Daughter of Texas — Celia Hayes

A woman's life in Texas, before the cattle drives, before the Alamo. Before the legends were born. She was there, and she saw it all.

Margaret Becker came to Texas with her parents and her younger brothers in 1825, in two Conestoga wagons, with everything they would need to set up a new home in Texas. Her father had come to take up a land grant in Stephen Austin's colony. On the day that she was twelve years old - the very day that the Becker family arrived in Texas - a witch-woman looked at her hands and foretold her future in frontier Texas; she foretold two husbands for Margaret, a large house, many friends, joy, sorrow and love. The witch woman would not say what she saw for Margaret's younger brothers, Rudi and Carl - for Texas was a Mexican colony, being settled mostly by American entrepreneurs. Before the Becker children were full-grown, the war for Texas independence would come upon them all and show no mercy.

But Margaret would survive. During her life, she would observe and participate in great events - the dreadful Runaway Scrape, when civilian women and children had to pack up and leave their homes at a moment's notice, for fear of the dreadful avenging army of the Mexican general, Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. Margaret would be within hearing of the siege of the 'Come and Take It' Fight', the siege of the Alamo, and the final victory for the Republic of Texas at San Jacinto. She would meet and pass her own judgment on great men and lesser men as well; James Bowie, Sam Houston, William B. Travis, Mirabeau Lamar, 'Deaf' Smith and Juan Seguin. Margaret would be a loyal friend, a Texas patriot and an able political hostess in the new capitol city of Austin. In the end, she would be a survivor and witness to incredible historical events.

But in all of her life, there would be one man who would ever hold - and break - her heart!