A Decisive Victory. 153 
 
 In this work Houston's cavalry covered them- 
 selves all over with glory. — meanwhile yelling 
 at the fleeing Mexicans, "reminders of the 
 Alamo and Goliad." Santa Anna, after run- 
 ning hither and thither for a time, sprang upon 
 a horse and fled toward Vance's bridge. The 
 Mexican soldiers, many of them, in sheer des- 
 peration now threw down their arms, and up 
 their hands, in token of surrender. Some who 
 ran at the start were caught and brought in 
 after the battle. Houston was wounded in the 
 ankle, which shattered the bone, but remained 
 in command until the end, when he turned the 
 command over to Colonel Rush. Colonel Al- 
 monte managed to rally some three hundred to 
 three hundred and fifty Mexicans and made a 
 formal surrender. The prisoners were put un- 
 der guard, and fires kindled, as the night was 
 now fast coming on, and the Texans gave them- 
 selves up to great rejoicing. 
 
 The number of Texans in the battle was less 
 than one thousand, — 993. Their loss was light, 
 in the extreme, — 13 killed and 40 wounded — 
 which happened as they crossed the breastwork 
 After this, the Mexicans were powerless, and 
 were helplessly slaughtered. The Mexican loss 
 was 598 killed, 208 wounded, and 730 prisoners. 
 The number of Mexicans killed and wounded 
 were nearly equal to the Texan army when the 
 battle began. A large quantity of arms and 
 
154 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 baggage fell to the victors, including 875 Eng- 
 lish muskets, 280 sabres and 200 pistols. There 
 were also near 400 head of horses and mules. 
 The sum of $13,000 in silver was received. 
 
 The next day, parties of Texan soldiers were 
 scouring the country in search of Santa Anna, 
 whom Houston had said ''would be found mak- 
 ing his escape on all fours through the grass, 
 like a dog, that he is." During the afternoon, 
 a Mexican was brought in on horseback behind 
 a Texan soldier. His captors were not aware 
 they had caught Santa Anna until cam.p was 
 reached, when the Mexican prisoners, on seeing 
 Santa Anna, addressed him as their General. 
 When Santa Anna, in his flight, found Vance's 
 bridge gone, he attempted to swim his horse 
 over the stream, but he mired before reaching 
 deep water. He then left the horse, swam the 
 stream, and continued his retreat. He managed 
 to secure some old clothes, and changed his 
 dress. During the day following the battle, a 
 party of four Texans came upon Santa Anna 
 at the edge of a ravine. He dropped on all 
 fours in the grass, but was soon brought to his 
 feet by the Texan scouts.* 
 
 When captured, Santa Anna first claimed to 
 be a private soldier; but his fine linen and 
 jewels betrayed him. He then said he was an 
 
 ♦There is a popular belief that Santa Anna had a leg off at 
 this battle. Not so. He lost his legr after this, in the defense of 
 Vera Cruz. 
 
Santa Anna Captured. 155 
 
 aid-de-camp to Santa Anna. When he was 
 brought into the presence of Houston, who was 
 lying on his pallet in a doze from loss of sleep 
 the night before on account of his wounds, and 
 was very plainly dressed, — his only insignia of 
 authority being a sword which he carried tied 
 to his belt with a buckskin thong — Santa Anna 
 said, ''I am General Antonio Lopez de Santa 
 Anna, President of the Mexican Republic." 
 Houston motioned him to a seat. On taking his 
 seat, Santa Anna remarked : ' ' That man may 
 consider himself born to no common destiny 
 who has conquered the Napoleon of the West. 
 It now remains for him to be generous to the 
 vanquished." Houston replied, ^'You should 
 have thought of that at the Alamo, and when order- 
 ing tlie prisoners at Goliad shot, and the wounded, 
 butchered and burned. ' ' 
 
 When the news of Houston's victory at San 
 Jacinto became noised about, it caused great 
 rejoicing everywhere in Texas ; and the Presi- 
 dent of the Republic and Cabinet at once set 
 out from Galveston to visit Houston's camp. 
 The terms of the treaty of peace as suggested 
 by Houston were those agreed upon. Being 
 incapacitated for service on account of his 
 wound, Houston issued a farewell address to the 
 army, saying : ' ' Comrades — My wounds render 
 my separation from you for a time unavoidable. 
 I am solaced, though, by the hope that we shall 
 
156 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 soon be reunited in the cause of liberty. Gen- 
 eral Rush will succeed me in the command. I 
 confide in his honor and his valor. You have 
 patiently endured difficulties, privations, and 
 hardships unappalled. While an enemy to inde- 
 pendence remains in Texas, your work will be 
 incomplete : but when liberty is firmly estab- 
 lished, it will be fame enough to say, "I was 
 a member of the army of San Jacinto."' In 
 taking leave of you, my dear comrades, I wish 
 to give expression to the pride which I so justly 
 feel in having had the honor to command in 
 person on the notable day of April 21st, 1836, 
 at San Jacinto. Nor will I withhold the tribute 
 of my warmest admiration and gratitude for 
 your promptness in executing all commands. 
 Please accept assurances that my heart em- 
 braces you with gratitude and affection. 
 
 Sam Houston, Commander-in-Chief. ' ' 
 
 Houston was at once removed to Galveston, 
 and thence to New Orleans for medical treat- 
 ment of his wounds. 
 
 Much of the above information I received of 
 soldiers who participated in the campaign here 
 outlined, and in the Battle of San Jacinto, at 
 the reunion of the Old Texas Veterans at Lam- 
 pasas, Texas, in June, 1892; which I shall ever 
 cherish with emotions of pleasure and great 
 delight. ' 
 
 (Continued on pte:* 175.) 
 
Chapter 10 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY OF NEW HARMONY, INDIANA, 
 AND ITS FOUNDERS 
 
 TO HAA^E a clear understanding of the his- 
 tory of New Harmony, Posey County, 
 Indiana, it is necessary to go back to the 
 early days of the last century. 
 
 In the year 1803, George Rapp, a German 
 vine-dresser, who had attracted about him a fol- 
 lowing, b}" reason of his peculiar religious 
 views, came with his followers from the vicinity 
 of Wurtemburg, Germany, to America, and first 
 settled near Zehenople, Butler County, Pennsyl- 
 vania, and founded "Harmonia," and he and 
 his followers w^ere soon called "Harmonists." 
 
 The religious freedom afforded in the United 
 States is what brought the colonists hither. Mr. 
 Rapp's religious views were of the Millenarian 
 theory, — of the near approach of the end 
 of the world — the preaching of which had 
 aroused against him such opposition as to cause 
 him to sever his connection with the Lutheran 
 Church, and he became the head of the colony 
 w^hich came to this country. 
 
 Rapp's religious views also led to the discard- 
 ing of the marriage relation, which he regarded 
 as detrimental to the attainment of the highest 
 
 -157- 
 
158 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 state of Christian perfection. He was also a 
 communist, and rested his belief on Acts, 4-32, 
 in which it is said: "The multitude of them 
 that believed were of one heart and one soul, 
 . . . and they had all things in common." 
 
 After arriving in this country the society 
 prospered greatly, as they were industrious, 
 and knew no self-interest but that which added 
 to the happiness and prosperity of the whole 
 community. In a few years, however, there be- 
 ing no railroads, they began to realize that a 
 location twelve miles from a navigable stream 
 was greatly to their disadvantage, and Mr. 
 Rapp, in the year 1813, made a trip farther 
 west in search of a new location. After travel- 
 ing many days he chose a beautiful tract of land 
 on the Wabash River, a few miles above its con- 
 fluence with the Ohio, and purchased of the 
 Government thirty thousand acres of land. He 
 at once returned to Pennsylvania and sold all 
 the property of the community, but what they 
 could take with them, and set out for the Ohio 
 River, down which they journeyed to the vicin- 
 ity of their new purchase, and founded the 
 present town of New Harmony. 
 
 At their new home, the same as in Pennsyl- 
 vania, the colony prospered greatly. Five years 
 after their arrival in Indiana they had built a 
 town containing several three-story brick and 
 frame buildings, and a very large church, the 
 
An Englishman' Impressions. 159 
 
 plan of which, it is said, was given Rapp in a 
 dream. There were four entrances to the 
 church, closed by folding doors, one hundred 
 and twenty feet from each other. The upper 
 story was supported by twenty-eight pillars 
 of walnut and cherry, which were six feet in 
 circumference — two feet in diameter — and 
 twenty-eight feet high. 
 
 After visiting New Harmony some years ago, 
 William Herbert, of London, wrote of this 
 structure, saying: "I can scarcely imagine 
 myself to be in the wild woods of Indiana, on 
 the borders of the Wabash, as I pass through 
 the long resounding aisles and survey the state- 
 ly collonades of this church. ' ' 
 
 This singular community of Germans had lit- 
 tle or no communication with the people of the 
 surrounding country. It is difficult to explain 
 the wonderful authority ''Father" Rapp had 
 as spiritual and moral leader of the Harmon- 
 ists. It is believed that he played upon the 
 superstition of the people. A stone is yet pre- 
 served in New Harmony which seemingly bears 
 the impress of human feet. Richard Owen, the 
 geologist, thought these footprints were carved 
 by the Indians. Mr. Rapp professed to be 
 guided on many occasions by communications 
 received in visions, and tradition has it that 
 he told his people that the footprints on the 
 stone, just spoken of, were those of the Ange] 
 (rabriel. 
 
160 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 Rapp's relation to the community was that 
 of priest, and members who had sinned during 
 the day were required to go to him and make 
 confession before retiring for the night. On 
 their church were two bells, one of which called 
 the people from their daily labors, while the 
 other, which was the largest one ever imported, 
 called the Harmonists to their religious serv- 
 ice. This bell is now on a Presbyterian Church 
 in Cincinnati. 
 
 Finally, on account of much sickness, the 
 Rappites became dissatisfied, and Rapp sent an 
 agent to New Lanark, Scotland, and sold the 
 estate — thirty-two thousand acres of land, (two 
 thousand having been added to the original 
 purchase) with all the improvements, includ- 
 ing the town of New Harmony — to Robert 
 Owen, for two hundred and fifty thousand dol- 
 lars, or $7.80 an acre. 
 
 After ten years of sojourn at New Harmony, 
 the Rappites, in 1822, moved to Beaver County, 
 Pennsylvania, where, on August 7th, 1847, Mr. 
 Rapp died. The membership of the Rapp so- 
 ciety at no time reached one thousand, and at 
 his death, numbered less than four hundred. 
 Their wealth, however, was very great, being 
 estimated at Rapp's death at more than twenty 
 million dollars. 
 
 The Rappite community at New Harmony 
 was succeeded by a more distinguished, but a 
 
Robert Owen at New Harmony. 161 
 
 shorter lived attempt at communism. The term 
 "socialism," in its present sense, originated 
 with Robert Owen. In later years, Fourierism, 
 which numbered among its advocates such men 
 as Horace Greeley, Bronson Alcott, and Ralph 
 Waldo Emerson, was but a revival of Owenism 
 in a modified form. And "Brook Farm" may 
 be called a child of New Harmony. 
 
 Fourierism, as a social system, originated and 
 was advocated by F. M. C. Fourier, of France. 
 According to this system, society was to be so 
 organized as to give freedom to the passions 
 and desires of men, and then by developing 
 them under proper conditions it would produce, 
 or lead to, a perfect society. None of the com- 
 munities founded in France under this system 
 survived but a very short time. 
 
 The social system of Fourier was introduced 
 into the United States in 1842, by Albert Bris- 
 bane, who, for a time, published a paper — "The 
 Phalange ' ' — in New York. Immediately on his 
 arrival in this country he was welcomed by the 
 members of the "Brook Farm" community, 
 which adopted the Fourieristic principles, and 
 an organization, known as the American Union 
 of Associations, was formed for the dissemina- 
 tion of the principles of Fourierism. Horace 
 Greeley became its President, and George Rip- 
 ley the Secretary. Thirty-four communities 
 were organized throughout the United States. 
 
 (U) 
 
162 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 of which Brook Farm was the leading, and 
 lasted twelve years. Next to this, the one 
 founded in Wisconsin, lived the longest, but 
 most of them survived but for a short time, and 
 in 1850, the last of the system of Fourierism, for 
 revolutionizing human society, became a thing 
 of the past. 
 
 Robert Owen was widely known as a re- 
 former many years before purchasing New 
 Harmony, having been the advocate of the edu- 
 cation of the masses, and the amelioration of 
 the condition of the laboring people in the fac- 
 tories of Europe, being himself the largest cot- 
 ton mill owner in the world at that time, in 
 which he had introduced great changes for the 
 betterment of his operatives. It was he who 
 purchased the first shipment of baled cotton 
 that crossed the Atlantic from America. 
 
 Before leaving Europe for America, Mr. 
 Owen made the mistake of attacking all forms 
 of religion, whether ancient or modern, Chris- 
 tian or pagan, as erroneous and harmful to 
 man. This lost him the respect and support of 
 his most influential friends and allies, all but 
 one, — the Duke of Kent — the father of Queen 
 Victoria, who stood by him to the last. During 
 this controversy he visited his three sons — 
 Robert Dale, David Dale, and Richard Dale — 
 who were at the Pestalozzian School of M. De- 
 Felenberg, at Hoffweil, in Switzerland, and 
 
Puiii»03E IN Founding Colony. 163 
 
 they became greatly interested in their father's 
 reform ideas, and when the opportunity of pur= 
 chasing New Harmony was presented, they 
 urged that it be done. 
 
 Mr. Owen's purpose in purchasing New Har- 
 mony was to introduce a new system of society 
 in the Western World, to supersede the old, 
 with the intent of exhibiting to the world a 
 practical process by which an educated people 
 could, by combining into communities, "place 
 themselves in the direct path to the perfection 
 of their nature." "No merit, nor demerit; no 
 praise nor blame," was one of Mr. Owen's 
 chief tenets of belief. Another was: "Civil- 
 ized people should not live in separate houses, 
 in families, but in communities of fifteen hun- 
 dred to two thousand persons each, on the hotel 
 plan, who should own houses and lands in com- 
 mon, and labor for the benefit of all." 
 
 On becoming a member of the community of 
 New Harmony, a person was given credit for 
 what money and property he brought with him, 
 and on leaving, it was returned without inter- 
 est. This was Mr. Owen's purpose in the be- 
 ginning, but when he afterwards — having pur- 
 chased the entire property with his own money 
 — sought to sell or lease houses and lands to the 
 members of the community, and take mort- 
 gages therefor, this started the trouble which 
 finally broke up the enterprise. 
 
164 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 In the beginning, all members of the New 
 Harmony society were considered as one fam- 
 ily, and no one held in higher or lower estima- 
 tion on account of occupation. The food, cloth- 
 ing and education were to be similar, and all 
 were to live in similar buildings, and enjoy the 
 same accommodations. The community was di- 
 vided into six divisions: (1) Agriculture; (2) 
 Manufacturing and Mechanics; (3) Literature, 
 Science and Education; (4) Domestic Econ- 
 omy; (5) General Economy, and (6) Commerce. 
 These had each a superintendent. 
 
 Soon after the purchase of New Harmony 
 by Robert Owen, he enlisted the active co- 
 operation of William McClure, of Philadelphia, 
 a wealthy scientist, who is known as the father 
 of American Geology. This gentleman put one 
 hundred and fifty thousand dollars into the en- 
 terprise at New Harmony with the intention of 
 making it the center of American education, 
 through the introduction of the Pestalozzian 
 system. To this end there was gathered at New 
 Parmony a number of distinguished educators 
 and scientists, among whom was Thomas Saye 
 — the "Father of American Zoology." An- 
 other, was Charles A. Lasseur, a noted French 
 scientist, who was the first to explore and pub- 
 lish an account and description of the mounds 
 in Indiana. Lasseur was also an adept painter, 
 some of whose paintings are yet in the New 
 Harmony library. 
 
New Harmony Center of Education. 165 
 
 Dr. Gerard Troost, a noted geologist of Hol- 
 land, came and made New Harmony his home, 
 Mr. John Chapplesmith, a wealthy English art- 
 ist and engraver, was also attracted to the new 
 enterprise on the western border of Indiana. 
 And on solicitation of Mr. McClnre, Professor 
 Joseph Neef , in charge of Pestalozzi 's school at 
 Iverdiine, Switzerland, came to New Harmony. 
 He was assisted in his educational work by 
 Madame Marie de Frotageat. These were some 
 of the persons of talent who were engaged at 
 New Harmony in the work of education. While 
 among the frequent visitors of note at New 
 Harmony, was Madame Frances de Arunsmout, 
 who was the first American advocate of wo- 
 man's rights. 
 
 For a time. New Harmony was the rendez- 
 vous of enlightened and progressive people 
 from all over the world. But there w^as soon 
 attracted to it scores of cranks, who were the 
 advocates of many hobbies and visionary ideas 
 on social matters, a large majority of whom 
 were free thinkers in religion, which led Alex- 
 ander Campbell to speak of New Harmony as 
 the ''focus of enlightened atheism." 
 
 The New Harmony society regarded educa- 
 tion as the first object to be cared for. To that 
 end, all children from two to twelve years of 
 age were placed in houses fitted up for their 
 accommodation, where they were educated, 
 
166 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 boarded and clothed at public expense. There 
 were also day and evening schools, where every 
 individual, both old and young, could receive 
 instruction. 
 
 Amusement was also a prominent feature at 
 New Harmony. Four evenings in each week 
 were devoted to balls and concerts — dancing 
 being regularly taught. And once each week 
 all questions of interest to the community were 
 freely discussed. In matters of belief, there 
 was no restraint. One could believe anything, 
 or nothing, as suited his liking. While a major- 
 ity of the colonists were either skeptical or 
 atheistical, and no regular church service, yet 
 Christian belief was not interfered with. The 
 big church, erected by the Rappites in New 
 Harmony, was not used for religious purposes 
 under the Owens, but was converted into a 
 place of amusement. 
 
 Not many families in the world's history 
 have left their impress on men and things as 
 that of Robert Owen. While not an author of 
 books, Robert Owen was a great lecturer and 
 essayist through a period of more than forty 
 years. Robert Dale Owen, the eldest son, was 
 the most prominent of the three. In addition 
 to his political career, having served as a mem- 
 ber of the Constitutional Convention of Indiana 
 in 1850, and as a member of Congress, he was 
 noted as an extensive writer. In early life he 
 
A Very Distinguished Family. 167 
 
 wrote ''Pocahontas," a drama. In 1840, he 
 wrote ''Hints on Public Architecture." In 
 1859, "Footfalls on the Boundary of Another 
 World." In 1864, "The Wrongs of Slavery." 
 In 1870, "Beyond the Breakers." In 1871, 
 "The Debatable Land Between This World and 
 the Next," and in 1874 he wrote, "Threading 
 My Way Through Twenty-seven Years of Auto- 
 biography.", Richard Dale Owen, the youngest 
 son, was chiefly known in science, especially in 
 geology. While in respect of David Dale, we 
 do not hear so much said, further than that he 
 was an able man and a worthy citizen, who 
 wielded a lasting influence for good on the peo- 
 ple of New Plarmony and vicinity. 
 
 To those who have visited Posey County, In- 
 diana, it is a matter of mystery how that much- 
 maligned region came by its reputation for 
 ignorance and rusticity. No county in Indiana 
 is richer agriculturally, and none west of the 
 AUeghenies has reason to feel so proud of the 
 general intelligence of its people. Posey Coun- 
 ty, Indiana, has been the home of more men, 
 eminent in science, art and literature, than any 
 other locality in the West. And yet, during the 
 World's Fair at Chicago, in 1893, an Eastern 
 magazine contained a picture of some "moss 
 covered rustics," from Posey County, driving 
 to the World's Fair on a hay wagon. The car- 
 toon betrayed the ignorance of its author, 
 
168 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 rather than the people of Posey County and 
 New Harmony. 
 
