A warrior poses during the batlle re-enactment at the San Jacinto Battlefield near Lynchburg Texas. The leader of the Texans, Sam Houston, had a long history as a friend to many native American tribes particularly the Cherokees. At the age of 16, Sam, unhappy with farming and storekeeping, ran away from home to live with the Cherokees on Hiwasee Island in the Tennessee River near present-day Dayton, Tennessee. A year later in 1810 Sam returned to his family for a short period before returning to live with the Cherokees. There, he was adopted by Chief Oo-Loo-Te-Ka and is given the Indian name, "The Raven." Because of his knowledge of the Cherokee ways, in 1816, while serving under Andrew Jackson in the Military, Houston was named an Indian sub-agent in Tennessee. In February 1818, Houston led a delegation of Cherokees to Washington, D.C. to meet with Secretary of War John C. Calhoun and President James Monroe. While there he was reprimanded by Secretary Calhoun for wearing Indian dress. In the Summer of 1829 Houston attended a green corn dance and talk at Maynard Bayou, in the Cherokee nation, as John Jolly's representative. There he probably met Tiana Rogers, who would become his wife. Houston becomes very ill with malaria and was treated with Cherokee medicine while staying with Chief Oolooteka (John Jolly), his adopted father. Houston becomes a Cherokee citizen by admission letter issued at Tahlontuskee, Indian Territory. During Mid-December 1829 Houston leaves for Washington to represent the Cherokee Nation. In the summer of 1830-Houston marries Tiana Rogers in a Cherokee Indian ceremony. Houston represented or worked with the Cherokees, Osage, Choctaw and Creeks during his life. They were his friends, family and inlaws; so in the 1830’s when Houston moved to Texas they were often his guests at his homes in Texas, much to dismay of certain other frontiersmen and settlers. Much of the information above comes from the Houston Museum website: www.samhouston.org/ The re-enactor pictured here is an Apache.