On the night of Dec. 30, 1842, Angelina Eberly sounded the alarm that dealt Sam Houston a stinging defeat and kept the new capital of the Texas Republic from drying up and blowing away.

Taking Houston’s place as president in December 1839, Mirabeau Lamar advocated construction of a capital city on the western limits of the three year old nation. Built on the banks of the Colorado River smack dab in the middle of Indian territory, it would be dedicated to the memory of Stephen F. Austin.

Sam ...