230. Houston goes to Texas; what he said he would do; the murders at Alamo[3]; the flag with one star; what Houston did; Texas added to the United States; our war with Mexico.--At the end of that time he said to a friend, "I am going to Texas, and in that new country I will make a man of myself." Texas then belonged to Mexico; and President Andrew Jackson had tried in vain to buy it as Jefferson bought Louisiana. Houston said, "I will make it part of the United States." About twenty thousand Americans had already moved into Texas, and they felt as he did. War broke out between Texas and Mexico, and General Sam Houston led the Texan soldiers in their fight for independence. He had many noted American pioneers[4] and hunters in his little army: one of them was the brave Colonel Travis[5] of Alabama; another was Colonel Bowie[6] of Louisiana, the inventor of the "bowie knife"; still another was Colonel David Crockett of Tennessee, whose motto is a good one for every young American--"Be sure you're right, then--_go ahead_." These men were all taken prisoners by the Mexicans at Fort Alamo--an old Spanish church in San Antonio--and were cruelly murdered. Not long after that General Houston fought a great battle near the city which is now called by his name.[7] The Mexicans had more than two men to every one of Houston's; but the Americans and Texans went into battle shouting the terrible cry "_Remember the Alamo!_" and the Mexicans fled before them like frightened sheep. Texas then became an independent state, and elected General Houston its president. The people of Texas raised a flag having on it a single star. For this reason it was sometimes called, as it still is, the "Lone Star State." [Illustration: THE "LONE STAR" FLAG.] Texas was not contented to stand alone; she begged the United States to add her to its great and growing family of states. This was done[8] in 1845. But, as we shall presently see, a war soon broke out (1846) between the United States and Mexico, and when that war was ended we obtained a great deal more land at the west. [Illustration: Map showing the extent of the United States after we added Texas in 1845. The black and white bars show that the ownership of the Oregon country was still in dispute between the United States and Great Britain.] [Footnote 3: Alamo (Al'a-mo).] [Footnote 4: Pioneers: those who go before to prepare the way for others; the first settlers in a country are its pioneers.] [Footnote 5: Travis (Tra'vis).] [Footnote 6: Bowie (Bow'e).] [Footnote 7: See map in this paragraph.] [Footnote 8: See map in this paragraph.]