Was Sam Houston the most temperamental early Tennessee leader?
Before he became a Texas legend, Sam Houston was a prominent Tennessean with a penchant for running away to be with the Cherokee. Plus, the local news for September 5, 2025, and horse farm immigration raids.
Below is a partial transcript of the episode:
It’s September 5th, 2025
On this day in 1836, a former governor of Tennessee was picked to be the first president of the Republic of Texas. Now, Tennessee’s early history is full of temperamental characters, but Sam Houston may take the cake. No small feat given that his good friend Andrew Jackson is also in that mix. I don’t think he was as prone to duels as Jackson was, but Houston did beat a guy in the street with a cane over a political disagreement once, just like Jackson. And Andrew Johnson. Ok, so that doesn’t really set him apart from the crowd, but Houston… he was unique in other ways.
Growing up in Maryville, out in East Tennessee, Sam Houston habitually ran away from home. A nearby band of the Cherokee nation would take him under their wing during those times, teaching him their language and customs. A man named Oolooteka basically became his second dad.
And that began a long and sometimes contradictory relationship with native peoples. As an adult, Houston fought with Jackson’s army to drive the Creek Nation off their land, but he was also a vocal critic of his friend’s policy proposals that became the Trail of Tears.
With Jackson as his mentor, Sam Houston rose up through the political ranks fairly quickly, ending up in Congress and then becoming Tennessee governor. He became known as a great speaker… and for indulging in alcohol way too much.
Just before announcing he’d run for a second term as governor, Houston married a woman from a politically important family named Eliza Allen. Their courtship was scandalously short. And then, almost right away, something went incredibly wrong. If either of them ever explained what happened, it never made it into the historical record. But we do know that just 11 weeks after their wedding, she ran back to her parents’ home in Gallatin. And Houston ran, too. He resigned the governor’s office, left Tennessee altogether, and sought out his surrogate dad Oolooteka all the way out in Oklahoma. Once again, the Cherokee people took him in. He was made a member of the nation. He opened a trading post. He took another wife, a woman named Diana (although he and Eliza were technically still married). He was given a new name, Coloneh, that translated to “The Raven.” But old habits followed him into that new life. After some time, Houston picked up another name, Ootsetee Ardeetahskee. That one, which I hope I’m pronouncing correctly, means “Big Drunk.”
Houston stayed with the Cherokee for about three years before he got restless again. He, like a lot of other opportunistic Americans of the day, decided the Texan fight for independence from Mexico held a lot of opportunity to make a lot of money. So he left Diana and the trading post, and he turned his experience in Jackson’s army and his knack for giving a rousing speech into a position as a major general in the Texan army. He had a big win as the tide turned and the Texans won their fight. When the dust settled, Sam Houston was the overwhelming choice to lead the new, independent nation.
Eventually he did formally end his legal marriage to Eliza and married for a third time. That relationship lasted, and gave him eight kids. He ended up leading the push to make Texas a state. And now, one of the great American metropolises bears his name.
In some ways, Houston’s legacy is living on in a very different way as of late. He ultimately made his name by throwing in with Texas in a dispute involving Mexico. And his actions played a really big part in creating a national border that has become a nexus of major concern and consternation.
Two years ago, our current governor, Bill Lee, took the opportunity to display his conservative colors by deploying National Guard troops to that Mexican border. He chose to stand with Texas as that state disagreed with the federal government about how to respond to illegal border crossings.
With Donald Trump in the White House, that conflict with the feds is over, but of course the border story is still ongoing. And the latest development has another kind of local military connection. This week, we learned that about 500 soldiers from Fort Campbell are headed that way soon. They’ll be among about 76-hundred troops taking part in what’s being called Joint Task Force-Southern Border, taking over from other units that have been there through the summer. This year, the administration has created a number of new national defense zones along the Texas-Mexico line. Members of the 101st Airborne Division will take over management of the headquarters that oversees the operation.
That deployment is scheduled for October.
Credits:
This is a production of Nashville Public Radio
Host/producer: Nina Cardona
Editor: Miriam Kramer
Additional support: Mack Linebaugh, Tony Gonzalez, LaTonya Turner and the staff of WPLN and WNXP
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