 At a dinner party in the city of Philadelphia, 
 during the Centennial, there was a contributor 
 to the Atlantic Monthly, who expressed disbe- 
 lief in there being such a place as Posey County, 
 Indiana; and inquired, if there was, "what sort 
 of a backwoods wilderness it was." He was 
 amazed when told by a gentleman from Posey- 
 ville, in Posey County, that if he would go to 
 the Philadelphia Academy of Science, the pride 
 of the city, that he would see the name of Will- 
 iam McClure, who was its founder, inscribed 
 over the door, and in the list of those who aided 
 in founding it, the name of Thomas Saye, the 
 father of American zoology, who were Posey 
 County Hoosiers. "And if you," said the gen- 
 tleman from Posey ville, "will go to the Smith- 
 sonian Institute at Washington City, you will 
 see carved on the corner stone, next to that of 
 Smithson, the man who bequeathed his fortune 
 for its erection, the name of Robert Dale Owen, 
 of Posej^ County, Indiana, the man who put 
 through Congress the bill which applied the 
 neglected bequest to the building of the na- 
 tional institution." 
 
 This Posey County gentleman might also 
 have added that the western system of town- 
 ship libraries, the Indiana system of public 
 schools, the polytechnic and industrial schools 
 
New Harmony an Astonishment. 169 
 
 of the United States, along with the Pestaloz- 
 zian system of education in this country, — 
 already mentioned — had their origin in Posey 
 County, Indiana. 
 
 The influence of the little village, on the 
 Wabash, which has given more eminent names 
 to literature and science than any other Amer- 
 ican town of its size, has not been limited to 
 Posey County, or even Indiana. It has stamped 
 its impress on the entire West, and may be said 
 to be the birthplace of Western culture. 
 
 In the quaint little city of New Harmony, 
 there are yet evidences of its earlier history, 
 in the dormer-roofed brick houses built by the 
 German Rappites near eighty years ago. Most 
 of these buildings are doorless on the street 
 side, giving to the village an appearance of 
 antiquity which would have gladdened the eyes 
 of the foreign traveler who, a few years ago, 
 complained of the dazzling newness of everything 
 which he saw in this country.''^ 
 
 New Harmony is interesting today, because 
 of the historical interest attaching to the place, 
 — to its library of eight thousand volumes, and 
 splendid art gallery — and to the general cul- 
 ture, sociability and rare hospitality of its 
 people. 
 
 Equally true with the fact that New Har- 
 mony may be denominated the birthplace of 
 Western culture, it may also be called the birth- 
 
170 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 place of Americau socialism. For more than 
 three score years before Edward Bellamy wrote, 
 ''Looking Backward," Robert Owen had at- 
 tempted to put into execution the dream of 
 Edward Bellamy, as outlined in ''Looking 
 Backward. ' ' 
 
 New Harmony is interesting above all things 
 else, in that it sought to revolutionize the teach- 
 ing of four thousand years, by the introduction 
 of a new system of society, in which the family 
 relation, in respect of parent and child, was 
 too nearly subverted, and it therefore failed. 
 It is furthermore interesting to us, in that it 
 demonstrated the fallacy of a social state in 
 which every individual interest could be merged 
 into the general interest, in which poverty, 
 selfishness and vice would be unknown. In 
 fine, it demonstrated that it requires some- 
 thing more than mere education of the head to 
 keep in perpetuity a well ordered state of 
 society in all departments. 
 
 This is abundantly exemplified .in the fact 
 that the Rappites, under the wholesome 
 restraint of Christian teaching, and with but 
 little attention to education, were enabled to 
 perpetuate their socialistic society in a prosper- 
 ous condition for more than eighty years, first 
 in Pennsylvania, then in Indiana, and thence 
 back to Pennsylvania. This they did under the 
 influence of Christian belief, although in disre- 
 
No Merit or Demerit in Owenism. 171 
 
 gard of the marital relation; while Robert 
 Owen's effort was to found a socialistic com- 
 munity on the doctrine of ''no merit or 
 demerit", in human conduct. And that instead 
 of living in the maintenance of the family rela- 
 tion of parent and child, in separate houses, 
 that educated people should live in communi- 
 ties of fifteen hundred or two thousand each, 
 on the boarding house plan, with the children, 
 from two to twelve years of age, cared for sepa- 
 rately, came to naught in less than ten years; 
 and that too, under the full blaze of education, 
 art, science, literature and music. 
 
 We conclude therefore that God did not err, 
 when he founded the family relation. And it 
 is our uncompromising belief that well ordered 
 homes are the foundation stones of the Church, 
 of good government, and good society; and 
 that any, or all, efforts to found a society for 
 mutual strength and support upon any other 
 basis, will fail. A refined and educated people 
 who strongly insist upon the sacredness and 
 purity of the home and the family relation, as 
 ordained of God, is without doubt the strongest 
 foundation upon which to predicate good 
 society. 
 
 And the fact that the system, as advocated 
 and attempted to be founded by George Rapp, 
 of Germany ; by F. M. C. Fourier, of France ; 
 and by Robert Owen, have all came to naught. 
 
172 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 not for want of able men and ample means to 
 put them to a thorough test and trial on their 
 merits, but because they were radically wrong 
 in principle. In the case of Owenism, whilst 
 he claimed to predicate his system on twelve 
 ''fundamental truisms, dug from nature," or 
 ''natural laws," yet his system was indirect 
 repudiation and defiance of a law of animal 
 nature universal and of plain observation, viz ; 
 that the young of all animals are left to the 
 maternal care and maintenance until they are 
 able to care for themselves ; whilst Owenism 
 proposed to separate the children from their 
 mothers at two years of age. 
 
 Soon after the arrival of Mr. Owen in the 
 United States, and the purchase of New Har- 
 mony, he delivered a course of lectures in New 
 Orleans, explanatory of the principles and pur- 
 poses of the system which he was founding. 
 During the progress of these lectures, many 
 criticisms of them appeared in the New Orleans 
 papers, which Mr. Owen accused the clergy of 
 the city of writing ; and he therefore published 
 a challenge in the same papers, addressed to 
 the clergy of America, offering to discuss with 
 any one of them, in public or in private, the 
 following declaration : "That all the religions 
 of the world have been founded on the igno- 
 rance of mankind; that they are directly 
 opposed to the never changing laws of our 
 
Campbell-Owen Debate. 173 
 
 nature ; that they have been, and are, the real 
 source of vice, disunion and misery of evei-y 
 description; that they are now the only real 
 bar to the formation of a society of virtue, of 
 intelligence, of charity in its most extended 
 sense, and of sincerity and kindness among the 
 whole human family ; and that they can be no 
 longer maintained except through the igno- 
 rance of the mass of the people, and the tyranny 
 of the few over the mass. ' ' 
 
 Stripped of the superfluous and the ambigu- 
 ous, thrown in to soften the offensiveness of the 
 affirmation, the above means that the religion, 
 or teaching, of Jesus Christ and His Apostles, 
 is the cause of all the dire things in the above 
 bill of indictment by Mr. Owen. Is it any won- 
 der, therefore, that he lost the respect of all 
 the friends he had in Europe before he came to 
 America as before stated 1 
 
 For some cause the clergy of New Orleans 
 were not willing to enter into a discussion with 
 Mr. Owen. But the oft'er of debate by him soon 
 reached Alexander Campbell's attention, who 
 was President of Bethany College, Virginia, at 
 the time, and he accepted it, and the debate was 
 held in Cincinnati during April, 1829. A test 
 vote at the conclusion of the debate showed Mr. 
 Owen as having but three sympathizers in the 
 vast assemblage who heard the discussion. 
 
Chapter 11 
 
 FROM THE VICTORY OF SAN JACINTO TO THE ADMISSION 
 OF TEXAS INTO THE FEDERAL UNION 
 
 FOLLOWING the victory of San Jacinto, and 
 as a result of the necessity of Houston's 
 absence from Texas on account of his 
 wounds, from which a number of pieces of 
 bones were taken, and from which his recovery 
 w^s slow and painful, there arose serious con- 
 tention among the Texans as to what should 
 be done with Santa Anna. A large majority 
 of the people were urging that he be shot. 
 They were urging this because of his cruelty 
 and savagery in the treatment of the Alamo 
 dead and the cold-blooded massacre of the 
 Goliad prisoners and wounded. 
 
 Before he left Texas, Houston had urged a 
 mild course of treatment for Santa Anna, as 
 the best policy, — that if he were shot his death 
 might arouse Mexican fury to a point where it 
 might hinder the attainment of freedom for 
 Texas. 
 
 The question of what to do with Santa Anna, 
 for a time, overshadowed all others, and grow- 
 ing out of it, and Houston's absence, the very 
 foundation of the new Republic was being 
 shaken, until some of its most devoted friends 
 
 -175- 
 
176 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 were in despair. When these conditions reached 
 Houston's ears in New Orleans, he resolved on 
 returning to Texas, which he did by the Red 
 River route to Natchitoches, and thence by 
 stage to San Augustine, which he reached early 
 in July. Just at this time, news were received 
 that a movement was on foot to deliver Santa 
 Anna up to the militia for trial and execution. 
 Houston at once, and while leaning on his 
 crutches, delivered an address to the citizens of 
 San Augustine to allay their apprehension and 
 alarm. He also sent a protest to General Rush, 
 saying : 
 
 ' ' Sir, I have just heard that it is the intention 
 to remove Santa Anna to the army, and put 
 him upon trial. This is not the true policy for 
 Texas. The advantage which his capture gave 
 us will be destroyed. Think what you may of 
 the rules of civilized warfare, we are compelled 
 by every principle of humanity and morality 
 to abstain from all acts of passion and cruelty. 
 Execute Santa Anna, and what will become of 
 the Texan prisoners now in Mexico? Torture 
 and death will be their doom. Texas, to be 
 respected, must be considerate and just in her 
 actions. Santa Anna living, and secured 
 beyond all danger of escape in the eastern part 
 of Texas, (as I first suggested) may be of great 
 advantage. For a people in cold blood to offer 
 up the living to the manes of the dead, only 
 
Texas in a Fekment. 177 
 
 finds a place in the warfare of savages. I, there- 
 fore, as Commander-in-Chief of the Army of 
 Texas, do solemnly protest against the trial and 
 execution of Santa Anna, until the relation we 
 are to stand to the United States be deter- 
 mined. 
 
 Sam Houston, 
 
 Commander-in-Chief of the Army." 
 
 As on every former occasion, when Houston 
 spoke, quiet was restored. Santa Anna was 
 removed from Quinton to Velasco, and then 
 to Columbia. While there, a plot was formed 
 by the Mexican consul at New Orleans, to res- 
 cue him. This led to the placing of Santa Anna 
 in irons. Finally he was removed to Orizamba 
 and kept in close confinement. 
 
 On September 1st, '36, an election was held 
 to elect a President of the Republic. There 
 were three candidates. Steven B. Austin, 
 Henrv Smith, and Sam Houston. Houston's 
 popularity as the conqueror of Aanta Anna at 
 San Jacinto, and his personal influence as a 
 wise and safe man, secured his election by a 
 large majority. His vote was 4,374, Smith's, 
 745, and 587 for Austin. Houston's vote was 
 more than three times as large as both of the 
 other candidates. 
 
 Houston was inaugurated as first President 
 of the Republic of Texas October 22nd, 1836. 
 In concluding his extemporaneous address, he 
 
 (12) 
 
ITS A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 took from his belt his sword, and handed it to 
 the presiding officer, saying, ''It now, sir, 
 becomes my duty to lay down this emblem of 
 my past authority. I have worn it in the 
 defense of our country, and should danger 
 again call for my service, I shall respond, and 
 if necessary, with my blood and my life." 
 - Houston at once, with practical good states- 
 manship, gave attention to the duties of his 
 office, which were many. One of the perplexing 
 questions was Santa Amia. Like the Irishman 
 who caught the wild-pat, and had more trouble 
 in letting loose of it than he had in catching 
 it ; so it was with Houston. He was greatly 
 perplexed. Santa Anna sent for him to visit 
 him in prison, which he did, and found him in 
 great distress. Santa Anna's trouble now was 
 exceedingly great, much more so than when 
 seated in his tent at San Antonio while order- 
 ing the Alamo dead to be burned, and the pris- 
 oners at Goliad shot. Like Belshazzar of old, 
 Santa Anna doubtless now saw an apparition 
 hand, writing on his prison wall : And like King 
 Richard, when he exclaimed, on a certain occa- 
 sion, ^'A kingdom for a horse,' ^ Santa Anna was 
 not only willing to give a kingdom, but all the 
 horses with hoofs and tails to have his libertj^ 
 He finally wrote President Jackson to mediate 
 for him. The President responded in a kindly 
 note, and invited him to Washington, D. C. 
 
Houston's Second Makriagk. 179 
 
 Whereupon Houston released him that he might 
 go. Santa Anna went, and after an interview 
 with the President, he left for Mexico, and 
 apprehension quieted down. 
 
 In May^ 1840, Houston was married to Miss 
 Moffit Lea, of Alabama, who came of a good 
 family, and possessed great strength of char- 
 acter, amiability and talent, and wielded a 
 boundless influence for good over Houston. 
 
 The constitution of the Republic of Texas 
 made the President ineligible to re-election to 
 succeed himself; and jMirabeau Lamar was 
 elected. Lamar's policy regarding the Indians 
 was just the opposite of Houston's, and caused 
 great trouble in Texas. One of the good fea- 
 tures in Houston's character was his love of 
 justice, and the protection of the rights of 
 others. At this time there were many Indians 
 in Texas, and a very large majority of the citi- 
 zens were in favor of driving them all out of 
 the Republic. To this end, Albert Sidney John- 
 son, who was killed at Shiloh, in '62, then 
 the Secretary of War for the Republic of Texas, 
 directed that a force be raised to drive them 
 out. 
 
 The Indians were informed by General John- 
 son that they must leave the country. They 
 refused, and were attacked by the troops and 
 defeated. The Texans then laid waste the corn 
 fields of the Indians and ])urned their cabins. 
 
180 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 Houston was absent when this took place. On 
 his return, he announced that he would address 
 the citizens of Nacogdoches, who were almost 
 unanimous in favor of expelling the Indians. 
 Threats were made that Houston should not 
 speak, and the most violent accusations were 
 brought against him, charging that he was 
 inciting the Indians to resist the government of 
 Texas. The feeling was so intense that threats 
 were made to shoot Houston if he attempted to 
 speak. Not being deterred, Houston dragged a 
 box into the street and mounted it and soon 
 stilled the crowd by the majesty of his com- 
 manding presence. He denounced the Repub- 
 lic's administration in scathing terms for its 
 breach of plighted faith with the Indians, and 
 spoke of the recent action of the authorities as 
 barbarous and cruel. The people listened in 
 silence, and Houston's courage and sincerity 
 triumphed over their tumultuous passions. 
 
 About this time, England, France, Belgium 
 and Holland acknowledged the independence 
 of Texas. The finances of the Republic at this 
 time were reduced to a low ebb, under Lamar's 
 administration; and the only circulation was 
 the government's promissory notes, called 
 ' ' Red-backs. ' ' The public debt of Texas, under 
 Lamar, was increased over Houston's $4,665,- 
 215, — Houston's having been $190,000, against 
 $4,855,215 for Lamar. .At one time during 
 
Texan Independence Acknowledged. 181 
 
 Lamar's term, matters became so desperate that 
 the Texan Congress proposed in a body to 
 resign their places and go home. But Houston, 
 always present when and where needed, made 
 a speech and held the Republic's Congress to 
 its duty, 
 
 Houston from the very start was the center 
 of the political caldron. With the people it 
 now became, "Houston", or "Anti-Houston." 
 He was again nominated for President of the 
 Republic, and received 7,915 votes, to 3,516 for 
 David G. Burnet, and was inaugurated in 
 December, '41. In his message to the Texan 
 Congress, Houston said, "We are not only with- 
 out money, but without credit, and for want of 
 punctuality, are without character." 
 
 Houston's watchword at once became, "Econ- 
 omy." At his own suggestion, his salary was 
 reduced one-half, and that of all others in like 
 proportion. His first work then was to carry 
 into effect his recommendations for economy. 
 Many useless offices w^ere abolished, and the 
 most rigid economy was required in every 
 department of government. All claims were 
 postponed uptil the money Avas in the treasury. 
 Among the claimants was a Jonathan Bird, who 
 had erected a building for th.e government, and 
 with his unquestioned claim, he asked for pay. 
 and w^as directed to Houston. Bird called on 
 the President about the matter, and Houston 
 
182 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 informed him that he could not approve any 
 demands on the treasury until there was sojne 
 money to pay with; And said, ''since your 
 claim is just, if it will help you in any way, 
 Mr. Bird, I will give you half of what I have. ' ' 
 "And what have you, Mr. President?" ''All 
 I have in the world, in the way of property," 
 said Houston, "is an old broken-down stallion, 
 which is eating his head ofp, and a game rooster, 
 without a hen to lay an egg.^^ 
 
 Lest some young reader may have the same 
 fanciful notion as to how a horse, or chicken, 
 or any other animal, or fowl, may eat its head 
 off, I will explain. Having, when a young boy, 
 heard a farmer arguing that ducks and geese 
 were unprofitable to raise, for the reason that 
 in many instances they "eai" their heads off, I 
 formed the fanciful notion that after swallow- 
 ing all the corn or other grain that their craws 
 would hold, and it had time to moisten and 
 swell, that the effect would be to push their 
 heads off. Not so. It means that the animal, 
 or fowl, is not worth what it takes to keep it. 
 My boyish philosophising about the matter was 
 therefore wrong. 
 
 Houston's rigid economy is shoAvn by the fact 
 that the expense of his second term as Presi- 
 dent was only $417,175, against $4,855,215 dur- 
 ing Lamar's. There was therefore, no "graft" 
 or "grab," in Houston's make-up. 
 
Houston's Economy. 183 
 
 The President at once, now that he had got 
 the finances of the Republic in better working 
 order, immediately set about pacifying the 
 Indians. Some of his letters to the Indians, 
 sent and read to them by agents, have been pre- 
 served, and are interesting. 
 
 The following is one of them: "My Broth- 
 ers," said Houston, — (this letter was sent to 
 the Indians immediately after his inauguration, 
 and after the effort by Lamar to drive them out 
 of Texas) ''the path between us is still open, 
 and I wish it to remain open, and that it may 
 no more be stained with blood. May clouds 
 never again hover over us, to prevent the sun 
 from giving light to our footsteps. May all 
 strife and contention be banished from among 
 us, that w^ may look each other in the face and 
 be friends. I Avill send this, my kindly greet- 
 ing to you, by the hand of councilors. Hear it. 
 I have never opened my mouth to tell you a lie. 
 My red brethren, who know me, will tell you 
 that I have always advocated peace; and that 
 I have eaten bread and drank water with the 
 red men. A bad man was elected to my place. ' ' 
 (Lamar) ''His council was bad, and the people 
 did you wrong. His council is no more heard, 
 and the people love peace with their red breth- 
 ren. Your Great Father, and ours, — the United 
 States — wish the red men and the people of 
 Texas to be brothers. The Great Spirit will hear 
 
184 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 the words that I speak to you, and He will 
 know of the truth of the words that you send 
 me. When truth is spoken, His countenance 
 rejoices. Before him who speaketh lies, the 
 Great Spirit will place darkness. Let the war- 
 whoop no more be heard on our prairies. Let 
 songs of joy be heard upon our hills, and in our 
 valleys. Let there be laughter in our wigwams ; 
 and let the voices of our women and children 
 be that of gladness, and when we meet in coun- 
 cil, may we smoke the pipe of peace, and be 
 happy." 
 
 (Signed) Your Brother, 
 
 Sam Houston. 
 
 This thoroughly pacified the Indians. But 
 the Mexicans were yet giving trouble. The 
 great majority of the people of Mexico were 
 bitterly opposed to the surrender of Texas. 
 And Santa Anna again felt compelled to make 
 a pretense of renewing the invasion, and with 
 a small force he crossed the Rio Grande again. 
 This rekindled the war spirit in Texas, which 
 ripened into a demand for the invasion of M ei» - 
 ico. And thus matters were in a ferment. In 
 addition to the Mexican matter, a disturbance 
 broke out in eastern Texas. Following the War 
 for Independence, a great number of despera- 
 does and criminals came among the people of 
 Texas, who were continually giving trouble. 
 
