Tiana was a Cherokee woman. She grew up learning the magic, spells, and nature religion of her people. Before Sam Houston became the father of Texas, he was a young man who had run away from his home in Tennessee to live among the Cherokee. He came to love Tiana. As the Cherokee would say, she walked in his soul. But Sam was a white man, and Tiana, a Cherokee. And the dreams each had for their land and their people were far apart….
Magnificent Sam: The Amazing Adventures of Sam Houston
“Magnificent Sam” is a children’s picture book biography about the life of General Sam Houston. The story includes Sam’s childhood in Virginia, his family’s move to Tennessee, his life as a runaway with the Hiwassee Cherokee Indians, his political career, and of course his legendary leadership during the Texas Revolution. This book has full-color illustrations throughout, and concludes with a timeline, recommended resources, glossary, and discussion questions. Written for children and adults, ages 5 and up.
Raven: a Biography of Sam Houston
“This is the stuff of which legend is made, this story of the making of Texas, and Houston is one with those semilegendary characters–with Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett, with Marion the Swamp Fox and Ethan Allen. . . . In a sense he is too good to be true, this man who wrought such mighty deeds within the lifetime of our fathers and grandfathers; in a sense if he had not existed we should have had to create him.” –from the introduction by Henry Steele Commager