During Arkansas’s territorial days, the Military Road generally followed the route of the old Southwest Trail. The primitive pathway served as a major thoroughfare in Arkansas’s early years, carrying thousands of pioneers, soldiers, and people from all walks of life across Arkansas to Texas and the Southwest. Numerous well-known individuals traveled the road, including Alamo hero Davy Crockett and Texas leader Sam Houston. In fact, Houston spent an extended period in the upper Ouachita River Valley in 1833.

Sam Houston was born in Virginia in 1793. He moved with his family to Tennessee and later fought in the War of 1812. In 1817 and 1818, he worked to assist the Cherokees with resettlement in what is now Arkansas and Oklahoma. He served in the United States House of Representatives for four years and was elected governor of Tennessee. He resigned the office in disgrace due to issues related to his marriage.

Houston then moved to Arkansas, arriving in May of 1829. He became a member of the Cherokee Nation, and even represented the tribe in Washington, D.C., on multiple occasions. He also became known for his consumption of liquor, earning him the Indian name that translated to “The Drunk” or “Big Drunk.”

After going to Texas for a brief time, Sam Houston returned to Arkansas and spent most of the summer of 1833 at Hot Springs. Hiram Whittington, a pioneer citizen of the spa city, had met Sam Houston in the Cherokee Nation during a visit there and wrote to his brother back East in August of 1833 about Houston’s presence at the springs: “We have among us at the time the renowned General Houston, Ex-Governor of Tennessee, Ex-Aide-de-Camp and bosom friend of General Jackson, Ex-Indian Chief …

“Houston, who was found by Jackson a poor friendless orphan boy, enlisted as a common soldier in the militia of Tennessee, distinguished himself by bravery, good morals, etc., until he got to be a General, a member of the state legislature, afterwards member of Congress, and then Governor of the state of Tennessee …

“For the last three or four years, Houston has been wandering about from one place to another, sometimes at the foot of the Rocky Mountains in full chase of the buffalo or bear, then at Washington City gallanting the ladies about the president’s house or whipping members of Congress in the streets; then to Arkansas …

“He is certainly a wonderful man tho’ no new curiosity to me. I have been acquainted with him for three or four years. He is now from Texas, where he says he has made his home, determined to spend his life, his talents, his powers in the cause of freedom, patriotism, etc.”

In all of his travels, Sam Houston certainly passed through the upper Ouachita River Valley numerous times, following the pathway that ultimately took him to the place that made him famous. He is best known for his role in Texas’ revolution and independence, serving as leader of the army and executing the defeat and capture of Mexico’s Santa Anna.

Houston became the president of the Republic of Texas in 1839. When Texas joined the United States in 1845, he served as one of the state’s first U.S. senators (1846-1859) and was then elected governor in 1859. Sam Houston died in 1863. His legacy lives on today: the city of Houston, Texas, was named for him.