Jane Long: Choosing Texas (Texas Heroes For Young Readers)

Jane Long was a rough-and-tumble lady whose incredible strength and ambition earned her the title of the "Mother of Texas." As an orphan in Natchez, Jane met her husband, physician James Long and went with him to Bolivar Point. On an excursion to Mexico City, James was captured and killed. Unaware of her husband’s death, a pregnant Jane stubbornly waited for him in Bolivar, surviving on meager and rapidly dwindling supplies. Alone in an uncivilized territory, Jane determined to make a go in Texas. She opened up a hotel in Brazoria in 1832 that became a central hub of activity for all of Texas. Jane had many admirers and received numerous proposals, but chose to maintain her independent lifestyle. In a time when women were not the decision-makers about their own lives, Jane called her own shots—in her own life and in the lives of early Texans.