Texas might still be part of Mexico today if a rising Tennessee politician hadn't proven profoundly unlucky in love. Had Governor Sam Houston's infamous wedding night proceeded as planned, he would have become a credible candidate for president -- escaping dark years of depression and drunkenness, and avoiding the status of alcoholic exile that took him South of the border. As an adoptive member of the Cherokee tribe, he became the most unlikely and indispensable founder of the independent if short-lived Republic of Texas.

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