For the first time, the true story of “The Yellow Rose of Texas” is told in full, revealing a host of new insights and perspectives on one of America’s most popular stories. For generations, the Yellow Rose of Texas has been one of America’s most popular western myths, growing larger over time and little resembling the truth of what happened on April 21, 1836, at the battle of San Jacinto, where a new Texas Republic won its independence. The woman who has been popularly connected to the story was an ordinary but also quite remarkable free black woman from the North, Emily D. West. This work reconstructs her experience, places it in full context and explores the evolution of a most fanciful myth.

Phillip Thomas Tucker is a former Department of Defense historian in Washington, D.C. He lives in Davenport, Florida.

Phillip Thomas Tucker
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 276
Bibliographic Info: 10 photos, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2014
pISBN: 978-0-7864-7449-3
eISBN: 978-1-4766-1328-4
Imprint: McFarland

Foreword by Mario Marcel Salas 1
Preface 5
Introduction 7
Chapter I: Emily D. West, The Popular Myth and Legend 19
Chapter II: Emily D. West’s Birth in New Haven 34
Chapter III: A New Life and Adventure Beckons 64
Chapter IV: Texas Bound 79
Chapter V: Slaughter at the Alamo 111
Chapter VI: Muddy Roads Leading to San Jacinto 122
Chapter VII: Climactic Showdown at San Jacinto 160
Chapter VIII: Popular ­Myth-making and the Creation of
“The Yellow Rose of Texas” 195
Chapter IX: Emily After the Fiery Storm of San Jacinto 217
Epilogue 229
Chapter Notes 233
Bibliography 253
Index 261

• “The book is successful at describing the world West lived in as well as the dangers she faced in Texas. Recommended”—Choice
• “Traces her entire life”—ProtoView.