Corsicana reader C. Robert Keathley, fellow Texas Aggie and retired teacher of Texas History, shared with me recently a bit of lore that adds considerably to the colorful events which took place beneath the “Which Way Tree” at the New Kentucky crossroads (now in west Tomball, TX). The events leading up to the Texans’ victory at San Jacinto are surely of interest to all Texans, but none more than Texas Aggies, who commemorate the day every year at Aggie Muster.
General Sam Houston’s army reached this point on April 16, 1836, having left Gonzales several days before. The Alamo had fallen, and Fannin’s men had been slaughtered in the Goliad Massacre to the horror of all. To make matters worse, the Spring of 1836 was wet and bitterly cold, which made the march difficult. The fear factor was high as many Texans were fleeing in the Runaway Scrape ahead of Santa Anna’s pursuing army.
Houston had received a pair of cannon–The Twin Sisters–from the people of Ohio. When they bogged down along the muddy route, he borrowed a yoke of oxen from pioneer Pamela Mann who agreed ONLY on condition that the General was headed to Nacogdoches and safety, NOT if he was heading to Harrisburg to confront Santa Anna’s army. General Houston promised to return the oxen safely and assured Ms. Mann that he was, indeed, headed down the road toward Nacogdoches…but he neglected to say how long he intended to remain on that road.
You see, the road forked at the New Kentucky crossroads. Some in Houston’s army wondered if the General would truly take the left fork, retreating across the Trinity River to Nacogdoches or possibly even to U.S. territory in Louisiana. Indeed, some might have wondered if that might not be a good idea! Others felt sure Houston would take the right fork, marching them southeast toward Harrisburg (now the city of Houston) in a strategic retreat that would give the Texians’ an advantage.
When the Texian Army reached the crossroads at New Kentucky, General Houston was reportedly riding his horse in the middle of the column as the ragged volunteers who marched at the front of the line encountered the landowner, Abram Roberts, leaning on his fence gate. Abrams had a son marching with Houston’s Army and may have been hoping to catch sight of his boy. Those first troops called out, “Which way to Harrisburg, ol’ timer? Which way?” and Roberts yelled back, “Take the right fork, boys! Take the right fork!”
[At this point, I should perhaps insert a warning that the language that’s been passed down to us may be a bit rough, but I’m fairly sure the quotes are accurate, so please accept this bit of history as written.]
Seeing the army veer right, General Houston reportedly raced forward yelling, “Where thu hell are you troops going?” to which they responded, “We’re going to a fight, General! We’re going to a fight!” Some interpret this exchange as indication that Houston had honestly considered marching his men to safety. We may never know for sure, but his response on that day was, “Well, if it’s a fight you want, it’s a fight you’ll certainly get!” and the men sent up a cheer.
…but before he got the chance to fight Santa Anna, General Houston would have to fight Pamela Mann, who caught wind that the army–along with her oxen–were headed to Harrisburg, after all. Armed with a brace of pistols and a Bowie knife, Ms. Mann rode up to General Houston and informed him that she wanted her oxen returned immediately. According to the eyewitness account of Robert Hancock Hunter, the encounter went like this:
“She rode up [to] the general & said, general you tole me a dam lie, you said [you] was going on the Nacogdoches road. Sir, I want my oxen.”
“Well, Mrs. Mann [General Houston replied], we cant spare them. We cant git our cannon a long without them.”
“I dont care a dam for your cannon [Mrs. Mann responded], I want my oxen.”
With that, she whipped out her Bowie knife, cut the oxen from their traces, and lead them away.
The rugged frontiersmen watched this performance in stunned awe.
“No body said a word,” Hunter went on. “She jumpt on her horse with whip in hand and away she went in a lope with her oxen.”
Conrad Rohrer, the army’s wagon master, protested to Houston that they could not move the cannon without those oxen…he said he was headed out to get those oxen back from Mrs Mann…Houston warned the wagon master that Mrs Mann was gonna put up a fight. “Dam her fighting” Rohrer yelled back, and off he rode out of sight. Later, Roher returned, shirt all ragged, looking kinda tattered up…and NO OXEN.
“Well, where are the oxen?” the men asked. “She would not let me have them,” Rohrer replied, probably quite embarrassed.
“What happened to your shirt?” they asked.
“She needed it for baby rags.”
Firsthand accounts, language and all, make the people involved in history seem so much more real! Reading accounts like this makes me feel like I actually knew the men who faced Santa Anna five days later crying, “Remember the Alamo! Remember Goliad!” and beat the arrogant dictator and his uniformed army in just eighteen minutes.
Thank you, Mr. Keathley, for sharing this marvelous story with us! 🙂
