Barnabas Crist Bal

Emily D. West Barnabas Crist Bal

Publisher Marketing: Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Emily D. West (c.1815-1891), also known as Emily Morgan, is a folk heroine whose legendary activities during the Texas Revolution have come to be identified with the song "The Yellow Rose of Texas." West was a free woman of color born in New Haven, Connecticut. In 1835 she was contracted to James Morgan as an indentured servant to work for one year in Morgan's Point, Texas at the New Washington Association's hotel as a housekeeper. Several months into her year of indentureship, on April 16, 1836, West and other residents were kidnapped by Mexican cavalry. West was forced to travel with the forces of General Antonio L pez de Santa Anna as they prepared to face the army led by Sam Houston, and was in the Mexican camp on April 21 when Houston's force attacked. The Texans won the Battle of San Jacinto in 45 minutes. According to legend, Santa Anna had been caught unprepared because he was having sex with West. No contemporary accounts indicate that Santa Anna was with a woman at the time, but the story was recorded in the journal of Englishman William Bollaert in 1842, who heard it from a veteran during a steamer trip.