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Let’s
pretend people had TV sets in the 1800s, and they watched a show
called See It Now and Then, hosted by Edward R. Tomorrow.
Tune in now:
Mr. Tomorrow, smoking, begins his interview with Emily West -- a.k.a.
Emily Morgan a.k.a. the Yellow Rose of Texas.
Ed: Good evening. Welcome to See It Now and Then.
We’re at Morgan’s
Point in Texas, where San Jacinto River meets Galveston Bay
and where we are honored to have a very special guest -- the famous
Yellow Rose of Texas. Welcome, Miss West. We are delighted to meet
you at last.
Em: Thank you. I’m glad to be here. And you can call me Em.
Ed: (Lighting another cigarette) And you can call me Ed.
Thank you for coming all the way from New York for our show. How
does it feel to be back at Morgan’s
Point?
Em: (Peeling an orange) Oh, I loved it here before the war
started.
Ed: I see you like oranges.
Em: Healthier than cigarettes. Col. Morgan planted orange
trees here, you know.
Ed: Col. Morgan … you worked for him … James Morgan of Morgan’s
Point.
Em: Actually, he called it New Washington but the name never
caught on. It’s better known as Morgan’s
Point.
Ed: Morgan’s
Point is just east of the San
Jacinto battleground, isn’t it? Just a few miles?
Em: Yes. (Extending an orange to the talk show host) Have
one.
Ed: (Half-smiling) No, thank you. Too risky for my health.
First, tell us what you’re doing now since you went back to New
York in 1837.
Em: I’m working in a restaurant but when I save up enough
money I plan to start my own business, a health food store. I think
I’ll call it The Big Orange.
Ed: (Squinting, forcing a smile) Tell us how you got from
New York to Texas in the first place. And then back to New York.
Em: Well, it’s a long story but suffice to say, I heard Col.
Morgan needed a housekeeper at his hotel in Morgan’s
Point. I wanted to see Texas -- sounded like the Promised Land
-- so I hired on as an indentured servant for Col. Morgan.
Ed: You were a free black and you chose to be an indentured
servant?
Em: It’s not as bad as it sounds. I signed a contract to
work a year for $100, free room and board. And until Santa Anna’s
Army arrived, the working conditions were fine.
Ed: Those must have been frightening times, before – and
during -- the battle
at San Jacinto.
Em: Horrible. Santa’s Anna’s soldiers ransacked Col. Morgan’s
warehouse and then set the buildings on fire before marching on
to battle.
Ed: And took you with them.
Em: Not just me. Several people who worked at Morgan’s
Point.
Ed: Please, tell us. The entire world is waiting to hear
it from you. Were you really in Santa Anna’s tent on April 21, 1836,
when the battle started at San Jacinto?
Em: (Irritated) No comment.
Ed: After the battle, what?
Em: Judge Moreland, who fought at the battle – he manned
the Twin Sisters
cannon -- felt sorry for me, took me into his home for a while.
He helped me get a new passport to go back to New York because I
had lost all my papers and personal belongings in the battle.
Ed: Did you look in Santa Anna’s tent?
Em: (Irritated.) I was afraid it would be like this. The
biased media -- you’re all the same. Just interested in scandal.
Ed: I’m trying to get at the truth, Em.
Em: Call me Miss West.
Ed: Uh .. Miss West. Please, we’re run out of time now, but
you would be willing to come back on another show?
Em: I might if you won’t bring up the subject of Santa Anna’s
tent. I didn’t ask to be in the big middle of the Texas Revolution,
you know.
Ed: Thank you for joining us. (Camera zeroes in for an Edward
R. Tomorrow close-up.) Good night and good luck.
(“Yellow Rose of Texas” music fades in background.)
As Mr. Tomorrow is leaving, he’s stopped by a reporter with the
Associated Pony Express. “Do you think she really was in the tent
with Santa Anna? What’s your opinion? Truth or fiction?”
Squinting his eyes and trying not to smile, Edward R. Tomorrow says:
“Only the Yellow Rose knows.”
© Wanda Orton
Baytown
Sun Columnist
"Wandering"
June 2, 2015 columns
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