Mexicans Again Invade Texas. 185 
 
 In September, '43, the Mexicans again crossed 
 the Eio Grande. This raid renewed the demand 
 for offensive operations against Mexico. On 
 October 13, '43, Houston sent an appeal to the 
 United States, France and England, to require 
 Mexico to either recognize the independence of 
 Texas, or wage war in a more civilized manner^. 
 The appeal received the approval of France and 
 England, — but not of the United States — on the 
 condition that they alone act in the matter. At 
 this juncture, application having been made by 
 Texas for admission to the Federal Union, as 
 a State, President Houston, on June 6, '43, 
 directed the Texan Minister at Washington, D. 
 C, to withdraw the application for annexation. 
 
 President Tyler being strongly in favor of 
 annexation, wrote Houston, requesting him to 
 renew the application. Houston did so, and 
 immediately wrote Andrew Jackson a long let- 
 ler concerning the matter, in which he deplored 
 the renewal of the war in Texas, saying : ''The 
 revolution has already brought more ambitious 
 and unscrupulous men into Texas than is 
 desired under present conditions. Nearly all 
 the evils we have experienced are the work of 
 these characters, and it is time we were having 
 peace permanently established." 
 
 ''And now, my venerable friends," said 
 Houston, "Texas is presented to the United 
 States a second time. And should she be 
 
186 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 spurned again, it will forever terminate the 
 matter, and Texas will look elsewhere for an 
 alliance. Any effort to postpone annexation to 
 a more convenient season, to subserve party 
 purpose, will be a great mistake. Let certain 
 men beware. If party faction should defeat the 
 matter now, you may be assured of one thing. 
 A rival power will be built up, embracing New 
 Mexico and the Pacific slope. In such an event, 
 all the powers who either fear, or envy, the 
 United States, will aid us. This will place 
 Mexico at our mercy. But one thing can prevent 
 it, and that is annexation. ' ' 
 
 The two great parties of the country at that 
 time, headed by Henry Clay and VanBuren, 
 opposed annexation, and it was defeated. Fol- 
 lowing this, it was at once proposed by Eng- 
 land and France to ask the United States to 
 join them in an effort to secure peace between 
 Texas and Mexico, on the basis of independence 
 for Texas ; she giving a pledge not to unite with 
 any other power. The refusal of the United 
 States to participate was expected, by both, 
 England and France. Houston at once 
 instructed his Secretary of the State to close 
 the compact with England and France. 
 
 Knowledge of the proposal of England and 
 France to guarantee the independence of Texas 
 under the above conditions, thoroughly aroused 
 the alarm of jealousy of the United States. 
 
Houston's Loyalty and Patriotism. 187 
 
 And there was a complete change in public 
 sentiment from opposition, to an advocacy of 
 annexation. Polk, who was a strong advocate 
 of annexation, defeated Van Buren in the Dem- 
 ocratic convention, and was elected President. 
 Immediately after this a joint resolution was 
 put through both houses of Congress, ''under 
 whip and spur," for the admission of Texas 
 into the Union. While this was going on at 
 Washington, D. C, the President of Mexico 
 agreed to a treaty by which Mexico would 
 acknowledge the independence of Texas on con- 
 dition that she (Texas) would not become 
 annexed to any other power. The United 
 States, now more than ever, became greatly 
 agitated over the probable loss of Texas, and 
 sent special agents to the Republic in haste 
 with many promises. Houston, who had been 
 for annexation -first, last and all the time, vntli 
 no thouglit of letting any other power get their 
 clutclms on the Republic, had noiv wofi out. He was 
 driven by the folly of the Whigs and Democrats 
 in the United States to play a desperate game, 
 but his- patriotism and long-sightedness carried 
 the day. 
 
 On the invitation of the United States, there- 
 fore, and on July 6, 1846, in Austin, Texas, a 
 resolution passed the Texan Congress, with but 
 one dissenting vote, accepting the invitation to 
 become a State in the Federal Union. A State 
 
188 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 Constitution was at once adopted at a general 
 election by the people, and on October 14, 1846, 
 Texas ceased to be a Republic, and became a 
 State in the Great Republic. And who is'nt 
 ready to exclaim, All hail! I to Sam Houston for 
 his loyalty and sagacity in securing Texas to 
 the United States without either cost in money 
 or blood, for it is a great State in many re- 
 spects. And there can be no reasonable doubt 
 but that Houston's purpose in leaving the 
 Cherokee Indians, as afore given, and going to 
 Texas, was for the purpose of bringing about 
 its acquisition, which was by and with the 
 knowledge and support of President Jackson. 
 
 Tradition has it that about this time a foreign 
 lady, of immense wealth, was visiting the West- 
 ern World, and while cruising in the Gulf of 
 Mexico in her yacht, she visited Houston, in 
 the year 1844. Her desire was to meet and 
 greet the hero of San Jacinto, and the friend 
 of the red men. She is quoted as saying, 
 ''Never have I seen a man who had done so 
 much for his country and for humanity, who is 
 so simple and unobtrusive in his manner and 
 general deportment, and who seems to think so 
 little of himself." And I will answer, Yes! 
 Well and truly said. And will say further; 
 after having read much of men in every age, 
 that Sam Houston is the most unique and 
 striking character of the ancient or modern 
 
A Foreign Lady's Opinion. 189 
 
 world, — a diamond in the rough — whose ster- 
 ling honesty and invincibility to "graft and 
 corruption," coupled with his loyalty to his 
 country and friends, places him upon a pin- 
 nacle, whose altitude is rarely, if ever, reached. 
 
Chapter 12 
 
 HOUSTON IN THE UNITED STATES SENATE 
 
 FROM the day of their first meeting at the 
 Battle of the Horseshoe, in Alabama, to 
 the death of Andrew Jackson at the Her- 
 mitage, near Nashville, Tennessee, he and Hous- 
 ton were strongly attached to each other in 
 bonds indissoluble. Houston was greatly anx- 
 ious to visit the ex-president at the Hermitage 
 with his family for a last lea vet akin g from his 
 ' ' venerable friend, ' ' whom he held in such affec- 
 tionate reverence, when the news of Jackson's 
 death forever intervened. 
 
 Having been elected to the United States 
 Senate from Texas, Houston took his seat in 
 that body March 30, 1844. He was now a mem- 
 ber of the upper house of the most distinguished 
 body of lawmakers the world has ever known. 
 And this Congress, the Twenty-ninth, had 
 among its members such men as Walker, Clay, 
 Calhoun, Benton, Cass, Dix, Johnson, Cameron, 
 Allen, Corwin, and Jesse D. Bright. 
 
 Although Houston had been a member of the 
 lower house of Congress from Tennessee two 
 terms, it was before he had become known to 
 fame. His advent at this time, following his 
 
 -191- 
 
192 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 romantic achievements in war and diplomacy, 
 coupled with his eccentricity in dress, attracted 
 to him much attention. His habit of wearing a 
 broad-brimmed white hat of soft fur, a sky-blue 
 cloak with bright red lining, black silk panta- 
 loons, and shoes with silver buckles, gave him 
 a highly spectacular appearance as the star 
 actor of the Senate. 
 
 The present custom of new members sitting 
 through one term without taking an active part 
 had not then obtained, and Houston was 
 untrammeled by that conventionality, and made 
 his first speech in just two weeks after he was 
 sworn in as a member. The Oregan boundary 
 question was up, and Houston took strong 
 grounds with T. H. Benton against Calhoun and 
 the nullifiers and disunionists in favor of the 
 extreme claims of the United States in the mat- 
 ter. The South, under the leadership of Cal- 
 houn, was not anxious to add free territory to 
 the North; and although President Polk had 
 been elected on the platform of "54, 40 or 
 fight," he was not nearlj^ so belligerent toward 
 England as he had been toward Mexico. 
 
 Houston's most important action and speech, 
 and that which determined his relation to the 
 extension of slavery, was on the bill containing 
 a provision to prohibit slavery in the Northwest 
 Territory as provided for in the ordinance of 
 1787. Houston's course on this matter was the 
 
Houston Now foe Tempeeance. 193 
 
 cause of much anger among the Southerners. 
 FTe was denounced as a traitor to the Southern 
 interests in many sections of the Southhind. 
 His course, however, does not appear to have 
 been objected to by his own State. 
 
 The slavery question at this time was contin- 
 ually coming to the front and obtruding its nose 
 at every opportunity. And on motion to invite 
 Father Mathew, the eminent Irish apostle of 
 temperance, to a seat on the floor of the Senate, 
 objection was made on the ground that he had 
 signed a petition against slavery. Houston sup- 
 ported the motion, and expressed profound con- 
 tempt for those who would "drag slavery into 
 the subject of temperance." Having now con- 
 quered his own thirst for drink, Houston said ; 
 '*I am a disciple of temperance. I needed the 
 discipline of reformation, and embraced it ; and 
 I am pijoud, on this floor, to proclaim it, sir. I 
 would enforce the example upon every Amer- 
 ican heart in which the sentiment of filial affec- 
 tion or parental tenderness finds a lodgment." 
 
 On March 4, '53, Pierce was inaugurated as 
 President, and was an aggressive propagandist 
 of slavery. In '54 Senator Douglas reported 
 the Kansas-Nebraska bill, which repealed the 
 Missouri Compromise of 1820, which the coim- 
 try had accepted as a pledge of peace on the 
 slavery question. Houston opposed the bill 
 with all the power of his impetuous nature. In 
 
 13) 
 
194 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 a speech at night on March 3, just before the 
 passage of the bill, in which his wonderful 
 power as a great orator on a great occasion was 
 abundantly shown, Houston, with prophetic 
 wisdom and prescience approaching the mar- 
 velous, exposed the follies and dangers of the 
 bill, and the peril it would bring to the union 
 of the States. Said he, ''Mr. President, I do 
 not believe the agitation over this matter which 
 we have seen here this night will confine itself 
 to this chamber. If the Republic be not shaken 
 I will be greatly surprised. I ask, what benefit 
 will be gained to the South if this measure be 
 adopted? Will it give more territory to sla- 
 very ? No sir, not at all. Will it allay agitation 
 at the North ? No sir. Will it be a panacea to 
 the South for her uneasiness? No sir. Will it 
 preserve the Union of the States 1 No sir. Will 
 it give life to, and sustain the Democratic or 
 Whig parties ? No sir, they will go to the wall. 
 My word for it, if this measure is adopted, we 
 will realize scenes and convulsions which are at 
 this moment rumbling in the distance. ' ' 
 
 Replying to charges that he was in league 
 with abolitionists, Houston said: "This is a 
 perilous measure, and do you expect me to sit 
 her silent, and shrink from the discharge of 
 my duty to the country ? No sir. I will do my 
 duty as I see it, in spite of all the intimidations 
 or threats which may be hurled at me. Sir, the 
 
Houston's Wonderful Pkescience. 195 
 
 charge that I am acting with the abolitionists 
 affects me not. It is conscious duty, sir, that 
 compels me to confront the very section of our 
 country in which I reside, and in which my 
 personal interests have always been, and in 
 which my affections rest. Why, sir. Every 
 look toward the setting sun carries me to the 
 bosom of a family dependent upon me. Think 
 you I can be untrue to them? Never, never! 
 Having attained to my present age, after forty- 
 five years of public service to my country and 
 people, I had fondly hoped that I should be per- 
 mitted to pass down the western slope of life, 
 with my country at peace in all her borders, 
 that my children might be happy and prosper- 
 ous. But my hopes are fading, and my anxie- 
 ties are increasing. And should this measure 
 be repealed, we will then have seen the com- 
 mencement of an agitation and struggle in our 
 country which will be raging when every mem- 
 ber on this floor will be moldering to dust. To 
 me this is a solemn hour, for I fear the repeal 
 of this measure will drench our country in 
 blood." 
 
 The above words of Sam Houston, uttered in 
 the United States Senate in 1854, were no less 
 than a prophecy that his far-reaching sagacity 
 and prescience enabled him to see ; and his love 
 of the Union was but the essence of enlightened 
 wisdom, and his patriotism a passion. And no 
 
196 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 speech delivered in the Senate during this try- 
 ing ordeal was better moderated and temper- 
 ated than Houston's, for in no instance did he 
 violate the proprieties of orderly debate, not- 
 witlistanding he was the target for the shafts of 
 his colleagues from the South, and his tone and 
 conduct toward his fellow Senators was that 
 of the dignified and impressive politeness which 
 no one knew better how to exhibit than he ; 
 -and being of the wilderness born and reared, 
 and not the product of edutjated and refined 
 society, amid a better environment, it stamps 
 him as, by nature, one of earth's nobility. 
 
 Oliver Dyer, in his book on ''Great Sena- 
 tors, ' ' says of Houston ; "I was not disap- 
 pointed in his appearance. It was easy to 
 believe in his heroism, and to imagine him lead- 
 ing a charge and dealing destruction to his foes. 
 He was large of frame, of stately carriage and 
 dignified demeanor, and had a lion-like counte- 
 nance, capable of expressing the fiercest pas- 
 sion. When in composure, with this latter 
 quality in quiescence, he appeared as harmless 
 as a little child, and was universally admired 
 for his gallantry to ladies." 
 
 Contemporaries of Houston say that as the 
 years came on, the shadow of melancholy was 
 noticed creeping over him, and he appeared to 
 be lonely. Soon after Houston went to Wash- 
 ington, D. C, as related by Rev. G. W. Samson. 
 
Houston Embraces Christianity. 197 
 
 the pastor of the Baptist Church, Houston 
 approached him after the service on a Sunday, 
 and said that respect for his wife, back in 
 Texas, one of the best Christians on earth, had 
 brought him to the Church. Houston was a 
 visitor there ever afterward during his stay in 
 Washington. Before leaving for his home he 
 professed faith in Christ, and received the ordi- 
 nance of baptism. From this on his reading of 
 the Bible w^as continuous and earnest, so much 
 so that his speeches in after life were tinged 
 with the figures, imagery, and phraseology of 
 the Bible. At the conclusion of Houston 's term 
 in the Senate he returned to Texas, and seemed 
 not to care for re-election. 
 
 On returning to Texas Houston found the 
 political condition in great confusion. The 
 element favoring secession was doing all in its 
 power to array the State against the Union. An 
 organization, known as "The Knights of the 
 Golden Circle," which was originally formed 
 to support filibustering enterprises wherever 
 there was a show for aggrandizement, seized 
 upon the trouble between the North and the 
 South as the field of operation. Houston was 
 the natural leader of the friends of the Union, 
 and instead of peace and quietude, it became 
 necessary for him to gird his loins and buckle 
 on his armor for a contest which he had fore- 
 cast when he first entered the Senate. At a 
 
198 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 public meeting of the friends of the Union held 
 at Brenham, Houston was nominated for Gov- 
 ernor by acclamation. He accepted it in a let- 
 ter saying that ' ' the Constitution and the Union 
 embraced all the principles by which he would 
 be governed." 
 
 The campaign which followed was one of the 
 most exciting ever held in Texas. It demon- 
 strated Houston's tremendous hold upon the 
 people and his extraordinary power as a stump- 
 speaker. He aroused the enthusiasm of the 
 people by his eloquent appeals for the preser- 
 vation of the Union. In joint debate he simply 
 overwhelmed his opponents. One after another 
 they retired from the field in discomfiture. 
 When the votes were counted Houston had 
 36,257 to 29,500 for his opponent, — a majority 
 of 8,757. On December 21, '59, Houston was 
 inaugurated as Governor. 
 
 Soon after his inauguration Houston made 
 a speech which he closed in words of pathetical 
 eloquence. He said: ''When I look back and 
 remember the names of the men who are canon- 
 ized as the tutelar saints of liberty, and the 
 warning they gave us against disunion, I can 
 not believe that you will be led astray. T can- 
 not be long with you. The sands of my life 
 are fast running low. As the glass becomes 
 exhausted, if I can feel that I can leave my 
 coiuitry prosperous and united, I shall die eon- 
 
Wonderful Power ah an Orator. 199 
 
 tented. To leave friends with whom I have 
 stood in troublous times, and whom I have 
 learned to love as bi^others; to leave the chil- 
 dren of those whom I have seen pass away, 
 after lives of devotion to the Union ; to leave 
 the people who have borne me up and sustained 
 me; to leave my country and not feel that the 
 liberty and happiness I have enjoyed would be 
 theirs, would be the worst pang of death. 
 Think you I feel no interest in the future of 
 our country in which my children and yours 
 are to share the fate of each other? They must 
 encounter the evils which inay come. If 
 untrammeled by disunion, they maj^ venture in 
 the paths of honor and glory, and who can fore- 
 tell the mighty progress they may make? If 
 cut adrift, and the calamitous curse of disunion 
 is inflicted upon them, where is the seer who 
 can portray their misfortime and shame?" 
 
 A few days before the election to determine 
 whether the State should secede, Houston had 
 an appointment to speak in Galveston, — the 
 hot-bed of disunion. When he arrived he was 
 admonished not to speak, as there was danger 
 of trouble. He refused to be intimidated, and 
 spoke from the balcony of a hotel. While in 
 Galveston a few years ago, a gentleman with 
 whom I was talking, thus describes him at the 
 time: "There he stood, an old man of seventy 
 years, on a balcony high above the heads of the 
 
200 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 thousands who had gathered to hear him speak, 
 and where every eye could scan his magnificent 
 form, six feet and three inches high, and as 
 straight as an arrow. Thus Houston stood, with 
 his deep-set and penetrating eagle eyes looking 
 out from under heavy shaggy eye-brows, over 
 the assembled multitude, while above his high 
 and broad forehead were to be seen glimpses 
 of the infinite intellectual forces of his massive 
 brain that were crowned with white locks. 
 Yes, there stood Plouston, who, in a voice of 
 far-reaching power, which echoed and re- 
 sounded from street to street and from building 
 to building, which shook and commanded the 
 very souls of his hearers ; and, added to all this, 
 was a manner peculiar to himself, made up of 
 deliberation, self-possession, and a restrained 
 majesty of action which left him without a 
 peer." 
 
 Thus appeared Sam Houston on this most 
 wonderful occasion of his eventful life, and by 
 the power of his matchless personality he para- 
 lyzed the arm of mobocracy. He said : ''Some 
 of you laugh, at the idea of bloodshed, as the 
 result of secession. But let me tell you what 
 will happen. The time will come when your 
 fathers and your husbands, your sons and 
 your brothers, will be herded like sheep and 
 cattle in prison pens to the far north at the 
 point of the bayonet ; and your wives, mothers 
 
Houston's Forecast of the Future. 201 
 
 and sisters will ask, 'Where are they f and echo 
 will answer, Where? You may perchance, 
 after the sacrifice of countless millions of 
 money, and hundreds of thousands of precious 
 lives, win Southern independence, but I doubt 
 it. The North is determined to preserve the 
 Union. They are not fiery and impulsive peo- 
 ple like you, for they live in a colder climate. 
 But when they do begin to move in a given 
 direction, when great interests are at stake, as 
 in this matter, they move with the steady tread 
 and momentum of a mighty avalanche, and 
 may overwhelm the South with ignoble defeat. 
 
 But Houston could not stem the tide. The 
 secessionists were active and violent, and the 
 State was pushed into the vortex of disunion. 
 The Union sentiment was nevertheless quite 
 strong in Texas, for only about two-thirds of 
 the voting population attended the election 
 when the question of secession was acted on, 
 and there were 13,841 votes against secession. 
 A convention assembled immediately after the 
 election and took steps to join the Confeder- 
 acy. A committee was appointed to inform 
 Governor Houston of its action. He protested, 
 but without avail. On March 14, the conven- 
 tion adopted an ordinance requiring the State 
 officers to take an oath to support the Confed- 
 eracy. Houston declined, and was deposed 
 from his office. Whereupon he left for his home 
 
202 ' A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 at Huntsville. Soon after his arrival at home 
 President Lincoln offered Houston a Major- 
 General's commission in the Union Army, but 
 it was declined. 
 
 Sam Houston had many opportunities to have 
 acquired wealth. But he was indifferent to the 
 acquisition of money. It seemed to have no 
 charms for him. As a result, he lived and died 
 a poor man. After his second marriage he 
 lived more in accord with the usages of good 
 societ.y. His wife was a source of great strength 
 to him, in reclaiming him from the drink habit, 
 and in bringing hini under the wholesome influ- 
 ence of the Gospel of Christ, which he adhered 
 to until his death, which occurred on July 26, 
 1863. 
 
