Sam Houston

Unattributed.
Sam Houston
Salted paper print, 1856 or 1857
Prints & Photographs Division
Acquisition made possible by Nancy Glanville Jewell, Ed Cox, Jean and Jay Kislak, Kay and Tom Martin, John Garvey, Caroline Rose Hunt, Ruth and Ken Altshuler, Jane and Bud Smith, James Elkins, Jr., and Albert Small (31.10)

Sam Houston (1793-1863) was one of the most colorful and controversial figures in Texas history. As commander-in-chief of the Texas Army in 1835, he was wounded in the Battle of San Jacinto, which secured Texas independence from Mexico. When Texas joined the Union, Houston served as one of its senators. He was later elected as governor of Texas. Portraits from life of Sam Houston are extremely rare, only two full-length portraits of him are known to exist. This unpublished photograph was taken in 1856 or 1857, when Houston was a United States Senator.