Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 35.djvu/160

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, Saturday, December 28, 1907.

The mystery of that chapter in General Sam Houston's life which caused him to suddenly resign as Governor of the State of Tennessee and go into the wilds of the West, where he joined the Cherokee Indians, leaving behind a bride of three months, has been an ever fruitful subject of discussion among the people who are familiar with the life of that strange man, who did so much in later years to win for Texas her independence.

That there was a romance behind his mysterious withdrawal from civilization is well known and many have been the surmises as to the details. Thomas Boyers, an aged resident of Gallatin, Tenn., who was a friend of both Houston and his bride, has just thrown new light on the romance. He says:

"In the life of the celebrated Sam Houston, which is as romantic as any in the annals of fiction, there is no event of deeper interest than his first marriage.

"In every man's history there is a time when woman's influence is the determining force that makes or mars it. And in the life of Houston his meeting with Miss Allen and his subsequent marriage with her are the influences that turned the whole course of after events. At first the change brought the lawyer and statesman to the condition of a barbarian living in forest wilds, but finally the liberty loving barbarian became the patriot who devoted his best energies to obtaining the freedom of Texas and the upbuilding of this great State.

"From facts in my own memory and others obtained from