 He left a widow and eight children, all of 
 whom were present at his death, but his eldest 
 son, Samuel, who was wounded and a prisoner 
 in the hands of the Union forces when his 
 father died. 
 
Chapter 13 
 
 A CONTRIBUTION TO AN ENTERTAINMENT HELD IN THE 
 TOWN HALL, IN CLAYTON, INDIANA, ON THE EVEN- 
 ING OF DECEMBER 31, 1887, ENTITLED, 
 "THRICE HAPPY NEW YEAR" 
 
 ONE by one the years go by. Like a strange 
 dream the year 1887 has vanished over 
 the brink of the great precipice, and will 
 soon be numbered with the ages that are gone, 
 on the pages of whose records are many joys 
 and many sorrows. One short year ! It seems 
 but yesterday, since, one year ago, we were 
 watching and waiting the departure of the old, 
 to wish each other a happy new year, and 
 on its threshold laid our varied gifts— hopes, 
 plans, promises, and expectations respecting the 
 
 future. 
 
 Do we ever realize that each returning New 
 Year's eve, closes a chapter in God's great 
 journal^ The year is God's ledger. Death, 
 His balance sheet— debtor and creditor— and 
 what a medley we do present. Old age, middle 
 age, and childhood. Bad acts, and good acts. 
 Hopes, fears, smiles, joys and tears, all woven 
 together like a tangled skein, and only pene- 
 trable by the wondrous eye of Him who reigns 
 on high. 
 
 —208— 
 
204 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 Now, as the close of the year is the time we 
 usually take an accounting of our business 
 transactions, should we not also take a retro- 
 spect of our lives, and see how much of good 
 there is to our credit? Although the record is 
 made up, for or against us, in the great book 
 that will be opened at the last day ; and whilst 
 it is also true that we can not change the 
 result, may we not look over it, and see wherein 
 we could have done better? Who of us can 
 look back over the past year, and say there is 
 nothing in our lives that needs improving? 
 Suppose we were this moment standing before 
 the great tribiuial, and our records were being 
 read to us ; would not many of us think that a 
 mistake was being made, and that some one 
 else 's record was being read ? If there is much 
 we would like blotted out, how very much is 
 there for Him to shake His head at? None of 
 us have been perfect. Few have done as well 
 as we might. But while this is true, and whilst 
 it is also true that it is too late to recall the 
 past, yet it is not too late to resolve and re- 
 resolve for the betterment of our lives in the 
 future. 
 
 Many, indeed, are the changes that have 
 taken place since we last wished each other a 
 happy new year. Many are the heart joys that 
 have been dipped in sadness. Many there are 
 whose hearts are darker than the grave, for the 
 
Eei LECTIONS OF A New Year's Eve. 205 
 
 lamp of love is broken, and the joy of their lives 
 have departed. Scarlet blossoms and sombre 
 buds — such is life. If we look back down the 
 dark lane of our lives, we find that many good 
 intentions and noble resolutions lie bleeding 
 and torn as far back as the eye can reach. 
 Hard w^ords and bitter sayings, in too many 
 instances, lie where soft ones would have been 
 better ; while here and there, though far apart, 
 a fragrant flower lifts its silent voice and rears 
 its pearly leaflets to gladden the debris round. 
 Here and there, too, can be seen the beautiful, 
 in strange contrast with the ugly and the 
 unseemly. Life, indeed, to many, is a dark lane. 
 But amid all the ruins that line its way, God 
 has given us many good things ; and He has 
 given us that which is more blessed than all — 
 golden hope, twin sister of Immortality. For, 
 while all else may, and sometimes do, desert us, 
 yet hope, "That springs eternal in the breast", 
 is ours through every trial — even the grave — 
 to bear us on, dry and happy, through the 
 Stygian flood, up to God, 
 
 This is New Year's eve. Another mile-stone 
 has been reached by us in our journey from the 
 cradle to the grave. Another echo has rung 
 down the valley of life, and who of us have 
 been true to our vows and our promises made 
 one year ago ? God only knows ! How many 
 the changes, one brief year has wrouglit. Let 
 
206 A DJ.AMOND IN THE RoUGH. 
 
 US pause for a moment and compare the then, 
 with the now, that we may note the rapid transi- 
 tion of time. Think of the aged, whose heads 
 are fast beeom;ing silvered o'er, and whose 
 locks are fast whitening. Then think of the 
 youth, of the boys who have developed into 
 men, — some of whom are in distant lands — and 
 of the girls, who have grown to be women, some 
 of whom, with implicit faith, and careless of all 
 save the love of their chosen one, hath, since 
 last New Year's eve, said "yes", and become 
 brides, and have cut loose from the hallowed 
 port of parental protection, and have launched 
 their barks on the sea of life in the pursuit of 
 that happiness so often mirrored to us in our 
 dreams, and that doth beckon us on. 
 
 Yes, this is New Year's eve. Another chap- 
 ter in the book of life is closed. Another wave 
 has rolled in toward the shores of eternity ; and 
 while we are looking forward to the future 
 with hope, there are pictures on memoric plates 
 that each will do well to recall. During the 
 year just closing, as in every other, some hearts 
 have been joyful, while others have been made 
 to drink the cup of bitterness to its very dregs. 
 The happy wife of one year ago, with broken 
 heart, has been plunged into a grave deeper and 
 darker than the one wherein lies her hopes. 
 The affectionate husband, weighed down with 
 a grief too deep for tears, has consigned to the 
 
Some Unpleasant Reminiscences. 207 
 
 tomb the dear one chosen from among all Ood's 
 millions. The devoted father, with blighted 
 hopes, has laid his darling boy beneath the sod. 
 The saintly mother, with a grief stricken soul, 
 has prayed to God, as no other could, to spare, 
 if but for a brief time, a lovely daughter from 
 death's grasp; while the little infant, whose 
 breath had hardly been given, marks an angelic 
 chrysalis in the cold graveyard ; and the pretty 
 playthings of the child, whose prattlings and 
 rompings gave joy to the household, are 
 securely put away, in some sacred spot, to call 
 forth floods of tears when none but grief and 
 God are nigh. Yea, indeed ! Heart stories, to 
 be read only in the land of the Leal, have been 
 written. Friendships, once thought to be indis- 
 soluble, have been broken, and coldness and 
 distrust now reign where once flourished the 
 flowers of mutual esteem and confidence. 
 Would to Him who gives out the new years, and 
 reels in the old ones, all tattered, torn and 
 blotched by us here on earth, that in all the 
 land there were none but happy homes and joy- 
 ful people. 
 
 This would be a tiresome world, if eternity 
 was life here. It is well for us that life is short, 
 in the midst of our present environment. Some 
 have concluded that life is not worth living. 
 To many it is not. It would not be for any of 
 us, but for the unspoken beautiful that draws 
 
208 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 us captive to the hearth and the home circle. 
 As love comes to us, so we give in return, and 
 each to each with acemnulated interest. It is 
 smiles that brighten our pathway, and when 
 the dearest eyes in all the world look into our 
 own, so full, so deep and so strong with earnest 
 love, we could, would and should, dare any 
 danger, face any death, or wrestle with any 
 fate, which may stand between us and the 
 sacred circle where gather those whose hearts, 
 day by day, have run more and more into our 
 own, as warm lips, love-lit eyes, and trusting 
 hearts, have run to meet us at our coming. 
 
 There are times when the dark clouds of 
 adversity gather very thick and threatening 
 over the heads of many of us, and were it not 
 for the parting with loved ones, which sets 
 thought in a quiver, and makes us cling to life, 
 death would be a happy relief; for, of the 
 future we have no fears. God is mercy, and 
 mercy is God, and they who trust in Him, and 
 His promises, will never fail nor sink. 
 
 The future of life will be much as the present 
 and past. Not all the clouds we look upon are 
 lined with silver. Yet there is a lining to many 
 of them. Not every flower on the distant plain 
 to which we are walking is fragrant, nor yet 
 is the coloring as bright as in our dreams ; for 
 there will come trials and sorrows, and disap- 
 pointments will send throbbings to our hearts. 
 
Let Us Be Heroic. 209 
 
 But let us bear with life's burdens bravely, and 
 they will be lighter. In a word, let us rest on 
 the roses, and not on the thorns! None of us 
 know why one heart is sad and another happy. 
 It is well we do not. It is a good thing that 
 there are no windows to our hearts. If there 
 were, we would be continually looking into each 
 other's secret sorrows, that most of us are philo- 
 sophical enough to try to bury out of sight. 
 
 People seldom inquire into another's troubles 
 with good intentions. The world hunts for the 
 troubles and sorrows of others as a boy buys 
 a ball — to kick about and see it bounce. If 
 you have tender places, and don't want them 
 bumped, don't speak of them, is the true phi- 
 losophy. The only head-throbbings most men 
 care for are those on their own shoulders. If 
 you have trouble, fight it. If you don 't kill it, 
 it will kill you. The world moves, just the 
 same, whether we are happy or miserable. Let 
 us exercise common sense, then, and be happy 
 while we can. If your coat doesn't fit, don't 
 find fault, don't fret, don't bother, and worry, 
 and stew, and grumble and haggle over your 
 hard luck, but go in your shirt sleeves, or get 
 another. If your plans miscarrj^ try a new 
 set. If you get knocked down by the hurrying 
 throng who are sweeping by, spring to your 
 feet quickly, lest you get trampled upon ! For 
 remember that our greatest glory is not in 
 a*) 
 
210 A Diamond ]n the Rough. 
 
 never falling, but, by pluck, courage, and per- 
 severance, in rising when ive fall! 
 
 All have causes for joy, for smiles, for hopes, 
 for tears, and for sobs ; and what if the causes 
 are not published? None the less do they ex- 
 ist. There is not a heart but what has its inner 
 chamber — its grave of hopes — although the 
 foliage of time may in part have hidden it from 
 the gaze of the world. The inner beauty of the 
 soul, which shines and radiates, as trouble and 
 sorrow gather about the heart, is seldom seen 
 by the world. No greater mistake is made than 
 to suppose, because a man's face has been 
 sobered and saddened by misfortune, that he is 
 therefore become sullen and morose. As some 
 of the sweetest kernels are found in nuts with 
 the roughest hulls, so with hearts. Some of the 
 tenderest and most affectionate men and wo- 
 men who have ever lived, were persons with 
 apparently crabbed and crusty exteriors. 
 Study to turn the keys aright, and the heart- 
 riches of such persons are as easy of access 
 as is the gold in the safe, by the right manipu- 
 lation of its combination lock. 
 
 Being imperfect judges, many whom we con- 
 demn, God pities. That which is most in need 
 among men is charity. Over the land, this 
 night, just fallen, there lies a mantle of snow, — 
 white as the forgiveness of God — which seems 
 to have been lowered from the cerulean dome 
 
A Lessox fkom Beautiful Snow. 211 
 
 above, to teach us that most beautiful of all 
 lessons — forgiveness. And as the beautiful 
 snow covers the dark and unsightly places of 
 the earth, and as the new year is thus coming 
 to us clad in the garments of peace and purity, 
 once again, let us forgive, as we would be for- 
 given. Who, on sober reflection, can afford to 
 hate ? How the grave mocks at our enmity 
 against the soul it shelters. Vain and decep- 
 tive ! And yet there are those who openly boast 
 of the hatred of their fellows — travelers with 
 them on the road to eternity. 
 
 Revenge at times may seem sweet, but no one 
 who is not on the borderland of misanthropy, 
 can ride with it long. Is not he who flings 
 hatred to the winds, and quenches wrath in the 
 waters of Lethe, a braver and truer man than 
 he who rolls animosity under his tongue as a 
 sweet morsel? All there is of life is what we 
 get out of it to make us happy. Our only real 
 home here on earth is in the heart, the arms, or 
 the presence of those we love. Oui- riches, if 
 we have any, are not in our pockets, nor in oui- 
 safes. They are in our hearts. Gold and silver 
 are not riches. Rustling silk does not always 
 herald affection. A marble palace is not neces- 
 sarily the bower of love. Smiles, born of happy 
 hearts, are the jewels which reflect the bright- 
 est and purest light, and are of greatest value. 
 Krownstone f)-onts and gas-lit halls, may be wel: 
 
212 A Diamond ix the Rough. 
 
 enough in their way, but they contain more fur- 
 niture than happiness. The smiles that beam 
 on the face of the occupants of the little cot- 
 tage around the corner, that nestles 'neath the 
 shade of skillfully trained vine and tree, — as 
 his queen of hearts and the little ones run to 
 meet him as he returns from the labors of the 
 day — is truer, and has more of God's sunshine 
 in it than a thousand peals of laughter from 
 gas-lit halls and sumptuous parlors. 
 
 Home is the place ! Not the semblance, but 
 the reality — as God intended it. Wealth can 
 never satisfy the heart. Qi'oesus was not satis- 
 fied, neither is John Rockefeller. Fame is like 
 the crumbling frosting on bridal-cake — hard to 
 make and easily broken. Ambition, even when 
 gratified, is powerless to soothe pain, or still 
 the throbbing temple. But how like heaven are 
 the bowers of home, where we can rest with 
 those we love, and forget the world of care and 
 the battles of life. Go home to your family, 
 then, man of business. Go home to your heart, 
 erring wanderer. Go home to the good cheer 
 that awaits you, wronged waif, on life's break- 
 ers. Go home to those you love, man of toil, 
 and there rest and find happiness. Draw close 
 about the family hearth, and gaze into the eyes 
 of the heart-treasures God has given you, and 
 shut out from your soul the corroding cares of 
 life ; and although the blasts without may howl, 
 
Home, the "Dearest of All Places. 213 
 
 and the hurricane roar, and the tempest rage in 
 fury, until the shutters and casements of your 
 domicile may rattle, who cares? We are safe 
 at home, where love-lit eyes, more eloquent 
 than words, and more fervent than heat, re- 
 veals a wealth the world knows not of. 
 
 Happy homes are the vestibules of heaven; 
 and they are the foundation stones of the 
 church, of good government, and good society. 
 In fact, there can be no permanent structure 
 to society without well ordered homes ; and it 
 is the acme of a man's pride to found a home 
 and a family, to which he may go, like a mon- 
 arch to his throne — to his queen of hearts, and 
 his loving subjects — his children. 
 
 This is the season of festivities and long 
 nights, during which, under a million roofs, no 
 doubt, lovers are sitting, side by side, and are 
 fitting out their frail barks for a voyage on an 
 ocean wider, and far more tempestuous in many 
 instances than the billowy waste that grandly 
 rolls in defiance between distant shores. And 
 who is it that doesn't give an affirmative re- 
 sponse to the sentiment, "Beautiful is that faith 
 which sets two hearts voyaging on the ocean 
 of life in the holy bonds of wedlock"? Heav- 
 en's choicest blessing is theirs, and a halo of 
 glory surrounds them. Yes ! We have all been 
 witnesses of the marriage nuptials, and what a 
 gladsome mood it puts us in. 
 
214 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 Among those that old memories recall, there 
 was one — merely a little private affair — that we 
 remember. They had long been our friends, 
 and so they invited us. Him and her, and a 
 few invited guests. Twenty-four, to nineteen; 
 and they loved each other. It was no grand 
 wedding ; that is, there was no costly trousseau 
 from Paris. No line of carriages. No host of 
 diamond-glittering sensation seekers, called 
 friends. No army of waiters, bridesmaids and 
 musicians. No, it was a plain little wedding, 
 with everything just the nicest in the world, 
 and not a grand splurge, as if no one else had 
 ever been married before. But there were, it 
 seemed to us, angels in the air, as, hand in hand, 
 they stood before the minister, with e^^es look- 
 ing down, as if to see the heart that said, 
 '*yes". When the ceremony was over, we 
 shook hands with each, and wished them well. 
 But we did not kiss the bride. No? We did 
 as we would wish to be done by; and we here 
 take occasion to say, away with the custom, 
 which compels a bridegroom to stand and see 
 his newly-wedded wife — ^his dream of purity — 
 in the hands of others, and her lips pummeled 
 until sore, and then flavored with various 
 breaths, kinds of liquors, and brands of cigars, 
 for unfortunately, all men do not have clean 
 mouths, even when going to a wedding. 
 
 Now, while we have these pleasing pictures 
 
Let Your Hearts Be Rejoiced. 215 
 
 respecting the young, up before us, let us turn 
 to the ''crystal", the ''cotton", the "silver", 
 and the "golden" wedding anniversaries, and 
 see if the mellow rays of life's setting sun 
 doesn't fall upon them with a golden-hued 
 light. Let the old memories of the old be re- 
 vived. Think of the times, aged ones, when you 
 went forth with bright hopes, and the old shoe, 
 filled to the full with well wishes, was thrown 
 after you. The time, mayhap, may be long 
 agone, but is none the less vivid. If the fires 
 of love have burned low on the altars of your 
 hearts, kindle them anew, for there is still glory 
 in the old love, and life in the old caress. There 
 is still heart in the old kiss, and heaven itself 
 in the flickering of the old life, as. hand in hand 
 you pass down the narrowing lane to the brief 
 night that but hides the morn which is fast 
 coming on. 
 
 Kings and queens are those without dollars 
 or dimes, who may be old and poor, yet loved 
 and honored. Hard and flinty is the heart of 
 that person who does not show love and respect 
 to the aged, for many are the sorrows that come 
 naturally about the sundown of life, as swal- 
 lows homeward fly ; and he is unworthy of the 
 name of man who is not kind to the old, no mat- 
 ter if they are at times cross and peevish. The 
 old ship hull, which lies a stranded wreck, on 
 the stormy coast, listening to the roar and mut- 
 
216 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 terings of the ocean on which it once so proudly 
 rode, has reason to be warped, twisted and 
 rough. So with many of the old — they who 
 have battled with life and grown heart-weary 
 over its trials, sorrows, and disappointments. 
 
 Young and middle-aged people, live in the 
 future. None of us — at most very few — live in 
 the present. The old, live in the past, and their 
 sunset hours are passed more in looking upon 
 fading pictures than in growing ones. Let us 
 then plant anew the little seeds of love and 
 noble-hearted kindness, which shed such a rich 
 perfume around the old, and thereby make a 
 grateful shade in which they may have the final 
 struggle with death. 
 
 Now then, as God has wished us a Happy 
 New Year, by throwing his white mantle of for- 
 giveness over the earth, covering from sight 
 the dark and repulsive places, so let us throw 
 the mantle of forgiveness over all men, and wish 
 them a Happy New Year, and thus stand erect 
 before God and the world, and thereby prove 
 our title to true manhood and true womanhood. 
 Let each and every one forgive those who may 
 have wronged them. It is not worth while to 
 hate, when so few years are given us in Vhich 
 to love. May our well-wishes and good inten- 
 tions therefore be strengthened, that our hearts 
 may be the lighter, and the bank on which we 
 sit more beautiful, while waiting the final 
 
Stand Erect— Look to the Future. 217 
 
 going. Even brutes, we are told, forgive and 
 forget — surely man can do as much. 
 
 Not alone, then, to friends, but to those who 
 may have wronged us, as well, do we wish a 
 Happy New Year. Not alone to the rich and 
 prosperous — they who wrap in thick furs to 
 keep the cold out. Not alone to those who rest 
 on slumber-wooing couches, or sit on well- 
 rugged hearths by plated fenders. Not alone to 
 those who revel in the delights which wealth 
 brings. Not alone to those who lack not for 
 friends ; but to all— to the widow in her needs— 
 the widower in crape — the orphan in rags — the 
 child of poverty whose rest from toil never 
 comes—to the lonely of heart— to the wrecked 
 voyager upon the ocean of life — to the fallen 
 and forsaken— to the betrayed and wronged— 
 to the honest-hearted laborer, whose heart is 
 ever warm and true — to those who mourn for 
 loved ones lost in sickness — to the noble-hearted 
 watcher by the couch of suffering, as well as to 
 the sufferer, whoever he may be. In fine, to 
 all the poor and lonely of earth, who are ever 
 floating by on the mystic river, on whose banks 
 we are sitting, do we wish from an earnest 
 heart a Happy New Year ; and as the current of 
 life rolls in toward the thither shore, may they 
 land on islands ever green with love and affec- 
 tion—may they land with the living and lovely, 
 rather than with those who are dead to that 
 
218 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 which makes life happy — may they land on 
 green banks, instead of broken rocks, to be cut 
 and torn by the winds of adversity — raa}^ they 
 land amid fragrant groves and beautiful 
 flowers, instead of a golgotha of sunken hopes 
 — may they land beneath spreading palms, 
 rather than on arctic shores, to shiver in the 
 gales of adversity, born on the wings of selfish- 
 ness ; for soon will the brink be reached, and 
 the last look to the shore given, and as those 
 who may be watching the last ripple of life, 
 turn away from our couch with a shudder, to 
 look again and find us gone, may the momen- 
 tum given by a current strong and deep, from 
 good actions and noble impulses, carry us far 
 out to the calm depths of an open sea in the 
 supernal, and not leave us impaled on the 
 pointed and jutting rocks of disappointment, 
 but on the evergreen shores of the true and 
 the leal. 
 
