One of the special features we’ve added to the 25th Anniversary Edition of our Discover Texas History program is a segment in our Learning More activities devoted to Young Heroes of Texas–children and teenagers who made significant contributions to our state’s history.
This month I’ll be highlighting a dozen or more of these exemplary young Texans, starting with the Talon children–Marie-Madeleine, Pierre, Jean-Baptiste, Lucien, and Robert–and their friend, Eustace Breman.
These six young people were taken captive after their parents were killed by Karankawa warriors who attacked LaSalle’s French colony. Despite grief and fear, they showed great courage and did their best to stay together and encourage each other. They learned their captors’ language, and Pierre mastered the Hasinai Caddo language, as well.
They were finally rescued by Spanish explorers in 1690-91, but they had no homes to return to. Instead, they traveled hundreds of miles to Mexico City where they were taken in as servants in the household of the Spanish Viceroy.
From Canada to France to Texas to Mexico, then to Spain, and back to France…these children traveled the world and made the best of each circumstance they encountered. In interviews about their experiences, brothers Pierre and Jean-Baptiste provided European explorers with important information about the New World. When they finally returned to Texas, they served as translators between the French, Spanish, Caddo, and Karankawa peoples.
My goal in creating this feature is to encourage students to “let no one look down on [their] youthfulness, but rather [to] show themselves as examples.”
None of us knows what tomorrow may bring, but we can determine to make good choices and to look for opportunities in whatever happens.
If you’d like to learn more about our extensive guided unit study, Discover Texas History, check out our website and online course.
