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- Sam Houston had a diverse relationship with Native Americans, particularly the Cherokee from Tennessee. He was an adopted son, and he was a negotiator, strategist, and creator of fair public policy for Native Americans as a legislator, governor and president of the Republic of Texas. He left his widowed mother's home around 1808 and was taken in by John Jolly, a leader of the Cherokee. Houston lived in Jolly's village for three years. He adopted Cherokee customs and traditions, which stressed the importance of being honest and fair, and he learned to speak the Cherokee language. He felt that Cherokees and other indigenous people had been short-changed during negotiation of treaties with United States government, the realization influenced his decisions as a military officer, treaty negotiator, and in his roles as governor of the states of Tennessee and Texas, and president of the Republic of Texas. Houston was a protégé of Andrew Jackson. He fought alongside the Cherokee against the Creek at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend (1814), where he was injured. In 1817 and 1818, he negotiated and administered treaties that moved Cherokee people southwest to the Arkansas Territory. He practiced law for around ten years, was elected a congressman from Tennessee, and later was elected governor of the state. In 1829, Houston had a short-lived marriage with Eliza Allen. In April of that year, he resigned from his position as the governor of Tennessee. He returned to the Cherokee who were removed from Tennessee to the Indian Territory, based upon a treaty of 1828 (Treaty of Limits between Mexico and the United States). He became a legal citizen of the Cherokee Nation and lived like tribal members. He was an emissary to negotiate on the Cherokee's behalf with the United States government and other Native American tribes. He identified corrupt Indian agents and pressed for valid titles to the Cherokee's new lands in present-day Oklahoma. Houston married Diana Rogers Gentry according to Cherokee law in 1830, although he was still legally married to Eliza Allen under United States law. Houston and Diana operated a trading post at Wigwam Neosho near Fort Gibson, in what is now Oklahoma. He accepted a position to negotiate with the Comanche tribe in Texas in 1832. The Alabama–Coushatta Tribe were among Houston's allies during the Texas Revolution. In 1836, the tribe provided provisions for Texans who fled Antonio López de Santa Anna's army during the Runaway Scrape, and they were also guides for Houston's army. Houston negotiated a treaty, called the Cherokee Indian Treaty of February 23, 1836 (Treaty of Bowles Village with the Republic of Texas), for the tribe to obtain land between the Sabine and Neches Rivers. With the westward expansion of the United States, Native American tribes were pushed west. As president of the Republic of Texas, Houston developed policies to provide trading opportunities, safety, and peace for Native Americans. Throughout the last years of his presidency, Houston asserted the right of Native Americans to own land. In 1854, during his term as a senator from Texas, Houston helped negotiate for creation of the 1,280 acres (5.2 km2) Alabama–Coushatta Indian Reservation. Houston became governor of Texas when the country was moving towards civil war. While those around him wanted Texas to separate from the Union, Houston believed that course would end badly for the South. Texas seceded from the Union and all the state government officials but Houston took an oath of loyalty to the Confederacy. As a result, he was removed from office. He was able, though, to get the Confederate States War Department to discharge all draftees from the Alabama-Coushatta tribe, who had distanced themselves completely from the conflict. (en)
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- Sam Houston had a diverse relationship with Native Americans, particularly the Cherokee from Tennessee. He was an adopted son, and he was a negotiator, strategist, and creator of fair public policy for Native Americans as a legislator, governor and president of the Republic of Texas. He left his widowed mother's home around 1808 and was taken in by John Jolly, a leader of the Cherokee. Houston lived in Jolly's village for three years. He adopted Cherokee customs and traditions, which stressed the importance of being honest and fair, and he learned to speak the Cherokee language. He felt that Cherokees and other indigenous people had been short-changed during negotiation of treaties with United States government, the realization influenced his decisions as a military officer, treaty negotia (en)
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