 Let us throw open the blinds, then, and look 
 down the aisles and out of the windows of our 
 crustaceous selves, and let the sunlight of true 
 manhood and true womanhood in upon our 
 hearts. May we strive for that liberty which 
 lifts man to a higher plane, and in the year 
 just coming in, may we, one and all, go forth 
 battling with the army of cares with more of 
 Grod and less of selfishness in our hearts. Hold, 
 therefore, the dear ones and loved ones closer 
 
And All Will Be Well. 219 
 
 to the bosom, and may our hands be open wide 
 to charity and benevolence, and our hearts to 
 forgiveness, that we may thus wipe out the 
 dark spots of the past year with the good born 
 resolutions and noble impulses of the new, that 
 it may indeed be a happy and prosperous one, 
 is the sincere wish of the author, to all, whether 
 friend or foe — of every name, creed and pro- 
 fession . 
 
Chapter 14 
 
 A TRUE STORY IN PROSE, OF EVANGELINE, AND GABRIEL, 
 
 THE MOST PATHETICAL, PERHAPS, IN THE 
 
 ENGLISH LANGUAGE 
 
 AS THE course of the stream is shaped by 
 the meadow, so is the poetic instinct 
 in the choice of themes. Thus it was 
 that the element of sublimity, predominating 
 over all other qualities in the mind of Milton, 
 guided his reflections into the realms of eter- 
 nity, and the soul of poetry poured itself out in 
 the immortal lines of "Paradise Lost." The 
 natural bent of Bryant's mind was the study 
 of the ever changing phenomena of Nature, 
 and his eloquence was employed in giving ex- 
 pression to the raptures of his soul in commun- 
 ion with the worl^ of Nature 's God. This is 
 exemplified in his '^Thanatopsis." The love 
 of home, was Longfellow's guiding sentiment. 
 He, it appears, possessed a child-like affection 
 for the traditions and scenes of his youth. 
 
 In the poem of Evangeline and Gabriel, 
 therefore, the traditions of the home, much 
 more than the scenes surrounding it, appealed 
 to the poet's imagination. Although the early 
 scenes of Evangeline were laid in Acadia — now 
 called Nova Scotia — yet Longfellow was never 
 
 -221- 
 
222 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 therein. He derived all his knowledge of the 
 country from others. The circumstances which 
 gave rise to the poem, namely, the expulsion of 
 the Acadian farmers from the land which had 
 been their home for a century, may be learned 
 from contemporaneous Canadian history. 
 
 At the beginning of Longfellow's story, 
 Acadia had been under the rule of England for 
 forty-two years. It was ceded to the British 
 crown by the treaty of Utrecht, in 1713. In the 
 early career of Louis XIV, of France, his in- 
 domitable spirit pervaded every department of 
 the government of Prance, and her marvelous 
 prosperity, at home and abroad, were due to 
 the wonderful energj^ and imperious will of her 
 king. But Louis finally grew old, and his power 
 waned. He occupied the throne of France for 
 seventy-three years, a portion of the time in 
 the person of a regent. Meanwhile incessant 
 war had exhausted France. Her cherished 
 dreams of empire in the new world were fast 
 fading. The French settlers in America, how- 
 ever, remained true to their native country and 
 king. In return, they were subjected to ill- 
 treatment by their new rulers, — the English — 
 which scarcely finds a parallel in the history of 
 civilized nations. 
 
 And just here I will say that the beautiful 
 picture of rural happiness and contented peace 
 which Longfellow ascribes to the Acadians, at 
 
A Great Wrong Committed. 223 
 
 this time, is not the real history, in the case, 
 only as respects the peasants. The English 
 governors of the province let no opportunity 
 escape to curb, in her French subjects, their 
 love of France. As a result of this, the French 
 priests, to whom the people were devotedly at- 
 tached, were banished. The missionaries also 
 were natives of France, and held in high favor 
 by the people. The charges on which these 
 priests and early Christian teachers were ex- 
 pelled may be found in almost any history of 
 Canada. 
 
 The whole pretext for the expulsion of the 
 Acadians was summed up in a letter from an 
 English lord to the Governor of Acadia, in the 
 following: "That the French, in Acadia, 
 seemed likely never to become good subjects of 
 England, while the French priests retained so 
 much influence over them," and they were for 
 that reason banished. 
 
 This piece of tyranny, more inhuman, per- 
 haps, than any other that stains the foul rec- 
 ord of English misrule, was begun in Septem- 
 ber, 1755. The appearance of the ships in the 
 harbor of Grand-Pre, to bear the Acadians 
 away, and the summons to the men and large 
 boys to assemble in their church in the village, 
 where the decree of expulsion was read to them, 
 which was done from the steps of the altar, are 
 all vividly described bj^ Longfellow. The de- 
 
224 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 cree ordering the expulsion of these harmless 
 people was signed by King George III, the same 
 luipopuiar ruler who occupied the throne of 
 England during our Revolutionary War. 
 
 When the tumult among the men and boys 
 had somewhat subsided, they turned to leave 
 the church, and found the entrance guarded by 
 soldiers, and were kept confined therein four 
 days. Meanwhile the women and children were 
 gathered together on the shore, and on the 
 morning of the fifth day, the imprisoned men 
 and boys were marched to the beach, where 
 the women and children were, when mothers, 
 children, husbands and wives were hurried into 
 rowboats and carried out to the different ships 
 of the fleet without regard to families, thereby 
 separating the members thereof in a majority 
 of instances for all time ; and ere the embarka- 
 tion was completed, the torch was applied to 
 their homes in the village of Grand Pre, and 
 these unfortunate people, at whose doors not a 
 crime could be laid, witnessed the destruction 
 of their homes and all their worldly possessions. 
 
 Next morning a portion of the fleet set sail, 
 carrying one thousand nine hundred and twen- 
 ty-three souls into exile. This was from the 
 h:\i-An of Minas, and from other settlements in 
 the province, five thousand more were ban- 
 ished; and up and down the whole Atlantic 
 coast, these yjeople were scattered, from Boston 
 
English Government's Mistake. 225 
 
 to South Carolina, and from the West Indies 
 to New Orleans. Then began the wanderings 
 of a heart-broken and disconsolate people. Ail 
 along the eastern shores of our continent, mem- 
 bers of separated families traveled in search of 
 lost ones. In search, did I say? Alas! Often 
 in vain; and while the suffering and trials of 
 Evangeline and Gabriel have been immortalized 
 in verse, yet how many blighted and withered 
 lives, and aching hearts, have never been chron- 
 icled, the omniscient God alone can tell. 
 
 At the time of the expulsion of the Acadians 
 from their homes and their possessions, the 
 British government was doubtless feeling that 
 its hold upon the American colonies was certain 
 and secure. It therefore distributed these 
 French subjects, whose only crime was love for 
 native country^ among the colonies, in the be- 
 lief that their love for la-belle France would 
 soon die out. But at that very time a storm 
 was fast gathering among the American col- 
 onies, which was soon to burst in fury and rage 
 for seven long years ; for soon after the expul- 
 sion of the French from Acadia — in 1765 — 
 James Otis hailed "the dawn of a new Repub- 
 lic"; and following this in quick succession, 
 the reverberating tones of Patrick Henry's elo- 
 quent voice was heard amid the assembled col- 
 onists in Virginia, in that most wonderful 
 exclamation of his, that "Caesar had his 
 Uo) 
 
226 A DlAMOKD IN THE RoUGU. 
 
 Brutus, Charles I, his Cromwell, and that 
 George III may well profit by their example." 
 
 Instead, therefore, of the British govern- 
 ment's hold on their American colonies being 
 secure, as was supposed, the western world was 
 at that very time in travail, and soon a govern- 
 ment was brought forth, that has ever been, is 
 now, and evermore will be, an astonishment 
 and wonder to civilized man. And should we 
 go back to a period of time some fourteen cen- 
 turies before Columbus set sail from Palos, on 
 August 2nd, 1492, just as the sun was first 
 gilding the eastern horizon, and thereafter 
 casting its rays across the Atlantic, and giving 
 dawn of day to a continent whose discovery 
 was to be the reward of Columbus's voyage; I 
 say, if we should go back to this period of 
 time, and take position at the entrance of a 
 small cave, on a barren and rocky island in the 
 Greek Archipelago, and should lend a listening 
 ear, we would in prophecy hear the announce- 
 ment of the birth of this Government. 
 
 Having, in the foregoing, briefly given a his- 
 tory of the banishment of the Acadians from 
 the lands which had been their homes for near 
 a century, and having followed them in their 
 dispersion to different points along our east- 
 ern seaboard, we will return to Nova Scotia 
 and trace the story of Evangeline and Gabriel 
 in prose, somewhat as Longfellow has traced 
 
The Destruction of Grand Pre. 227 
 
 it in poetry, and will at times, when we think 
 proper, quote from Longfellow in paraphrase and 
 in prose form. 
 
 The French subjects of the English govern- 
 ment who were banished from Acadia, were the 
 descendants of colonists who were brought to 
 the western world by Isaac de Razilla, and I. 
 H. Charnisay, during the year 1635, and came 
 from Poitou and Rochelle, in Western France. 
 
 Returning to the village of Grand Pre, in the 
 Basin of Minas, in Acadia, about the year 1847, 
 — the date of Longfellow's poem — and ninety- 
 two years after the banishment of the Acadians, 
 as already given, we will let Longfellow de- 
 scribe the greatly changed conditions and 
 scenes of that once prosperous community, in 
 the following: ''Where is the thatched roofed 
 village, the home of Acadian farmers"? An- 
 swering which, he says: "Waste are those 
 pleasant farms, and the farmers forever de- 
 parted. Scattered, like dust and leaves, when 
 the mighty blasts of October seize them, and 
 whirl them aloft, and sprinkle them far over 
 the ocean, until naught but tradition remains 
 of the beautiful village of Grand Pre''. 
 
 After the above sad description of the wreck 
 and ruin of Grand Pre, and the waste and 
 devastation of the fine farming lands adjoining 
 it, Longfellow, addressing the admirers of the 
 good and the pure in life, says: "Ye who be- 
 
228 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 lieve in affection that hopes, and endures, and 
 is patient ; ye who believe in the beauty and 
 strength of woman's devotion, list to the 
 mournful traditions still sung by the pines of 
 the forest; list to a tale of love, in Acadia — 
 home of the happy". 
 
 As in all communities since the days of primi- 
 tive man, so among the Acadians. Boys grew 
 to men, and girls to women ; and true to their 
 natures, sought companionship with each other 
 in wedlock. It therefore transpired that in the 
 home of one of the most highly respected farm- 
 ers of Grand Pre, — Benedict Bellefontaine — 
 there dwelt a lovel}^ daughter, Evangeline by 
 name. "Fair Avas she to behold, that maiden 
 of seventeen summers, whom many a youth, as 
 he knelt in the church and opened his missal, 
 fixed his eyes upon as the saint of his deepest 
 devotion." Many a suitor came to her door, 
 and as he knocked and waited to hear the 
 sound of her footsteps, he knew not which beat 
 the louder, the heart, or the door knocker. But 
 among all who came, young Gabriel, only, was 
 welcome ; Gabriel Lajeunesse, the son of Basil, 
 the blacksmith. 
 
 We have now before us the real names, as 
 well as the poetical, of the two unfortunate 
 people whose history it is our purpose to trace, 
 as best we can, until they shall have passed 
 hence to that bourne whence no one hath re- 
 turned. 
 
Their Real Names. 229 
 
 The parents of Evangeline and Gabriel were 
 neighbors and friends during all the lifetime of 
 the children, up to this time, who, from early 
 manhood and womanhood, were lovers; and 
 had, for some time prior to this, been betrothed. 
 When the deplorable day of the banishment of 
 the Acadians came, and the men and large boys 
 were being marched from their imprisonment 
 in the church down to the beach, and were 
 being hurried past the women on the shore, 
 Evangeline, strong and womanly in the hour 
 of her profound grief and sore distress, beheld 
 the face of Gabriel, pale with emotion, as he 
 passed by her on his way to the ships, and 
 greeted him with a look of Spartan courage, 
 that kindled anew w4thin him the spirit of 
 hope, which seemed at the time forever dead 
 in his pale and distressed face. 
 
 We have here a picture, awful to behold, and 
 can but bring trembling to the pen of any one 
 who may attempt a description of the harrow- 
 ing and heart rending scenes attending the em- 
 barkation of those grief stricken Acadians. A 
 pen must needs be sapphire pointed, and dipped 
 in ethera, and -guided by an angelic hand, to 
 give an accurate portrayal, in which husbands 
 and wives were torn apart, and sent to differ- 
 ent ships, never to see each other again ; and 
 during which mothers were separated from 
 their offspring, and thrust into row boats 
 
230 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 (there was no dock, and the ships, on account 
 of shallow water, were anchored quite a dis- 
 tance from the shore) and carried out to the 
 ships, while seeing their children rushing to 
 the water's very edge, and extending their 
 little arms, and screaming with the wildest 
 entreaties to be taken. 
 
 ''Thus to the Gaspereau's mouth they were 
 hurried ' ' ; and not since the sun first lit up the 
 chambers of the East, and sent his rays across 
 the primeval bosom of the great deep, down 
 to this hour, nor will there, dare we say, until 
 the last echo of man's evil deeds ring down 
 the corridors of time, be a more heartless and 
 cruel piece of man's inhumanity to man, than 
 was the banishment of the Acadians from their 
 homes and all their possessions in Acadia! by 
 the English government in 1755. 
 
 Speaking of Evangeline and her father, dur- 
 ing this terrible ordeal, Longfellow says: 
 ''Gone was the glow from his cheek, and the 
 fire from his eye, and his footsteps heavier 
 seemed, with the weight of the heavy heart in 
 his bosom. But with a smile and a sigh, Evan- 
 geline clasped his neck and embraced him, 
 speaking words of endearment where words of 
 comfort availed not." 
 
 In the hurry and rush of getting the Aca- 
 dians aboard the vessels, Basil and Gabriel — 
 father and son — were put into separate ships. 
 
Death of Benedict Bellefontaine. 231 
 
 while in despair, on the shore, awaiting to be 
 thrust aboard, Evangeline stood with her 
 father, and never more, 'till on his dying bed, 
 years and years afterward, did she see Gabriel, 
 as the sequel will disclose. 
 
 All the ships bearing the Acadians into exile 
 did not sail from Grand-Pre at the same time. 
 As previously stated, the father of Evangeline 
 —Benedict Bellefontaine— was, at the time of 
 the departure of the first ships, greatly broken 
 in spirit, as a result of the misfortunes which 
 had befallen his countrymen, and died soon 
 afterward, and just before the departure of the 
 second fleet of ships which carried Evangeline 
 into exile. Being now bereft of her father, and 
 while yet heavily weighed down with heart 
 anguish and sorrow over her separation from 
 Gabriel, Evangeline is at length seized and 
 forced aboard a ship to be exiled, and is soon 
 on the broad bosom of the Atlantic, sailing, and 
 without knowing whither she is going. 
 
 We are at this point unavoidably in a desert 
 waste, as it were, and without knowledge of 
 where cruel fate has consigned Evangeline for, 
 some time ; for both Longfellow and the histo- 
 rians are silent respecting the matter. Possibly 
 she was on shipboard during this period of 
 time; or, she may have been landed at some 
 other point on the Atlantic coast,— Portland. 
 Boston or New York — before reaching Phila- 
 
232 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 delphia, where we first hear of her after her 
 exile from Acadia, and where she had been 
 dwelling at intervals for some time. 
 
 Having learned of the sojourn of the sorrow- 
 ing daughter of Bellefontaine. and the fiancee 
 of Gabriel, in the city of Penn, we will take 
 leave of her for a time and go in search of 
 Gabriel. And we find that after many weary 
 years of wandering, in the towns and cities 
 of our eastern seaboard, he leaves for Louisi- 
 ana, where we finally hear of him ; and what do 
 we hear ? Only this, and no more : That he is 
 with his father, in the Opelousas of Louisiana. 
 How, or when, they came together, after their 
 separation during the departure of the first 
 fleet of exile ships from Acadia, as already 
 narrated. n(?ither Longfellow nor history has 
 informed us. Did Gabriel, in his peregrinations 
 in search of Evangeline along the Atlantic 
 coast, learn of his father's presence in the far 
 southwest, and then journey across the conti- 
 nent to Louisiana ? History fails to tell us. We 
 know, and it is all we know, that instead of be- 
 ing a village blacksmith, at the time, as in 
 Grand Pre, that Basil, the father of Gabriel, 
 after many years in Louisiana, is now rich in 
 great herds of cattle, fat and sleek, on the Ber- 
 munda grazing lands of southwestern Louis- 
 iana, which are excelled nowhere in all our 
 broad country, and that Gabriel is the manager 
 
Evangeline in Philadelphia. 238 
 
 of these vast herds — that Gabriel is now a cow- 
 boy. 
 
 Returning to the city of Penn, where we took 
 leave of Evangeline, we find many exiled Aca- 
 dians who are homeless, hopeless and friend- 
 less ; who have been wandering from city to 
 city in search of lost ones, and were now in 
 deep dejection over their failure to find them. 
 Among these, was Evangeline, who had waited 
 and wandered, and while still possessing traces 
 of her earlier comeliness, yet sorrow and suffer- 
 ing had left their imprint upon her features. 
 ''There was something in her life, incomplete, 
 imperfect, unfinished ; as if a morning in June, 
 with all its music and sunshine had passed in 
 the sky; and, fading, was slowly descending 
 again into the east, whence it late had arisen." 
 
 Urged on by a restless longing, Evangeline 
 would arise and go again in search of Gabriel, 
 and many times among the tombstones in the 
 cemeteries, thinking that, perhaps, in the bosom 
 of some lonely grave, Gabriel might already be 
 at rest. ''Sometimes a rumor, a hearsay, an in- 
 articulate whisper, would come with its airy 
 hand to point and beckon her onward." Some- 
 times b}^ chance, Evangeline would meet some 
 one who had known Gabriel in Acadia. At 
 length she met one, who said: "0 yes! we 
 know him, Gabriel Lajeunesse ! lie is with his 
 father. They are on the rich grazing lands of 
 Louisiana. ' ' 
 
234 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 After learning the pathetical story of the 
 sorrowing maiden, her friends would many 
 times say to her: ''Why dream and wait for 
 him longer? Are there not others as fair as 
 G abriel 1 Others who have hearts as tender and 
 true, and spirits as loyal as his?" Answering 
 them, Evangeline would say: "I can not; 
 whither my heart has gone, there must my hand 
 go also, and not elsewhere ; for, where the heart 
 goes before, like a lamp, and illumines the way, 
 many things are made clear, that else would lie 
 hidden in darkness". 
 
 Having at last, after many years, whilst foot- 
 sore and weary with travel, over the thorns 
 and shards of an unenviable existence, learned 
 that Gabriel was in Louisiana, a voice whis- 
 pered in Evangeline's ear, saying. "Despair 
 not ' ' : Further search along the Atlantic coast 
 for Gabriel was therefore now discontinued; 
 and ere the waxing and waning of many moons, 
 the opportunity for Evangeline to go in search 
 of Gabriel in Louisiana came. 
 
