Yellow Rose of Texas

There's a yellow rose in Texas, that I am going to see,
Nobody else could miss her, not half as much as me.
She cried so when I left her, it like to broke my heart,
And if I ever find her, we nevermore will part.

Chorus

She's the sweetest little rosebud that Texas ever knew
Her eyes are bright as diamonds, they sparkle like the dew,
You may talk about your Clementine, And sing of Rosa Lee
But the Yellow Rose of Texas is the only girl for me.

Chorus

When the Rio Grande is flowing, the starry skies are bright,
She walks along the river in the quiet summer night:
I know that she remembers, when we parted long ago,
I promise to return again, and not to leave her so.

Chorus

Oh now I'm going to find her, for my heart is full of woe,
And we'll sing the songs together, that we sang so long ago
I'll pick the banjo gaily, and we'll sing the songs of yore,
And the yellow rose of Texas shall be mine forevermore.

Midi: Lone Star Junction

From Wikipedia:

The Yellow Rose of Texas is a traditional folk song of the Southern United States, which became popular in 1955 in a recording by Mitch Miller. The author is unknown; the publisher (Phillips) only gives the author's initials as "J. K." The author is popularly presumed to have been African American, and the Yellow Rose's lover. The Yellow Rose was Emily West Morgan, and, according to at least one source, the original title of the song was "Emily, the Maid of Morgan's Point."

The song is based on a Texas legend from the days of the Texas War of Independence. According to the legend, a free African American woman named Emily D. West, seized by Mexican forces during the looting of Galveston, seduced General Antonio López de Santa Anna, President of Mexico and commander of the Mexican forces. The legend credits her supposed seduction with lowering the guard of the Mexican army and facilitating the Texan victory in the battle of San Jacinto waged in 1836 near present-day Houston. Santa Anna's opponent was General Sam Houston, who won the battle literally in minutes, and with almost no casualties.

This legend is comparable to the Biblical war story of Jael and Sisera, found in Judges 4:14-22 and repeated in poetry in Judges 5:23-27. Jael's story was popular with Protestant Christians of the time and would have been familiar to slaves and freedmen as well as the white population.

Historians assert that if West was with Santa Anna, it was not by her choice, nor did she play any part in deciding the battle. The seduction legend was largely unknown until the publication of English tourist William Bollaert's diary in the 1950s, when amateur historians propagated an embellished version.

The basic facts appear to be that Emily West migrated to Texas from New York City in late 1835. Sources describe her as a teen or as a woman of twenty. According to one version of the legend, she became an indentured servant on the plantation of James Morgan near what was then called New Washington and is now Morgan's Point. Because of her indenture to Morgan, some historians say, she became known by his surname, as was the custom for indentured servants as well as slaves.

Santa Anna reportedly saw West in April 1836 when he invaded New Washington prior to the Battle of San Jacinto. Legend states that she was forcibly placed in his camp. Allegedly, Santa Anna was with her when Texan General Sam Houston's troops arrived, forcing him to flee without weapons or armor and enabling his capture the next day.

In 2005, African-American journalist Denise McVea wrote a book arguing that Emily West was not a servant but was in fact Emily de Zavala, the wife of Lorenzo de Zavala, the vice-president of the Republic of Texas. In her book, McVea cites a marriage certificate found in family records at the University of Texas at Austin that confirms West married Zavala in a New York Catholic church on November 12, 1831.

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