[dropcap]T[/dropcap]wo years after fellow Texans spurned him in the only ballot-box loss of his career, Sam Houston gave his first and last speech in a comeback campaign for governor on July 9, 1859.

As one of just two southern senators that opposed repeal of the Missouri Compromise and extension of slavery to the western territories, Houston paid dearly for his 1854 vote against the Kansas-Nebraska Bill.  That lonely stand ultimately cost Old Sam his seat in the United States Senate as well as...