History Painting


Shown here- "The Funeral Procession of Stephen F. Austin" Shown here is "Austin's Last Journey" (24" by 36")  This painting depicts the moment near noon on December 29th, 1836 when the body of "The Father of Texas" was loaded on the historic steamboat Yellow Stone at present-day East Columbia for a trip to the Austin family's  cemetery at Cedar Point, just a few miles down the Brazos River.  Nine years later on this date- nearly to the hour- the Texas national flag (The first version of which, designed by Lorenzo De Zavala, is shown here on the ninth day of its official existence) would be lowered to be replaced by the American flag in ceremonies recognizing Texas' admittance to the Union. This somber moment represents a fitting swan song for the Yellow Stone. The most historically significant steam vessel since Fulton's Cleremont, the Yellow Stone seems to disappear from the public record shortly after this date.
Click here or on the image to see a legend of the image explaining its features.
Thanks to Dr. William Reaves, who sponsored this painting and was most patient through the long process of creating it.

Heroes of the Alamo Write their Wills The Heroes of the Alamo Write their Wills.

You might guess that I loved the new movie "The Alamo", though this painting was five years old when I saw it.  At the time I painted this in 1999 I had never seen a painting of the Alamo that made a point of looking away from the facade of the chapel.  Using as sources drawings and watercolors primarily from Capt. Seth Eastman, who was posted at the Alamo when it was taken over by the Army Corps of Engineers three years after annexation (1848), this painting shows a view of San Antonio de Bexar from the southwest gun emplacement at about 4:00 a.m., March 6th, 1836.  Just beyond our heroes (just to the left of the head of the man peering over the wall) one can see smoke rising from a gun battery across the river.  Several mexican soldiers paid their lives to Davy Crockett's "Betsy" to build this battery and another like it a few hundred feet to the left.   Directly above the same man's head fires in Military Square glow against the facade of the San Fernando Church where Santa Anna flew the red "flag of no quarter".  The torched footprints of houses which once dotted the area around the walls of the old mission can be seen on this side of the river. In the moonglow in the river itself one can see the silhouettes of Mexican soldier's headgear and guns.
Within ninety minutes the big cannon on which this corner of the Alamo depends will be turned on its interior, and will be smashing the interior fortifications protecting the last of the fortresses survivors.  The wheel of this largest gun to be held by either army (forget the nonsense in the John Wayne version) through the whole of the revolution can be seen on the far right.  Now, if you haven't seen the new Disney version of "The Alamo" go rent it and see why I liked it so much!


Houston's Army of the Republic at Groce's Plantation
March 31 -April 1, 1836- The Runaway Scrape: Loading the Yellow Stone at Groce's Plantation. This work and a panoramic painting depicting the last moments of the defenders of the Alamo in San Antonio (March 6, 1836)can be seen (beginning in January) at the Taste of Texas Restaurant on the Katy Freeway in Houston, Texas.

 March 12, 1836-Counting the Troops near Peach Creek. This work can be seen at the Sam Houston Memorial Museum in Huntsville, Texas. In the distance one can see the smoke rising from the burning of the town of Gonzales, from which Houston, the army of the fledgeling republic and the town's population had fled the evening before. The mad flight which would later be named "The Runaway Scrape" had begun on hearing from Suzanna Dickinson of the fall of the Alamo- and with it the deaths of some forty citizens of Gonzales.
 Here, in a feat of P.R. only he could pull off Houston seeks to raise the spirits of the people by counting the size of his army.  He announced the presence of  800 "able-bodied" men, and then claimed to be ready to "...whip ten to one of the enemy!"

 Counting the troops near Peach Creek

Lon Morris College Millenium Mural The Lon Morris College Millennium Mural

Click on the image to see the story of the oldest surviving junior college west of the Mississippi river and the second oldest college in Texas.

Scott e. Johnson Memorial Mural As the father of four school-aged children I am very concerned with educational issues. Many of my projects have been directed at schools and intended for educational purposes. A good example of this is the Scott E. Johnson Memorial Mural at Scott Johnson Elementary School in Huntsville, Texas. This mural tells the story of a man who didn't have the chance to go to school at all until he was twelve, only to make his way all the way to a graduate degree in Education from the finest black college in America.  He then used that education to educate blacks in Walker County, TX. Click on the image for an explanation of the mural.

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All art on this site, except works produced for Party Props Inc., ŠLee Emmerich Jamison










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