Category: television series

Emily D. West

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She is the traditional subject of the song “Yellow Rose of Texas” and one of the more compelling characters in the miniseries “Texas Rising” which just completed its debut run on the History Channel.  In it, the character has an affair with Mexican General Santa Anna and is occupying his attention leading up to the battle.  In addition, she may have had personal motives of revenge that led to her desire to see Santa Anna defeated.

The familiar song does not deal with San Jacinto or Santa Anna.  It was composed in the 1800s, although the actual name of the composer is unknown.

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“Texas Rising”

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I hope you had a chance to watch “Texas Rising” on the History Channel over the last month and a half.  It was entertaining.  I know that some characters in the series were fictional or their stories were highly fictionalized, so this summer I will try to find the real stories of their lives, starting with Emily D. West, Jack Hays and Erastus (Deaf) Smith.  I was also intrigued by Juan Seguin and the other Hispanic residents of Texas who fought with Houston against the Mexican Army.  These were my takeaways from “Texas Rising.”  I am grateful to the History Channel for the project, but the armchair historian in me always appreciates the real stories behind the fictional ones.