Sam Houston Part II – Life with the Cherokee

In our first installment, Sam Houston; Pioneer, Patriot, Statesman, President – Part I, we explored the early life of Sam Houston, beginning with his birth and childhood in Virginia, his running away from home and living with the Cherokee in East Tennessee for three years, his military service, law career and entry into the political realm. What could be more interesting and colorful than that you may ask? Well settle in for “the rest of the story” (nod to the late Paul Harvey) to find out. 

Sam Houston was very closely aligned with the Cherokee people. He had lived with and was adopted by the Cherokee Nation from the age of 16 until he joined the army at age 19 to fight against the British in the War of 1812. During his time with the Cherokee people he learned to speak their language and adopted many of their customs. 

But Houston was also aligned with his long-time friend and military & political mentor Andrew Jackson. It was Jackson, among others, who believed Native Americans should be removed from the land east of the Mississippi that was desired by settlers and had for years pushed for the Indian Removal Act which was finally passed in 1830. The Removal Act called for the forced relocation of all native peoples of The Five Civilized Tribes to lands west of the Mississippi river. This forced relocation, which came to be known as the “Trail of Tears”, lasted for a period of nearly twenty years, and culminated with the removal of some 60,000 people.

While many other officers lost their commissions after the War of 1812 due to military  cutbacks, Houston was able to retain his because of the intervention of Congressman John Rhea. During that time he was promoted to the rank of 2nd lieutenant. 

In early 1817, Houston was assigned to a clerical position in Nashville in the office of the adjutant general of the Army’s Southern Division. Later that same year, Jackson appointed his friend Sam Houston as a sub-agent to handle the removal of the Cherokee from East Tennessee. 

In February 1818, Houston received a strong reprimand from Secretary of War John C. Calhoun after he wore Native American dress to a meeting between Calhoun and Cherokee leaders. This set in motion animosity between the two that lasted until Calhoun’s death in 1850. 

Angry over the incident with Calhoun and the subsequent investigation into his activities, Houston resigned from the army in 1818. He continued in his role as a government liaison with the Cherokee and in 1818 assisted some of the Cherokee to resettle in the Arkansas Territory. 

Houston decided to pursue a law career and after studying for a mere six months under Judge James Trimble of Nashville, passed the bar and opened his law office in Lebanon, TN in 1818. In 1819 Houston was elected District Attorney for Nashville. This brief but important period set the stage for Houston’s  meteoric rise in the local, state, and national political stage. 

Thank you for stopping by, and if you missed Part I in the series, here’s the link: Sam Houston; Pioneer, Patriot, Statesman, President – Part I (familytreenuts.org)   

Please join us for our next installment Sam Houston; Pioneer, Patriot, Statesman, President – Part III, coming soon! 

Blaine K. Price, Historian – Family Tree Nuts