fellow of the texas state historical association, and was a historical adviser for the 2004 john lee hancock film "the alamo." the chronicles of higher education examined his work on that film in a feature article. he lives in abilene with his wife debra and children walker and savannah. his presentation today is what was houston thinking, understanding houston's bizarre behavior during the texas -- during the san jacinto campaign. please welcome dr. stephen hardin. >> thank you, bobby. when governor perry was kind enough to name me an admiral in the texas navy, i informed my wife, debra, that henceforth i expected her to call me admiral. i won't tell you what she called me. but it wasn't admiral. there we go. when sam houston first booted his horse across the red river on december 2nd, 1832, he had but one object in mind, and that was to west texas from the mexican republic and append it to the united states. notwithstanding pledges of allegiance to mexico, houston remained an american expansionist, a protege of andrew jackson, and a political operative. while many will find this a remarkab