 It was in the Springtime, — early in May — 
 when Evangeline and a few other Acadian 
 exiles, with Father Felician — whose real name 
 was Jean Baptiste des Enclaves — as guide, left 
 Philadelphia by way of the trail along the 
 Schuylkill River to Harrisburg, thence by the 
 Juniata to Altoona, thence by the Conemaugh 
 to the Allegheny, and thence to the Ohio River. 
 
Evangeline's Route to Louisiana. 235 
 
 This is the most probable route, for it is not 
 certainly known just how the little party of 
 exiles made their way from Philadelphia to the 
 confluence of the Allegheny River with the 
 Ohio; as, after leaving Philadelphia, the Alle- 
 gheny Mountains had to be crossed before 
 reaching the Ohio River at Pittsburg. Be this 
 as it may, we know that the trip from this on 
 to Louisiana was made in a ''cumbersome row 
 boat, or raft ' '. 
 
 In the language of Longfellow, "It was a 
 band of exiles, on a raft, as it were^ from a ship- 
 wrecked nation, scattered along the coast, now 
 floating together, bound by the bonds of a com- 
 mon belief and a common misfortune. Men, 
 women, and children, who, guided by hope or 
 by hearsay, were seeking their kith and kin 
 among the French exiles on the Acadian shores 
 of Louisiana, or on the prairies of the fair 
 Opelousas". 
 
 These events, it should be kept in remem- 
 brance, were transpiring at a time prior to the 
 Revolutionary War, but in what year is un- 
 known to the author. It is, however, well 
 known to all, that the country was a wilderness 
 wild at that time in all the region west of the 
 Allegheny and Cumberland Mountains. Naught 
 of civilization, therefore, except at a few trad- 
 ing stations and missions, founded by Catholic 
 missionaries, was anywhere to be found in all 
 the broad west. 
 
236 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 It was adown the Ohio River then, — so named 
 by the Iroquois Indians, and the name after- 
 wards preserved by LaSalle, the first European 
 explorer to travel by way of its waters — that 
 the little band of Acadian exiles paddled or 
 guided their cumbersome craft; and on and on. 
 past the mouths of many rivers which flow 
 therein, and whereon there now floats myriads 
 of steamboats, until the confluence of the beau- 
 tiful Ohio with the. "Father of Waters"— the 
 Mississippi — was reached. And had it not been 
 that these persons were a band of exiles, travel- 
 ing through a wilderness to a far away country, 
 in search of lost ones, this trip would have been 
 one of joy and happiness, instead of gloom, 
 dejection and sorrow. For a more beautiful 
 river than the Ohio, at this season of the year — 
 the last of May — is rarely to be seen. Tho 
 course of the Ohio is through a high rolling 
 country, for the most part, with beautiful hills 
 margining its sides, which slope gently to near 
 the water's edge, as it courses its way, without 
 at any point spreading into sluggish lagoons. 
 
 On the placid and silvery surface of the Ohio 
 at evening time were to be seen myriads of 
 ducks and wild geese, whilst in its waters were 
 fish, as choice as were ever hooked or seined. 
 And our travelers had only to leave the current, 
 in the center of the river, and row to one side, 
 'neath the shade of overhanging trees, and drop 
 
The Beautiful Ohio Rivbk, 237 
 
 hook or snare to catch all the nice ana delicious 
 fish required to supply their needs. Or, whilst 
 on the banks, when strolling for exercise, and 
 having a gun, to bring down all the nice fat 
 squirrels, for which an epicure's taste might 
 call. Should larger game be desired, by some 
 Nimrod of the party, the possession of a little 
 patience, with a ready gun, and a steady nerve, 
 a nice piece of juicy venison, for a jerk over 
 fire, was easily obtained, as the deer in plenty 
 were wont to come to the river at all hours for 
 a drink or a swim. And whilst the trip down 
 the Ohio River at this time may have been 
 somewhat lonely, and attended with ennui, yet 
 there were seasons of exuberance of spirit and 
 joy unalloyed among the members of the little 
 band, especially when talking of their hoped 
 for arrival at their journey's end, in the aro- 
 matic laden air in the sunny clime of the 
 ''green Opelousas" of far away Louisiana; 
 where, as may be readily anticipated, from the 
 thread of this narrative, that orange blossoms, 
 both real, and in figure, would bloom. 
 
 As with all circles of society, so with this 
 little band of travelers ; a few possessed secrets 
 not common to all. For all the members of this 
 band of exiles were not in full possession of 
 Evangeline's secrets, hopes, and expectations 
 respecting Gabriel. Father Felician only, knew 
 all, and his kindness towards Evangeline, and 
 
238 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 his concern for her comfort and happiness, 
 could not have been greater, or more beautiful, 
 had he been her father in the flesh ; and there is 
 in this a picture, far more beautiful, than artist 
 with easel and brush has ever spread on 
 canvas. 
 
 Passing from the beautiful Ohio to the broad 
 bosom of the ** Father of Waters", and then 
 onward and onward, o'er sunken sands and 
 through a wilderness wild, for days and days, 
 our exiled friends glided adown the great river, 
 and at night by their blazing fires encamped on 
 its shores. And thus the little band, after many 
 days of hardship and exposure, reached a point 
 where the mighty river, with a majestic curve, 
 sweeps to the southeastward, and then onward 
 past New Orleans 'til it reaches the Mexican 
 Gulf. At the point of this curve, however, the 
 little band of exiles left the Mississippi River 
 by an '^ overflow channel," extending toward 
 the southwest, and connecting with the head 
 waters of the Atchafalaya, and were soon lost 
 in a maze of sluggish and devious waters, just 
 as the evening shadows were fast gathering. 
 But this circumstance failed to affect the heart 
 of Evangeline, for her spirit was strengthened 
 and made joyful by a vision which was con- 
 tinually floating before her eyes. 
 
 Speaking of this vision, Longfellow says: 
 ' ' It was the thought of her brain, that assumed 
 
Phantom in Brain of Evangeline. 239 
 
 the shape of a phantom, through whose shad- 
 owy aisles Gabriel was wandering before her". 
 Finally the boat was moored, the evening meal 
 dispatched, and the weary travelers retired and 
 slumbered, all but one. And whilst they slum- 
 bered, a light swift boat was seen to glide by. 
 At the helm, sat a man, comely in form, and 
 seemingly rugged and robust, but with a coun- 
 tenance thoughtful and careworn. Locks, dark, 
 and somewhat neglected, shaded his brow; 
 while a sadness, much beyond his years, seemed 
 clearly depicted in his face. Gabriel, was it*^ 
 who, weary with waiting, and unhappy and 
 restless, had resolved on seeking oblivion of self 
 and sorrow in the western wilds? Swiftly the 
 boat glided along, close under the lee of the 
 eastern shore of the Atchafalaya, and its occu- 
 pants saw not the boat of the exiles, as it lay 
 under the overhanging boughs of some willows 
 on the opposite shore. 
 
 "Angel of God ! ! Was there none to awaken 
 the slumbering maiden"? Moments, fraught 
 with the greatest interest, were now transpir- 
 ing, which in future were to wring heart 
 anguish from the soul of Evangeline, when she 
 should come to know what was transpiring so 
 near her at this moment. 
 
 After the sound of the oars on the tholes had 
 died in the distance, as from a magic trance, 
 the sleeping exiles awoke, and Evangeline, 
 
240 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 in a tremulous voice, said to the kindly priest : 
 "0, Father Felieian, something in my breast 
 says that near me Gabriel wanders". And true 
 it proved to be, as the sequel will show, for it 
 was he who had just rowed by, not knowing 
 that Evangeline was so near, and not so far 
 away, as he was supposing. 
 
 Then with a blush, she added: "Alas, for 
 my credulous fancy"? Answering which the 
 kindly priest said: "Daughter, thy words are 
 not idle, nor are they to me without meaning. 
 Feeling is deep, and still, and the word that 
 floats on the surface is as the floating buoy, that 
 tells where the anchor is hidden : Therefore 
 trust to thy heart, and to Avhat the world calls 
 illusions. Gabriel truly is near thee, for not 
 far away, to the southward, on the banks of the 
 Teche, are the towns of St. Maur, and St. Mar- 
 tin. There, the long wandering bride will again 
 be given to her bridegroom". 
 
 These words greatly encouraged and 
 strengthened Evangeline, and in a short time 
 the camp was struck, and all was made ready, 
 and the journey resumed. Soon the mouth of 
 the Teche was reached, which flows from the 
 west, and through the ' ' green Opelousas ' '. The 
 day was a most delightful one, at close of May, 
 when all Nature was resplendent in green, with 
 an aromatic laden air, and when the song birds 
 were all vying with each other in their best 
 
The Song Bikds of Louisiana. 241 
 
 notes, during which, ''from a neighboring 
 thicket, a mocking bird, the wildest of song- 
 sters, shook from his throat such a tiood of 
 delirious music" that the very air, the woods, 
 the little band of exiles, and all else seemed 
 silent to listen. 
 
 Onward, and with renewed energy, the brave 
 hearted voj^agers rowed through the day, past 
 Pattersonville, past Jeanerette, and at evening, 
 landed, ate supper, and sat by their camp fire, 
 talking of the morrow, when they would reach 
 St. Martin, — now called St. Martinsville — the 
 little ' ' Pairee ' ' of the Opelousas. This is where 
 the good priest has said to Evangeline: 
 "There, the long wandering bride will again be 
 given to her bridegroom". Alas? Alas? With 
 patience read on, and learn the sequel. 
 
 With high hopes the little party were astir 
 early the next morning, and were soon paddling 
 vigorously toward St. Martinsville, past Frank- 
 lin, and on beyond New Iberia. Late in the 
 evening they arrived at their destination, and 
 began their bivouac for the night under a large 
 and widespreading live oak tree, — that now 
 stands in front of a hotel, long since erected, at 
 which the writer lodged many times during his 
 sojourn in Louisiana — and from which he gath- 
 ered some Spanish moss and sent to his folks 
 at home, in Clayton. 
 
 AVhile the little band of exiles were preparing 
 
 (16) 
 
242 A Diamond in the Rouoh. 
 
 for the evening meal, and for the night, a herds- 
 man, arrayed in a doublet of deer skin and 
 gaiters, and possessing broad and brown feat- 
 ures, which were shaded by a Spanish sombrero, 
 rode up; and suddenly dismounting from his 
 horse in amazement and delight, he rushed with 
 open arms and exclamations of joy in among 
 the campers, to their great astonishment, and 
 left it to the campers to identify him. But 
 after a moment's surprise, the exiles recognized 
 that it was Basil, the Acadian blacksmith, who 
 was greeting them so royally; and he at once 
 ordered them to cease arranging cam.p, and to 
 follow him, which they did, and he led them to 
 his residence, not far away. 
 
 Reaching the elegant home of Basil, which 
 was much more imposing than those destroyed 
 in Grand Pre, by the English, when the Acadi- 
 ans were banished from Nova Scotia, which was 
 surrounded with beautiful trees, and a profu- 
 sion of flowers, both native and exotic, the host, 
 with his lady and guests, soon repaired to an 
 arbor of roses near the house, where they gave 
 vent to their great delight and pleasure, laugh- 
 ing and weeping by turns, as the joys and sor- 
 rows of the past were gone over; or, sitting 
 silent and thoughtful — musing of absent ones. 
 Yes, thoughtful and silent, for Gabriel came 
 not. 
 
 As some of the company present well knew 
 
Ahrival at the Home of Basil. 243 
 
 that Gabriel and Evangeline were affianced 
 lovers, and that the hope of soon seeing him 
 had been thrilling her heart with emotions of 
 the keenest delight on her arrival in St. Mar- 
 tinsville, it ma}^ well be imagined that she was 
 ail anxiety now, as she was at the home of 
 Basil, the father of Gabriel. And the kindly 
 priest, too, who had said to her : ' " There, the 
 long wandering bride shall again be given to 
 her bridegroom", was anxiously awaiting the 
 appearance of Gabriel. 
 
 During this awful and crushing suspense, 
 deep and dark doubts and misgivings stole over 
 Evangeline's spirit, which were plainly re- 
 flected in her face. Suspecting the cause, the 
 tender hearted Basil broke the silence and said. 
 "If you came by the Atchafalaya, how have 
 you nowhere encountered my Gabriel 's boat on 
 the bayous". These words of Basil visibly 
 affected Evangeline, and tears came into her 
 eyes, and with a tremulous voice she asked: 
 ''Is Gabriel gone", and concealing her face 
 and feelings as best she could, but her sorrow- 
 smitten soul now gave way, and she moaned as 
 one in whose breast the last ray of hope had 
 suddenly been crushed for evermore. Aftei' 
 some moments of silence, and deep sjnnpathy 
 for Evangeline, by all, and she had in a measure 
 recovered her composure, Basil broke the 
 silence, and answering her question, said 
 
244 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 '^Yes, Gabriel is gone, and has left me alone 
 with my herds and my horses. He became 
 moody and disconsolate, and seemed to be over- 
 whelmed Avith sorrow and deep gloom, and 
 rarely ever spoke, and when he did, it was of 
 you, Evangeline, and of his troubles. ' ' 
 
 (Continued on page 259.) 
 
Chapter 15 
 
 THE DISCOMFITURE OF AN INFIDEL 
 
 Prepared at the request of leading citizens of Hendricks 
 County, Indiana 
 
 THE autumnal frosts and sear leaves of not 
 many seasons have come and gone since 
 a flippant-tongued infidel dropped into 
 Danville, Indiana, as an educator, and attained 
 a responsible position as such. Soon thereaf tej- 
 he began the fulniination, through the leading- 
 paper of the little city, of some very harsh criti- 
 cisms of the Scriptures. In a short time he 
 became very bold and defiant, so much so that 
 I was requested to reply to him, which I did, 
 as follows : 
 
 The name of the individual, for the present, 
 shall be, "Ajax," which I will use, instead of 
 the nom-de-plume used by him at the time. 
 
 ''There is not," says Ajax, "a single princi- 
 ple taught in the Bible but what was taught 
 ages upon ages before any of the sixty -six bool^s 
 of the Bible were written," and then adds: 
 ''The Christian Bible is much younger than 
 some of the great Bibles used by humanity." 
 
 If there are older Bibles than ours, why did 
 not Ajax give us the proof? The supreme 
 assurance with which he makes such untruthful 
 
 -245- 
 
246 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 statements, and expects them to be believed, is 
 wonderful. An honest infidel, one who con- 
 fines himself to the truth, in his opposition to 
 the Bible, is to be respected ; for he has the right 
 to think and write as he pleases, in the use of 
 facts. But one who, under cover of a fictitious 
 name, tries to poison the minds of the people 
 against the best book on earth, by misrepre- 
 sentation, falsehood and slander, is a moral 
 vampire and a literary poltroon. 
 
 But to the question: Is the Christian Bible 
 of later date than some of the so-called Bibles 
 of heathendom? I answer, no! it is not; for 
 Moses wrote before either Zoroaster, Confucius, 
 or Sakyamuni were born. These were the men 
 who were the founders of the three great relig- 
 ions, popularly so called, of Persia, India and 
 China : And they are universally recognized 
 as the oldest. I shall therefore give my atten- 
 tion to them, to the exclusion of all others,- - 
 the Koran, the Edda, etc. 
 
 Now then, that Moses wrote the Pentateuch 
 above 1,500 years B. C, is a chronological fact 
 about which there is no dispute ; at least none 
 worth noticing, and I shall make use of it as 
 my starting point. 
 
 Moving on then, we find that in the begin- 
 ning of the twelfth century B. C, and some 
 three hundred years after Moses, Zoroaster 
 flourished. He is the author of the Zenda- 
 
Thbee Great Teachers of Orient. 247 
 
 Vesta, the Persian book of religion; and next 
 to our Bible, it is the greatest of all the sacred 
 books of the East ; and next to Moses, Zoroaster 
 is the greatest religious teacher and character 
 of the ancient world. We see then that the 
 Zenda-Vesta,~the Persian Bible— is not as old 
 as ours by at least three hundred years. 
 
 Next in order stands Confucius, the grea^ 
 religious teacher of China. He was born 551 
 years B. C, the same year in which Cyrus, who 
 liberated the Jews from their Babylonish cap- 
 tivity, became king of the Medes and Persians, 
 and lived to be seventy-three years old. Dur- 
 ing the last few years of his life he wrote the 
 sacred books of Confucianism. He also com- 
 piled the Yi-King, the Shoo-King, the Shee- 
 King, and the Le-Ke-King, which constitutes 
 the whole of the ancient literature of China that 
 has come down to our day. From this data 
 then, what is known as the Chinese Bible, was 
 not written until 490 years B. C, and more than 
 1,000 after Moses, and 300 after Isaiah. 
 
 I will next inquire after Siddartha, or, Sak- 
 Ya-Muni, the Buddha of India. There will, no 
 doubt, be those who will read this, who have 
 read a little book, in verse, of two hundred and 
 more pages, entitled, ''Light of Asia," by 
 Edwin Arnold. Said little book is a poem in 
 celebration of the young Hindoo prince Gau- 
 tama. The Gautama of this poem is the same 
 
248 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 person spoken of above as Siddartha, or Sakya- 
 muni, and is the founder of Buddhism. There 
 was no such person as Buddha. It is an official 
 title, belonging to Gautama. 
 
 Now, Prince Gautama was born in the city 
 of Hapilavastu, in the Kingdom of Oude, 604 
 years B. C, and died 543 years before our era, 
 in his sixty-first year. Immediately after his 
 death, a council of his most eminent disciples 
 was called, and the doctrine and discipline of 
 the faith fixed, for Gautama wrote nothing 
 himself. He taught by conversation only. We 
 therefore see that the Veda, or Hindoo Bible, 
 was not written until more than 900 years after 
 Moses, and 400 after David and Solomon. Take 
 these witnesses, Ajax, and hide your face in 
 shame for the monstrous error and mistake you 
 made when you said there were older Bibles 
 than the Mosaic. 
 
 How does it come, Ajax, that you infidels, 
 who boast your intelligence so loudly, are igno- 
 rant of these historic truths, while they are well 
 known to those whom you tauntingly stigma- 
 tize as ignorant and credulous Christians? 
 Will you try and vindicate yourself? Or will 
 you continue to blunder ? 
 
 But I am not through with you yet. You 
 have said, in speaking of the birth of Christ, 
 ''that God impregnated a virgin, and took upon 
 himself human form", (pardon me for quoting 
 
The Blunders of an Infidel. 249 
 
 his blasphemous language) "that He might 
 announce to man the good news of a never- 
 ending hell, and chose as the place an obscure 
 part of the world, whose inhabitants were 
 unknown, and but little better civilized than 
 the Sioux Indians of Dakota." 
 
 The above caps the climax of all the mean 
 and silly things ever uttered against the Savior 
 of Mankind. Now, the Christian religion is 
 founded on the facts that Jesus Christ was the 
 Son of God, was crucified and buried, arose 
 from the grave, and ascended to heaven ; and if 
 these are false, the whole superstructure of 
 Christianity topples into ruin, and can not be 
 maintained for one moment. 
 
 The question then is, did the events of 
 Christ's birth, death, burial, resurrection and 
 ascension transpire in some dark corner of the 
 world, in an out-of-the-way place, in the midst 
 of a few friends only, at some remote period, 
 and have nothing to recommend them but the 
 venerable rust of their supposed antiquity, and 
 are therefore unworthy of our belief? Ajax 
 says, yes ! But I undertake to say they occurred 
 in open day, on the public highway of nations, 
 and at the very point where the converging 
 rays of light ^nd knowledge show brightest, 
 and are therefore to be believed. 
 
 Was not Palestine, the place where they 
 occurred, being on the line of travel between 
 
250 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 Babylon and Nineveh to the northeast ; Athens, 
 Carthage and Rome to the west ; Cairo, Thebes 
 and Alexandria at the south, and Byzantium 
 and Damascus on the north, unquestionably a 
 well-known country? And moreover, did not 
 vast armies under Alexander, Xerxes, Darius. 
 Cambyses and others, for more than a thousand 
 years, sweep back and forth across Palestine 
 from Greece to Persia, and from Macedonia to 
 Egypt, thereby extending its knowledge ? Was 
 not the trade and traffic of the maritime cities 
 of the Mediterranean carried on with India, 
 Meda, and Arabia, by caravans across Pales- 
 tine for centuries ; the very means to extend its 
 acquaintance and knowledge? And was not 
 Jerusalem, the capital of Palestine, near which 
 Christ was born, and at the time thereof, the 
 best known city on earth, by reason of the Jew- 
 ish feasts, which brought together people from 
 every known country? To these questions all 
 history answers, yes ! 
 
