Stories of Later American History Part 21

"Would ten dollars be of any service?" asked the pupil, now seeing that the situation was serious.

"Ten dollars would save my life," was the reply of the poor man, who had been without food for twenty-four hours. You may be sure that Strothers promptly handed him the money.

But in spite of heavy trials and many discouragements, he had by 1837 finished a machine which he exhibited in New York, although he did not secure a patent until 1840.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The Operation of the Modern Railroad is Dependent upon the Telegraph.]

Then followed a tedious effort to induce the government at Was.h.i.+ngton to vote money for his great enterprise. Finally, after much delay, the House of Representatives pa.s.sed a bill "appropriating thirty thousand dollars for a trial of the telegraph."

As you may know, a bill cannot become a law unless the Senate also pa.s.ses it. But the Senate did not seem friendly to this one. Many believed that the whole idea of the telegraph was rank folly. They thought of Morse and the telegraph very much as people had thought of Fulton and the steamboat, and made fun of him as a crazy-brained fellow.

Up to the evening of the last day of the session the bill had not been taken up by the Senate. Morse sat anxiously waiting in the Senate Chamber until nearly midnight, when, believing there was no longer any hope, he left the room and went home with a heavy heart.

Imagine his surprise the next morning, when a young woman, Miss Ellsworth, congratulated him at breakfast upon the pa.s.sage of his bill. At first he could scarcely believe the good news, but when he found that she was telling him the truth his joy was unbounded, and he promised her that she should choose the first message.

By the next year (1844) a telegraph-line, extending from Baltimore to Was.h.i.+ngton, was ready for use. On the day appointed for trial Morse met a party of friends in the chambers of the Supreme Court at the Was.h.i.+ngton end of the line and, sitting at the instrument which he had himself placed for trial, the happy inventor sent the message selected by Miss Ellsworth: "What hath G.o.d wrought!"

The telegraph was a great and brilliant achievement, and brought to its inventor well-earned fame. Now that success had come, honors were showered upon him by many countries. At the suggestion of the French Emperor, representatives from many countries in Europe met in Paris to decide upon some suitable testimonial to Morse as one who had done so much for the world. These delegates voted him a sum amounting to eighty thousand dollars as a token of appreciation for his great invention.

In 1872 this n.o.ble inventor, at the ripe age of eighty-one, breathed his last. The grief of the people all over the land was strong proof of the place he held in the hearts of his countrymen.

SOME THINGS TO THINK ABOUT

1. Tell all you can about John Fitch's steamboats.

2. Give examples which indicate young Fulton's inventive gifts. Imagine yourself on the banks of the North River on the day set for the trial of the Clermont, and tell what happened.

3. What and where was the National Road?

4. In what ways was the Erie Ca.n.a.l useful to the people?

5. Describe the first railroads and the first trains.

6. Tell what you can about Morse's twelve toilsome years of struggle while he was working out his great invention. How is the telegraph useful to men?

7. What do you admire about Morse?

8. Are you making frequent use of your map?

CHAPTER XIV

THE REPUBLIC GROWS LARGER

SAM HOUSTON

In a preceding chapter you learned how the great territories of Louisiana and Florida came to belong to America. We are now to learn of still other additions, namely, the great regions of Texas and California.

The most prominent man in the events connected with our getting Texas was Sam Houston.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Sam Houston.]

He was born, of Irish descent, in 1793, in a farmhouse in Virginia. When he was thirteen years old the family removed to a place in Tennessee, near the home of the Cherokee Indians. The boy received but little schooling out in that new country. In fact, he cared far less about school than he did for the active, free life of his Indian neighbors.

So when his family decided to have him learn a trade he ran away from home and joined the Cherokees. There he made friends, and one of the chiefs adopted him as a son. We may think of him as enjoying the sports and games, the hunting and fis.h.i.+ng, which took up so much of the time of the Indian boys.

