"CONVEYANCE OF ALL MY RIGHT… TO TWO RESERVATIONS OF LAND… TO ANTHONY AND SHIMAHURGA, TWO OSAGES": AUTOGRAPH 1834 SAMUEL HOUSTON LETTER, THRICE SIGNED BY HIM

HOUSTON, Samuel. Autograph letter signed. Washington, D.C.: May 1, 1834. One sheet measuring approximately 16 by 10 inches, detached into two leaves; one leaf penned on recto and verso for two pages; second leaf with address. $7200.

Bold two-page autograph letter signed from Sam Houston granting power of attorney to prominent 19th-century fur trader Auguste Pierre Chouteau for the purpose of transferring to two members of the Osage Nation title of his property on the Grand River in Oklahoma. Thrice signed: once in third person within the text, boldly and with a flourish at the conclusion of the letter, and a third time on the address leaf.

Houston fought in the War of 1812 and battled the Creek Indians. A Tennessee Congressman, Houston served as Governor of Tennessee but resigned due to marital problems. He returned to the Cherokees, with who he had previously lived. He settled in Texas, fought for statehood, and commanded the small army that captured Santa Anna. He served as President of the Republic of Texas, Senator, and Governor, but was deposed when the legislature voted for secession. This letter grants power of attorney for the sale of Houston's Grand River land to Auguste Chouteau, the famous fur trader who assisted his father in the founding of St. Louis, Missouri. Accordingly, the Chouteaus became the most powerful family in St. Louis. The letter reads in part: "Know all men by these presents that I Sam Houston, late of Tennessee do hereby authorize Colonel August[e] P. Chouteau of the Grand Saline as my true and lawful attorney and do… appoint him to make a conveyance of all my right, title, claim, interest, and demand, in and to two reservations of land, being and laying on the Grand River within… the Cherokee Nation, which reservations were made by the Treaty of 1825 between the Osage Nation and the Commissioner of the U. States; to Anthony and Shimahurga, two Osages…" With manuscript endorsement by a Justice of the Peace at lower edge of verso.

The address leaf has split from the letter but is present. Remnants of prior mounting along right edge verso, complete separations at horizontal folds expertly repaired with tissue, a bit of mild uneven toning to paper. Principal signature and flourish quite bold and clear.