 Judea was therefore an international thor- 
 oughfare, and in no other city, not even Rome 
 itself, was there such a constant assemblage of 
 people of different nationalities as in Jerusa- 
 lem ; and her riches were the tolls she levied on 
 passing commerce. While round and round the 
 golden milestone in front of the Forum at 
 Rome, in unapproachable splendor, flowed all 
 the active currents of humanity; and while 
 
Blunders On, and Blunders Ever. 251 
 
 under the purple velaria of the Circus Maximus, 
 were at times to be seen more than 300,000 spec- 
 tators, yet in point of mere assemblage these 
 were not to be compared with the gatherings at 
 Jerusalem in celebration of the passover; and 
 yet Ajax had the hardihood to say that Jerusa- 
 lem and Judea were in an obscure part of the 
 world. Verily he is a historical charlatan. 
 
 The place, then, where Christ was born, and 
 where the first Christian events took place, was 
 no obscure corner ; but instead thereof, was the 
 best known country of the ancient world, — 
 Ajax to the contrary notwithstanding. 
 
 And how was it in respect of light and knowl- 
 edge? Was it an ignorant age, or one of 
 enlightenments Ajax says the people were but 
 little better civilized than the Sioux Indians of 
 the Northwest. They were, eh? What amazing 
 ignorance and stolid stupidity, as the following 
 will show. W^hy! Just before the birth of 
 Christ, the Roman Empire, the last one of the 
 four great empires of history, was established 
 by the downfall of Lepidus and Mark Antony, 
 and the surrender of Queen Cleopatra to Octa- 
 vius Caesar. All the world was now at peace, 
 reposing in security under the most illustrious 
 of all the Roman Caesars. Just in the midst of 
 this "Augustan age," celebrated for its growth 
 in art and literature, and when many of the 
 best known Latin writers were living, and when 
 
252 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 Greek civilization was spread over the circum- 
 jacent nations, carrying with it the accumu- 
 lated wisdom of the Greek sages; and when 
 there were learned, cunning and bold skeptics 
 of the Pyrro school ready to dispute everything 
 of doubtful import: I say, just in the midst 
 of this pre-eminently intellectual period, Jesus 
 Christ was born. He grew to man's estate ; per- 
 formed miracles ; disputed with the lawyers and 
 doctors, and confounded their wisdom ; was cru- 
 cified and buried ; arose from the grave, and 
 ascended to heaven. This He did, right in the 
 face of the full glare of an intellectual age 
 unsurpassed in all history down to our day. 
 
 These are some of the facts upon which the 
 Christian religion is predicated, and we have 
 seen they occurred in a public place, in an 
 enlightened age, and not among ignorant bar- 
 barians, as Ajax would have us believe : And 
 the question now is, are they true, or false? If 
 false, there was the best opportunity conceiv- 
 able to have shown it, by bringing his body 
 forth from the grave and exhibit it to the pub- 
 lic and thereby confounded his advocates. 
 
 Why was not this done, and that bold dis- 
 claimer silenced, who stood up in Jerusalem a 
 few days after Christ's crucifixion, and pro- 
 claimed his resurrection, right in the face of 
 kings, courtiers and sages? This would have 
 forever settled the question ; for if it had been 
 
Facts Undisputed in the World, 253 
 
 shown that Christ had not arisen from the 
 grave, the citadel of the Christian's faith would 
 have been swept away, and all his hopes 
 wrapped in midnight gloom; for no more cer- 
 tainly did the taking of Sebastopol close the 
 Crimean War, and the fall of Petersburg and 
 Richmond end the Civil War, than would the 
 overthrow of the above truths forever put an 
 end to Christianity. But no : These facts were 
 not successfully disputed, and are uncontra- 
 dicted by any contemporaneous writer of 
 Greece, Rome, or the world. Although the 
 opposition was of the most violent character, 
 and although ridicule, defamation and persecu- 
 tion were all employed against the Christian 
 cause, yet no one denied its facts. Trypho, a 
 noted skeptic who debated with Justin Martyr 
 in the year 140; and Clesus, who ^vrote a book 
 against Christianity in the year 176, both admit 
 the facts and then try to explain them away. 
 Porphyry, Hercules, and Julian, who lived 
 respectively in the years 205, 303, and 361, 
 wrote against the Christian religion, but neither 
 of them denied its facts. 
 
 It is not true, then, as Ajax asserts, that God 
 chose an obscure place, and an ignorant people, 
 among whom to establish Christianity. Nor 
 did the first Christian shun the light and seek 
 darkness, by holding midnight seances around 
 low burning tapers, in secluded places, either. 
 
254 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 But on the contrary, they proclaimed their risen 
 Lord on the house-tops. Did not one of the 
 great Christian orators of that day proclaim 
 the new religion to the assembled nobles of 
 every land on a festal occasion? Did not its 
 heralds visit mighty Rome, then the dominant 
 power on earth, and storm the throne of the 
 Caesars and make it tremble? Did not a great 
 Christian lawyer, while hand-cuffed, silence the 
 objections of a Roman Governor and staff? 
 And did not the same Christian lawyer visit 
 Athens, then the great center of learning, and 
 from the Areophagus, while surrounded by all 
 the grand works of art, attack the sages of 
 Mars Hill? Did he not stand where Demos- 
 thenes had pleaded in immortal strains of elo- 
 quence in behalf of Hellenic freedom; and 
 where Homer, Hesiod and Simonides, in match- 
 less song, had cheered their countrymen on to 
 noble deeds of daring ? And did not this great 
 Christian lawyer stand where Socrates, four 
 hundred years before, had stood in self-defense 
 on the eve of his sentence to the fatal cup of 
 hemlock? I say, did not this heroic herald of 
 the new-born King, from this, the most conspic- 
 uous place on earth, amidst the glittering splen- 
 dor of the Acropolis, with its Theseus and Par- 
 thenon, its Jupiter Olympus and Pallas Athene, 
 boldly proclaim for the first time in Athens the 
 gospel of the universal brotherhood of man, the 
 
St. Paul in Athens. 255 
 
 common fatherhood of God, and the Kingship 
 of Christ, as the Governor of the world in 
 righteousness? Yes! Then tell me not, Ajax, 
 thou infidel calumniator of thy God, that the 
 religion of Jesus Christ is a child of darkness 
 and obscurity, in the face of such a history, for 
 it is the source of the only true moral light and 
 intellectual excellence there is in all the world. 
 After the above, and one other article similar 
 to it, Ajax's voice and pen were no more heard 
 or read in Danville or vicinity. 
 
 '*Yes! The Bible! 
 Be thon my star in reason's night, 
 Be thou my rock in danger's fright, 
 Be thou my guide 'mid passion's sway, 
 My moon by night, my sun by day." 
 
 — Milman. 
 
 ''Divine in its origin, written by the pen of 
 inspiration, dipped in the burning indignation 
 of God against wickedness on the one hand, and 
 in the fountain of His love for the good, on the 
 other, — the sublimity of its language caps the 
 climax of rhetoric. As a chronicle of the crea- 
 tion of man, in the image of Deity ; as a chart 
 of human nature and of human rights and 
 wrongs, and of the character of the great 
 Jehovah, its delineations in precision, fulness, 
 and force of description, far exceeds the bold- 
 est strokes and finest touches of the master 
 spirits of every age and clime. As a system of 
 
256 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 morals and religion, every effort of man to add 
 to its transcendent beauty, or its omnipotent 
 strength, is presumption, and as vain as to 
 attempt to bind the winds or imprison the 
 ocean. 
 
 "As a book of poetry and eloquence, it stands 
 in lofty grandeur, towering above the noblest 
 productions of the most brilliant talents that 
 have illumined and enraptured the classic 
 world. As a Book of Revelation, it sheds a 
 flood of light upon the wilderness of mind that 
 adds fresh luster and refulgence to those of 
 reason, philosophy, and science. As a book of 
 council, its wisdom is profound, boundless, and 
 infinite. It meets every case in time, and is the 
 golden chain that reaches froip earth to heaven. 
 It teaches us our dignity, the design ol our cre- 
 ation, the duties we owe to our God, ourselves, 
 our families, our parents, our children, and our 
 fellow men. It also teaches us how to live, and 
 how to die, and arms the Christian in panoply 
 complete ; and in the end, it snatches from death 
 its poisoned sting, from the grave its boasted 
 victory, and points the soul at last to its crown- 
 ing glory, — a blissful immortality beyond the 
 skies. ' ' 
 
 After a period of seven years' reading and 
 study from eight to ten hours a day, back in the 
 eighties, of the historical and scientific proofs 
 of the credibility of the Christian Scriptures, I 
 
What One May Do. 257 
 
 have begun work on a volume which I hope to 
 make a compendium of the irrefutable and irre- 
 fragable proofs of the divinity of the Bible, 
 against which no infidel, atheist, skeptic or 
 deist can stand; which, when studied by an 
 individual of fair ability, with moderate talent 
 as a polemic, need have no fears in meeting the 
 wiliest of those who may be pitted against the 
 thick bosses of Jehovah's buckler. 
 
 (17) 
 
Chapter 16 
 
 THE PEREGRINATIONS OF EVANGELINE FROM ST. MARTINS- 
 VILLE TO THE OZARK MOUNTAINS, AND THEN TO 
 THE SAGINAW, AND THENCE TO THE CITY 
 OF ''PENN," ON THE DELAWARE 
 
 "T T^ BECAME moody and disconsolate, and 
 
 I I seemed to be overwhelmed with sorrow 
 
 and deep gloom, and rarely ever spoke, 
 
 and when he did, it was of you, Evangeline, 
 
 and of his troubles. ' ' 
 
 Such was the sad message which Evangeline 
 received from the father of Gabriel, on her 
 arrival in St. Martinsville, Louisiana. After 
 allowing her time to regain her composure more 
 fully, Basil said to the maiden : "It has been 
 but four days since my son departed with a 
 party of hunters and trappers, and can not 
 be far away. In the morning we will follow, 
 and bring him back. ' ' This suggestion was dis- 
 pleasing to all except Evangeline. Father 
 Felician, and other friends of the maiden, were 
 very reluctant to have her start again in quest 
 of Gabriel, as it appeared to them a hopeless 
 undertaking, and plead with her to remain 
 in St. Martinsville. The good priest plead 
 strongly with her, and offered her a permanent 
 home if she would remain. But their entreaties 
 were unavailing. 
 
 259- 
 
260 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 Whilst traveling in Louisiana in '91 and '92, 
 during which time I was in St. Martinsville a 
 number of times, and learned much of the 
 pathetieal story of Evangeline and Gabriel from 
 persons whose grandparents were living there 
 at the time of the events of which I am writing, 
 and had conversed with Evangeline and others 
 of the above named persons. 
 
 Father Felician, after whom East and West 
 Feliciana Parishes are named, is buried in St. 
 Martinsville, and there has been erected, and is 
 now standing, in a plaza in the center of the 
 little city, a very imposing monument to his 
 memory, with suitable inscription, the data of 
 which I regret that I cannot at present recall 
 with certainty. 
 
 Instead, therefore, of Evangeline and Gabriel 
 being mythical characters, as is generally sup- 
 posed, — figments of Longfellow's brain — they 
 were real persons, with warm red blood in their 
 veins, while living, just as spoken of in the fore- 
 going pages. And it is only needful for one 
 who is doubtful of the real persons of Evan- 
 geline and Gabriel, to spend a season among 
 the Acadians, in the Opelousas of Louisiana, — 
 they call themselves "Cagens, " for short — to 
 be assured of their mistake ; for these people 
 cherish with the keenest interest and delight 
 the traditions respecting Evangeline and Ga- 
 briel, who are continually being talked of in 
 
Searching for Gabriel. 261 
 
 the homes of the descendants of the exiles from 
 Grand Pre, whose sufferings have united them 
 in bonds of affection indissoluble. 
 
 Bright and early the next morning, there- 
 after, as Evangeline would not consent to re- 
 main in St. Martinsville, the strong-muscled 
 and expert oarsmen who had been selected by 
 Basil for the occasion, were in readiness and 
 waiting at the brink of the Teche ; and soon a 
 party, including Evangeline and Basil, were 
 swiftly following the flight of him who was 
 speeding onward before them, blown, as it 
 were, by the blasts of a cruel fate, "like a dead 
 leaf o'er the desert". 
 
 Days came and went, as the little party pur- 
 sued their search, without gaining a single 
 trace of Gabriel. Finally, in a small town, 
 with a few huts, high up the Arkansas River, 
 it was learned that on the day before, Gabriel 
 had left the village and started north, across 
 the country in the direction of the Ozark Moun- 
 tains, on the western slope of which there was 
 a Jesuit mission. On hearing this, Evangeline 
 said: "Let us go to the mission. Father La- 
 jaunesse, for there good tidings await us". 
 The party of pursuers at once abandoned their 
 rowboats and fitted themselves out with horses, 
 and struck out across the country toward the 
 northwest; and late one evening, after many 
 days of travel, just as twilight was deepening 
 
262 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 into darkness, the mission was reached, when, 
 to their great dismay, Evangeline and Basil 
 were informed that but six days had gone by 
 since Gabriel had left for the far north, and 
 would not return to the mission until after the 
 hunting season, late in the fall. 
 
 Being now greatly worn with travel, and 
 with an expression of face that clearly bespoke 
 a heart anguish and sorrow too deep for tears, 
 Evangeline said to the black-robed chief of the 
 mission: ''Let us remain with thee, Father, 
 for my soul is sad and weary, and I am greatly 
 afflicted"; and without a moment's hesitation 
 the chief of the mission assented to the maiden 's 
 request, and with words of kindness guided her 
 into his wigw^am, while Basil and his Indian 
 guides attended the horses. In a short time 
 Basil entered, and soon their story was told, 
 from their expulsion from Grand Pre, in 
 Acadia, up to that hour. Hearing which, the 
 priest answered: ''On this mat, by my side, 
 whereon the maiden is at this moment reposing, 
 Gabriel related to me the same sad story, just 
 before his departure for the far north. ' ' 
 
 It having now been arranged for Evangeline 
 to stay at the Jesuit mission, on the western 
 slope of the Ozark Mountains, situated in what 
 is at present the State of Missouri, and that 
 Basil should return to his home in Louisiana, 
 they retired for the nififht, and soon all were 
 
Evangeline at Jesuit Mission. 263 
 
 in deep slumber, except Evangeline. Her spirit 
 was again sorely cast down. Naught of slum- 
 ber, during the night, came to her wearied 
 brain. At early dawn on the morrow, after well 
 wishes to the chief of the mission and to Evan- 
 geline had been voiced by the returning party, 
 Basil mounted his Mexican steed, and with his 
 Indian guides turned their faces toward his 
 sunshine home among the song-birds of the 
 Opelousas, to be again with his fat, sleek herd 
 of cattle, and to enjoy the friendship of his 
 Creole neighbors, once again. 
 
 But alas ! How different it was with Evan- 
 geline. Days, weeks, and months, came and 
 went, as moons waxed and waned, until the 
 sear leaves of Autumn were everywhere drift- 
 ing, yet Gabriel came not. And anon, the Win- 
 ter's blast was coming to be felt, as it swept 
 around the base and up the sides of the Ozark 
 Mountains, and around and about the Jesuit 
 mission. Then following this, came the open- 
 ing of spring, with the notes of the robin, the 
 music of budding nature, and the swirl of the 
 Indian corn blade. Yet Gabriel came not to 
 the mission. But on the breath of Mid-summer 
 winds there was wafted to the ears of Evan- 
 geline, a rumor, sweeter by far than the notes 
 of song-birds, the music of harmonious nature, 
 or the odors of fragrant flowers. It said: 
 '*Far to the north, northeast, in the pine for- 
 
264 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 ests of bleak Michigan, on the banks of the 
 Saginaw River, Gabriel is lodging". 
 
 Hope, long since accounted as dead, in Evan- 
 geline 's breast, on the receipt of this news, 
 sprang again into life. And what followed? 
 It soon transpired that some returning guides, 
 whose destination was the lakes of St. Law- 
 rence, offered Evangeline the opportunity she 
 desired, and bidding the Jesuit mission a sad 
 farewell, she departed ; and went searching for 
 Gabriel in the pineries of the far northeast: 
 and after long and perilous marching for many 
 weeks, over weary ways and through a dense 
 wilderness, she at length attained the depths of 
 the Michigan forest, along the Saginaw River, 
 and found the hunter's lodge deserted and 
 fallen to ruin, where Gabriel, but a short time 
 before, had been staying. Thus again was 
 Evangeline's hopes crushed, and her bleeding 
 heart torn afresh, as the long sad years were 
 dragging by. 
 
 Looking at this picture from our standpoint 
 of vision, we are more than led to wonder how 
 this maiden was enabled to endure the hard- 
 ships of this journey from the Ozark Mountains 
 to the SaginaAv district of Michigan, without 
 perishing by the way, as the distance is near 
 eight hundred miles, and was through a dense 
 wilderness every inch of the way. Both Long- 
 fellow and the historians are silent as to the 
 
A Picture Incredible. 265 
 
 route traveled by Evangeline and her guides 
 in making the trip. But this much we know, 
 they either journeyed from the Ozark Moun- 
 tains to the mission near where St. Louis now 
 stands, and thence by way of the Illinois River 
 to the mission near the site of Chicago, and 
 thence coasted by boat the southern end of 
 Lake Michigan, and on by way of Kalamazoo 
 to the Saginaw ; or, they went directly from the 
 Ozark vicinity to the confluence of the Ohio 
 River with the Mississippi, thence to the mouth 
 of the Wabash, and up that stream to the vicin- 
 ity of where Ft. Wayne, Indiana, now stands, 
 and thence down the Maumee to Lake Erie, 
 and along its coast to the mouth of the Detroit 
 River, and thence through Lake St. Clair and 
 the St. Clair River to Lake Huron, and thence 
 along its west coast to the mouth of the Sag- 
 inaw River, and up that stream to the location 
 of the hunter's lodge. 
 
 In either event, the journey was long and 
 certainly disagreeable in high degree. The 
 probabilities are that the latter route was the 
 one chosen by Evangeline and her guides, as, 
 from all the information available, this was 
 the most frequented, as it offered less obstacles, 
 and had more missions along its way, where 
 travelers and explorers could find supplies. 
 This was also the line of travel from Canada to 
 Mexico, and had for more than a century been 
 
266 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 trodden by the feet of French missionaries and 
 explorers before Evangeline traveled it. 
 
 One of the peculiar features in the peregrina- 
 tions of Evangeline is the fact that never but 
 once, during all the days, weeks, months and 
 years, in her travels in search of Gabriel, did 
 she meet vi^ith one in similar distress with her- 
 self, into whose ears she could pour her soul's 
 sorrow, in hope of sympathy. This occurred 
 soon after leaving the Opelousas. in quest of 
 Gabriel. When Basil and the maiden had left 
 their rowboat on the river, and had taken to 
 the prairies on horseback, and were not far 
 from the Ozark Mountains, as before related, 
 and had encamped for the night, and were sit- 
 ting by their fire, there silently approached 
 into their presence an Indian maiden, in whose 
 features were deep traces of sorrow. It was a 
 Shawnee woman, returning to her people from 
 the far away hunting grounds of an unfriendly 
 tribe, who had murdered her Canadian pale- 
 faced lover. 
 
 A friendly welcome was accorded the Indian 
 maiden, and she gladlj^ partook of their even- 
 ing's frugal repast, on buffalo meat and bread 
 from mortared Indian corn, as cooked in the 
 embers. When supper was over, and Basil and 
 their companions had wrapped themselves in 
 their blankets for the night, and were stretched 
 on the ground, the sorrowing maidens sat at 
 
Ajf Indian Maiden's Call. 267 
 
 the door of Evangeline's tent, where each to 
 the other related in soft low voice the tale of 
 their disappointment in affairs of the heart, 
 which had led to so much pain and sorrow. 
 