On returning to his home, at the age of eighteen, he went to school for a term at Marysville Academy. In the War of 1812 he became a soldier and served under Andrew Jackson in the campaign against the Creek Indians. In the battle of Horseshoe Bend he fought with reckless bravery. During that fearful struggle he received a wound in the thigh. His commander, Jackson, then ordered him to stop fighting, but Houston refused to obey and was leading a desperate charge against the enemy when his right arm was shattered. It was a long time before he was well and strong again, but he had made a firm friend in Andrew Jackson.

Later Houston studied law and began a successful practice. He became so popular in Tennessee that the people elected him to many positions of honor and trust, the last of which was that of governor. About that time he was married, but a few weeks later he and his wife separated. Then, suddenly and without giving any reason for his strange conduct, he left his home and his State and went far up the Arkansas River to the home of his early friends the Cherokee Indians. The Cherokees had been removed to that distant country, beyond the Mississippi, by the United States Government.

About a year later Houston, wearing the garb of his adopted tribe, went in company with some of them to Was.h.i.+ngton. His stated purpose was to secure a contract for furnis.h.i.+ng rations to the Cherokees.

But another purpose was in his mind. He had set his heart on winning Texas for the United States. Perhaps he talked over the scheme with his friend, President Jackson. However that may be, we know that some three years afterward Houston again left his Cherokee friends and went to Texas to live. His desire to secure this region for his country was as strong as ever.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Scene of Houston's Campaign.]

At that time Texas was a part of Mexico. Already before Houston went down to that far-away land many people from the United States had begun to settle there. At first they were welcomed. But when the Mexicans saw the Americans rapidly growing in numbers they began to oppress them. The Mexican Government went so far as to require them to give up their private arms, which would leave them defenseless against the Indians as well as bad men. Then it pa.s.sed a law which said, in effect, that no more settlers should come to Texas from the United States, so that the few thousand Americans could not be strengthened in numbers.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Flag of the Republic of Texas.]

Of course, the Texans were indignant, and they rebelled against Mexico, declaring Texas to be an independent republic. At the same time they elected Houston commander-in-chief of all the Texan troops. This began a bitter war. The Mexican dictator, Santa Anna, with an army four or five thousand strong, marched into Texas to force the people to submit to the government.

The first important event of this struggle was the capture of the Alamo, an old Texan fortress at San Antonio. Although the garrison numbered only one hundred and forty, they were men of reckless daring, without fear, and they determined to fight to the last.

DAVID CROCKETT

Among these hardy fighters was David Crockett, a pioneer and adventurer who had led a wild, roving life. He was a famous hunter and marksman and, like some of our other frontiersmen, was never happier than when he was alone in the deep, dark forests.

Born in eastern Tennessee, in 1786, he received no schooling, but he was a man of good understanding. His amusing stories and his skill with the rifle had made him many friends, who chose him to represent their district in the Tennessee Legislature and later in Congress.

[Ill.u.s.tration: David Crockett.]

Like Sam Houston, he had served under Andrew Jackson in the war with the Creek Indians, and when the struggle with Mexico broke out he was one of the many brave backwoodsmen who left their homes and went down to help the Texans.

After a long journey from Tennessee, in which more than once he came near being killed by the Indians or wild beasts, he at last reached the fortress of the Alamo. He knew he was taking great risks in joining the small garrison there, but that did not hold him back. In fact, he liked danger.

The Mexican army, upon reaching San Antonio, began firing upon the Alamo.

Their cannon riddled the fort, making wide breaches in the weak outer walls through which from every side thousands of Mexicans thronged into it. The Americans emptied their muskets and then fought with knives and revolvers. They fought with desperate bravery until only five of the soldiers were left.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The Fight at the Alamo.]

One of these was David Crockett. He had turned his musket about and was using it as a club in his desperate struggle with the scores of men who sought his life. There he stood, his back against the wall, with the bodies of the Mexicans he had slain lying in a semicircle about him. His foes dared not rush upon him, but some of them held him at bay with their lances, while others, having loaded their muskets, riddled his body with bullets. Thus fell brave David Crockett, a martyr to his country's cause.