Temple Houston
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Temple Lea Houston (August 12, 1860 – August 15, 1905) was the last-born child of Texas Revolutionary Samuel Houston.
After traveling and working in the East, Houston returned to Texas in 1877, and graduated from Baylor University with honors in 1880. In 1882, Houston was appointed as the district attorney of 35th Judicial District of Texas, which then covered a large part of the Texas Panhandle. Houston was considered by many to be one of the country's most brilliant trial lawyers and was noted for his flamboyant and unorthodox dress and behavior. Houston was well educated and spoke French and Spanish fluently as well as seven Indian languages. In 1888, Houston gave the dedicating address [1] for the opening of the Texas Capitol. After serving in the Texas House of Representatives, Houston in 1894 moved his law practice to Woodward in western Oklahoma and became involved in the movement for Oklahoma statehood. Houston was equally known as a dead-shot gunfighter.
Once a judge persuaded Houston to represent a penniless horse thief and Houston promised, "I'll provide the unfortunate gentleman the best defense I can." Houston asked the judge for a private office in which he could confer with his client. Sometime later, a court official decided to check on Houston and the horsethief. He found Houston sitting alone in the room with the window wide open. Houston smiled and remarked, "I gave him the best advice I could."
Another remark for which he is famous is "Your honor, the prosecutor is the first man that I've ever seen that can strut while sitting down."
In 1899, Houston delivered the Soiled Dove Plea on behalf of a hopelessly guilty prostitute, Minnie Stacey, in a trial in Woodward, Oklahoma. That plea is considered by many attorneys to be an example of a perfect closing argument.
In another trial, Houston was defending a man accused of murder following a gunfight. He picked up the man's pistols and suddenly discharged both cylinders into the courthouse ceiling. The jury panicked and fled outside. When asked why he had done this, Houston replied he was attempting to prove his client's fear of the victim's "incredible speed" of gunfire. He then successfully argued for a mistrial, since the jury had not been sequestered.
The main character of Edna Ferber's novel Cimarron was modeled after Temple Houston, and a television series entitled Temple Houston [2] was co-produced by the actor Jeffrey Hunter in 1963–1964.
Houston died of a cerebral hemorrhage at the age of only forty-five. He is buried in the Elmwood Cemetery in Woodward.
One of the most elaborate floral arrangements at his funeral was from Minnie Stacey.
[edit] References
- Glenn Shirley, Temple Houston: Lawyer with a Gun (1980).
- Grace Hunter Adams, Jack Love: Eighty Niner (1988).
- Below Devil's Gap: The Story of Woodward County (1984).