 The Indian maiden was the first to speak, and 
 narrated that in j^ears long gone by, a Canadian 
 pale face came her way, and had wooed and 
 won her heart. Then going with a hunting and 
 trapping party to the far away hunting grounds 
 of the cruel Comanches, he had long overstayed 
 his time. Feeling that his love was yet true to 
 her, the Indian maiden sought him among the 
 Comanches, and learned of his death. Then she 
 related the Indian legend of the fair Lilinau, 
 who was wooed by a phantom, that, through 
 the pines o'er her father's lodge, in the hush of 
 the night, had breathed like the evening 
 zephyrs in whispered strains of love to the 
 maiden, 'til she followed his fancied personage 
 to a far-away home in the forest, and never 
 more returned, nor was she ever again seen by 
 her people. 
 
 Moved to the depths of her soul with pity 
 and compassion, Evangeline wept as the Shaw- 
 nee maiden related to her the sad story of Lili- 
 nau; and after a brief pause, followed it with 
 hers, as already outlined. Then in sweet low 
 tones, like a weird incantation, each to the, 
 other, addressed such words of cheer and com- 
 fort as to them seemed fitting to the occasion. 
 
268 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 Then following this, soon afterward, as 
 adown the crest of the Ozark Mountains the 
 waning moon was fast descending, a secret 
 subtle sense of pain crept into the heart of 
 Evangeline, '*as a cold poisonous snake creeps 
 into the nest of a sparrow". It was no fear of 
 personal harm. But, as it were, a breath from 
 the region of spirits, seemed to float in the air 
 of night, producing a certain tremor of horror, 
 and she felt for a moment, that, like the Lilinau 
 legend, she too, was pursuing a phantom ; and 
 such, indeed, it would appear to be, at least to 
 the present. 
 
 Then back to the ISaginaw River, we will go, 
 where we last took leave of Evangeline, and 
 essay, muse ! to follow the wandering foot- 
 steps of the maiden until we learn the sequel 
 of this most wonderful experience, which sur- 
 passes all else of its kind, even that of Tenny- 
 son's Enoch Arden. "Not through each devi- 
 ous path, perhaps, or each changing year, but 
 as a traveler follows the course of a streamlet 
 through the valley, far from its brink at times, 
 and only seeing the gleam of its water at inter- 
 vals, in some open space ; and then drawing 
 nearer to its banks, where he can hear its con- 
 tinued murmur through the sylvan gloom that 
 conceals it, and be happ.y in the end, if he may 
 but find a point where it reaches an outlet. ' ' 
 
 Standing on the bank of the Saginaw River, 
 
On the Banks of the Saginaw. 269 
 
 some eighty odd miles northwest of where De- 
 troit now stands, is the point where Evangeline 
 and her guides found the hunter's lodge aban- 
 doned, where Gabriel had dwelt. It was at 
 evening time when they arrived, and finding 
 Gabriel gone, and no clew as to where he had 
 gone, an irrepressible sadness came over Evan- 
 geline's heart, and she stole forth, unseen by 
 her guides into a clump of bushes near by, and 
 poured her soul out in prayer to her God, weep- 
 ing meanwhile. 
 
 The night which had now come on, was a 
 most delightful one. High o'er the dark crest 
 of the forest, the full moon had just risen, 
 and was tipping its summit with silver. Yet 
 heavy, as with night dews, and shadows, hung 
 the heart of Evangeline, which the calm and 
 magical moonlight was powerless to dispel, 
 and she cried; "0! Gabriel, art thou so near 
 me, and yet so far away, that I cannot behold 
 thee? Art thou so near me, and yet thy voice 
 does not reach me ? Ah ! how often have thine 
 eyes gazed upon the beautiful and majestic 
 forest trees around me! How often, beneath 
 these tall pines, whose tops seem to pierce the 
 blue welkin above, hast thou, after returning 
 from the chase, lain down to rest, and to dream 
 of me in thy slumbers!'* 
 
 Such were some of the melancholy musings 
 of Evangeline's heart, now, that all hope and 
 
270 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 expectation of ever seeing Gabriel again had 
 fled, and when gloom, awful and distressing, 
 was weighing her down. When, therefore, 
 over weary ways, and by long and perilous 
 marches Evangeline had at last attained the 
 depths of the Michigan forests, and found the 
 hunter's lodge deserted and fallen to ruin, the 
 last ray of hope that she would ever see Ga- 
 briel, was forever crushed to rise no more in 
 her heart. At this hunter's lodge, on the banks 
 of the Saginaw River, in Michigan, is where 
 Longfellow drops all reference to the peregrin- 
 ations of Evangeline ; and to tradition alone, 
 among the "Cagens" of Louisiana, is the 
 whence of what little we know of the move- 
 ments of Evangeline for a time. 
 
 Thus had the long sad years of her life slowly 
 gone by. Like a phantom, as it were, she came 
 and went. ''Pair was she, and young, when in 
 hope she began the long journey." Faded was 
 she, and old, when in disappointment it ended. 
 Each succeeding year had stolen something 
 from her beauty, leaving behind it, broader and 
 deeper, traces of the gloom and the shadows 
 through which she had passed." There had 
 also appeared and spread over her temples, 
 faint streaks of gray, dawn of another life, 
 that broke over her earthly horizon, as in the 
 eastern sky the first dawn of the morning ap- 
 pears. 
 
The Fhuitless Seakch Ended. 271 
 
 When the fruitless search and the disap- 
 pointed endeavor to find Gabriel had ended, to 
 recommence no more upon earth, Evangeline's 
 thoughts, as leaves to the light, were turned to 
 the suffering and sorrowing of humanity, and 
 to those in need of comfort and consolation, 
 and she became a Sister of Mercy. Thus, with 
 the mists from her mind all forever removed, 
 Evangeline now saw the world far below her; 
 and the rough roads, o'erstrewn with spalls 
 and shards, over which she had trodden, and 
 the rugged cliffs, up which she had climbed, 
 were now all lying smooth in the distance. Yet 
 Gabriel was not forgotten. Within her heart 
 was his image, clothed in the beauty of love 
 and youth, as last she beheld him, only more 
 beautiful made by his deathlike silence and 
 absence. Into her thoughts of him, time en- 
 tered not, for it was not. Over him, years had 
 no power. To her he was not changed, but 
 transfigured. He had become to her heart as 
 one who is dead, and not absent. This was the 
 lesson a life of trial and sorrow had taught 
 Evangeline, and had centered more than ever, 
 if possible, her thoughts on the **by and by," 
 and nerved her more fully for the consecrated 
 work of alleviating the suffering and distress 
 of humanity. 
 
 Many years have now come and gone, since 
 the Acadians were exiled from Nova Scotia, 
 
272 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 during which English misrule over the Amer- 
 ican colonies had become so galling and exas- 
 perating as to be endurable no longer, and the 
 War of the Revolution was raging. For when 
 it became known that King George was hiring 
 mercenaries, wherever available, to fight his 
 battles against the American colonists, the 
 last thread that bound the colonies to 
 the mother country was broken ; and as 
 with all wars, the hospital branch of the 
 service required patriotic endeavor, for the alle- 
 viation of the suffering of the sick and wounded 
 soldiers of the colonial armies ; and remember- 
 ing the great wrong inflicted upon the 
 Acadians, by the "Hateful" English, in their 
 banishment from Nova Scotia, and from the 
 lands which had been their homes for such a 
 long period of time, and knowing that the sym- 
 pathies of France were with the colonies in 
 their struggle for freedom and independence 
 of England, and that Lafayette, a French Gen- 
 eral, had come to America and was fighting for 
 the colonies in their struggle, Evangeline — 
 now that further travel and search for Gabriel 
 was no longer contemplated — betook herself to 
 the camps and hospitals of the armies of Free- 
 dom as a Sister of Mercy. 
 
 Other hope, or aim in life, she now had none, 
 but to meekly follow in the footsteps of her 
 Lord and Master, in missions of love, mercv 
 
Evangeline a Sister of Mercy. 273 
 
 and aid, to the needy and suffering of human- 
 ity, in army camp, hospital and sick chamber. 
 And to many old comrades of the Civil War, 
 who may read this, there will come afresh to 
 their memories of hospital scenes, instances 
 wherein the Evangeline Angels of Mercy were 
 the instruments of the recovery of many. Some 
 of the sweetest things of life, — jewels of the 
 most value and brightest lustre — are the pre- 
 cious memories of the past, without which life's 
 journey would be a desert waste. They are the 
 links in the golden chain which binds one to 
 the hope of the hereafter. 
 
 Thus through many years had Evangeline 
 lived as a Sister of Mercy, in the haunts of 
 distress and want, as well as in the field hos- 
 pitals of contending armies. Night after night, 
 when the world was asleep, her vigils were 
 many times increased. Day after day, in the 
 gray of the dawn, was to be seen the pale meek 
 face of this devoted maiden, plodding her 
 weary way homeward to rest from her nightlj^ 
 ministrations at the cot, or bedside of suffering. 
 Thus did this quiet and unobtrusive maiden, in 
 large measure unnoticed, except by the ever 
 vigilant eye of Omniscience, pursue her mission 
 of mercy and kindness into every quarter where 
 she was needed ; and in so doing, her love for 
 suffering humanity was diffused; but, like the 
 odor of certain spices, it suffered no waste, nor 
 
 (18) 
 
274 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 loss thereby, though, filling the air all about 
 with aroma. 
 
 Turning now and looking at the dial-plate of 
 time, not that of a day, but one that records 
 the passage of years, we find that the sun has 
 crossed the equinox seventy-eight times since 
 Evangeline was exiled from Acadia. The Anno 
 Domini at this time then was 1793, ten years 
 after the close of the Revolutionary War, and 
 when the patriots of '76- '83, those not yet biv- 
 ouacked on "fame's eternal camping ground," 
 whose sufferings Evangeline had ministered to, 
 were now all mustered out of service, and were 
 returned to their homes, and had for ten years 
 been pursuing the arts of peace. 
 
 It was then in the Springtime of 1793, when 
 Evangeline returned to the city of Penn, on the 
 banks of the Delaware, where she was first 
 landed from an exile ship, after the lapse of 
 thirty-nine years, and in the fifty-seventh of 
 her age. And it so transpired that the second 
 coming of Evangeline to Philadelphia was in 
 the most eventful year in the city's history; 
 for there fell during the year 1793 upon the 
 city a pestilence of yellow fever, the most ter- 
 rible that ever afflicted an American city, dur- 
 ing which, many, in every walk of life, — for 
 "wealth had no power to bribe, nor beauty to 
 charm," perished alike beneath the fearful 
 scourge. 
 
In Hospital at Philadelphia. 275 
 
 During the continuance of the fever the hos- 
 pitals of the city became so greatly crowded 
 that many public buildings were improvised 
 into hospitals for the sick. In the suburbs of 
 the city at the time of the pestilence, sur- 
 rounded by meadows and woodlands, was the 
 public almshouse, home of the homeless. At 
 the present time, the city surrounds it, but its 
 gateway and wicket are still there. Hither, to 
 this almshouse, by day and by night, for a time, 
 came Evangeline, Sister of Mercy, and angel 
 to the dying, to administer relief to their last 
 wants, as far as it was in her power to do. 
 
 In the eyes of many of the suffering and 
 dying, — those retaining consciousness to the 
 last — ' ' Gleams of celestial light seem to encircle 
 the brow of Evangeline, while on these missions 
 of love and mercy, with an ethereal splendor, 
 such as artists are wont to paint o 'er the brows 
 of apostles"; or, such as hang by night over a 
 city, seen at a distance, in the opalescence of 
 moonlight. In their eyes, the ministering pres- 
 ence of Evangeline appeared as if the lamps of 
 the city celestial were burning, to light the 
 path, leading through whose gateway, ere 
 long their souls would pass. 
 
 But there were other/ hospitals and alms- 
 houses in the city, that Evangeline visited at 
 times, as opportunity offered, and to one of 
 these, — on the corner of Fourth and Walnut 
 
276 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 streets — on a Sabbath morn, whilst it was yet 
 quite early, and through streets silent and de- 
 serted, Evangeline was wending her way, and 
 halted at the door: for sweet on the summer 
 air was the odor of flowers, growing in the gar- 
 den of the home, and she turned aside to gather 
 some of the sweetest and most fragrant of them, 
 that the dying might once more rejoice in their 
 fragrance and beauty. Then, as she leisurely 
 mounted the stairs leading to the sick cham- 
 ber, which was cooled by the morning's fresh 
 air, there fell upon her ears the distant and 
 clear chimes of the church bells : while soft as 
 descending wings, fell the calm of the morn on 
 her righteous soul. In the midst of this, some- 
 thing within her said: "At length thy trials 
 are ended," and with light beaming in her 
 looks, she entered the chamber of sickness and 
 death, and began her morning ministrations. 
 
 Noiselessly she moved among the fever- 
 stricken patients, moistening the fever burning 
 lips of one on this cot, and the aching brow of 
 one on that, and in silence closing the sightless 
 eyes of the dead, and concealing their faces 
 from view, as on their pallet they lay, like snow 
 drifts on the sward. Many a languid head 
 would upraise as Evangeline entered, and turn 
 upon its pillow of pain, to gaze as she passed ; 
 for her presence fell on their hearts like a ray 
 of sunshine on bruised and withered flowers, 
 
Suddenly Recognizes Gabriel. 277 
 
 after a warm spring rain, with revivifying ef- 
 fect. 
 
 Suddenly, as if arrested by fear, or a feeling 
 of wonder, Evangeline paused and stood, with 
 her colorless lips apart, while a shudder ran 
 through her frame ; and for a moment, forget- 
 ting herself, she let the flowers, which but a 
 moment before she had gathered in the garden, 
 drop from her fingers, while from her eyes and 
 cheeks the light and bloom of the morning 
 swiftly fled away, and from her lips there es- 
 caped a cry of such anguish and terror that 
 even the dying heard it, and stared up from 
 their pillows in fright. 
 
 On the pallet, just in front of her, was 
 stretched the form of an old man. Long, thin 
 and gray, were the locks that shaded his tem- 
 ples; but as he lay in the morning light, his 
 face, for a moment, seemed once more to as- 
 sume the appearance of its earlier manhood, as 
 sometimes are changed the faces of the dying. 
 Hot and red on his lips still burned the flush of 
 the fever, as, motionless and apparently dying, 
 he lay; and seemed to be sinking and sinking, 
 deeper and deeper, into the infinite depths of 
 the darkness and slumber of death. And yet 
 whilst in the very gateway of death, he heard 
 the cry of heart anguish and pain which had 
 just escaped the lips of Evangeline, who, in a 
 moment, on recovering herself, in almost m 
 
278 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 miraculous manner, and in accents low and 
 tender, whispered in exclamation: "Gabriel! 
 O, my beloved!" Then he beheld, as in a 
 dream, with his mind full of the reminiscences 
 of the home of his early manhood, among the 
 green Acadian meadows and hillocks, with syl- 
 van streamlets running through them, where, 
 as in the days of his youth, Evangeline rose up 
 in his vision, and he vainly strove to whisper 
 her name ; but the unuttered accents died on his 
 lips, and their feeble motion only revealed what 
 his tongue would have spoken. 
 
 Kneeling beside him, Evangeline kissed his 
 dying cheek, and closed his eyes, when the last 
 breath was gone. All now was ended ; the hope, 
 the fear and the sorrow; all the heart aching 
 and all the restless and unsatisfied longing ; all 
 the dull and deep pain arising from the con- 
 stant anguish of uncertainty, are now forever 
 removed. Gabriel is dead; died with the kiss 
 of Evangeline upon his brow. 
 
 In part, therefore, were the wishes of both 
 realized, if but for a moment, ere he entered 
 the abode of the pale-sheeted nations of the 
 dead. 
 
 The almshouse last spoken of, the one stand- 
 ing at the corner of Fourth and Walnut streets, 
 Philadelphia, wherein the last scenes of the 
 above pathetical story took place, was yet 
 
The Hospital Where Gabriel Died. 279 
 
 standing when Longfellow's poem was pub- 
 lished in 1847, but has long since been removed. 
 Here it was that Evangeline administered to 
 the wants of the sick and dying during the 
 fever pestilence. Into one of its crowded wards 
 one night was borne the body of a stranger, old, 
 emaciated, and apparently at death's door. In 
 the last agony he was lying on the Sunday 
 morning just spoken of, as Evangeline entered, 
 to begin another day of merciful labor, and saw 
 before her the emaciated form of Gabriel La- 
 jeunesse. He was buried in the cemetery of 
 St. Mary's Church, which stands at Walnut and 
 Spruce streets. And there, soon afterwards, 
 Evangeline, the faithful nun, followed him. 
 
 Around them, in their last resting place, sleep 
 many illustrious dead. Near their graves stands 
 the monument erected over the grave of the 
 father of the American Navy. Numbers of their 
 countrymen who came to these shores under the 
 standard of Lafayette, lie there under tomb- 
 stones that tell of their exalted rank, and dis- 
 tinguished service. But no stone marks the 
 grave of Evangeline. A naked spot of earth, 
 unadorned by even a single flower, is where the 
 ancient records show that Evangeline Belle- 
 fontaine, a Sister of Mercy, awaits the resur- 
 rection morn. Were their graves in the Ope- 
 lousas, it would be different. Flowers would 
 Rdom them. 
 
280 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 Having learned from tradition that Gabriel 
 was a soldier in the war of the Revolution, I am 
 truly sorry that I have no data that enables me 
 to treat of the matter as I desire. 
 
 Ever since my sojourn among the descend- 
 ants of the banished Acadians, who found 
 homes in the Opelousas of Louisiana, where I 
 heard so much from them relating to Evan- 
 geline and Gabriel, and having traveled every 
 mile trodden by her in her search for Gabriel, 
 after their separation in Grand Pre, except 
 from the last named place to Philadelphia. I 
 have regarded it as the most pathetical story 
 of ancient, mediaeval or modern times ; and be- 
 lieving that all the good and beautiful in the 
 narrative had not been brought to view, I have 
 essayed the task in the foregoing, and with 
 what result the reader must judge. 
 
 Of the narrative of Evangeline, as given by 
 Longfellow, the sublimest portion is the last. 
 After having carried the reader over immeasur- 
 able distances, far away from Acadia, he brings 
 him back to her peaceful vales for a last fare- 
 well: and there, in words the most beautiful, 
 perhaps in our language, he gives us the con- 
 clusion, as follows : 
 
The Most Beautiful. 281 
 
 "Still stands the forest primeval; but far away from 
 its shadow, 
 
 Side by side in their nameless graves, the lovers are 
 sleeping. 
 
 Under the humble walls of the little Catholic church- 
 yard. 
 
 In the heart of the city they lie, unknown and un- 
 noticed. 
 
 Daily, the tides of life go ebbing and flowing beside 
 them. 
 
 Thousands of throbbing hearts, where theirs are at 
 rest and forever. 
 
 Thousands of aching brains, where theirs are no 
 longer busy, 
 
 Thousands of toiling hands, where theirs have ceased 
 from their labors. 
 
 Thousands of weary feet, where theirs have com- 
 pleted their journey." 
 
 Evangeline, the true and the pure! Always 
 and ever, unswerving in her devotion to her 
 God, and unfaltering in her heart 's love — quali- 
 ties of mind and soul, that pre-eminently dis- 
 tinguish her as of earth's noblest born! 
 
 Yes ! And above all, one in whose queenly 
 personality there was exhibited a type of 
 womanly purity that, like a shield, guarded and 
 protected her in safety from the coureurs-des- 
 hois, (persons whose vocation was to conduct 
 missionaries, traders, and explorers through the 
 western wilds from eastern Canada) and cre- 
 ated within them, by the grandeur of her 
 native dignity, an admiration so nearly wor- 
 
282 A Diamond in the Rough. 
 
 shipful and profound, as that they were power- 
 less to harm her. Of such were they who joui'- 
 neyed with Evangeline from the Ozark region 
 to the Saginaw. A contemplation of the nobil- 
 ity of such a character can have none other 
 than a healthful inflnence for good.