Her name was Emily Morgan, and she was the sweetest little rosebud that Texas ever knew. She was, in fact, the Yellow Rose of Texas. The song pays homage to the accidental heroine of Texas independence.

Our story begins in April 1836. The Alamo had fallen, the garrison at Goliad had been massacred, and the newly elected government was in flight.

There lived at that time, near a settlement called New Washington at the mouth of the San Jacinto River, a fair biracial indentured servant girl named Emily Morgan.

The mighty army that Santa Anna led across the plains of Texas did not move with lightning speed. It was burdened with its commander’s three-room carpeted tent and his opium cabinet, and when he saw Emily, the general was smitten, and he was used to getting what he wanted.

Emily remained a staunch Texan while under Santa Anna’s sway. She certainly appears to have done her part in keeping her abductor occupied. At San Jacinto, when he knew that Houston’s forces were only half a mile away, why was his army taking a siesta? Answer: Santa Anna was in a hurry to get into the sack with Emily Morgan.

While El Presidente and the fetching servant girl occupied themselves within the tent, the Texans charged across the plain and set upon the idle Mexican camp with the force of a crushing wave. The battle was over in eighteen minutes.

We lose track of Emily Morgan shortly after her services to Texas were rendered. She never surfaced again, except of course in song.

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