The knife that Gen. Sam Houston carried into the Battle of San Jacinto is being auctioned because the owners don't know what to do with it.
Sam Houston gave it to Solomon Fisher, the 10-year-old son of his neighbor. The knife was passed from generation to generation of the Fisher family.In 1940, the Fisher family lent the knife to the San Jacinto Museum of History in La Porte, where it stayed until it went on display at the Bob Bullock Museum when it opened last year.
Today, there are four descendants of Solomon Fisher, some in the Houston area, some elsewhere.
A descendent who asked not to be identified because "a lot of people are upset about (the knife) being taken from Texas" said the family put it up for sale because they didn't know what to do with it.
The heirs knew they owned some items on display at the San Jacinto Museum, but they never thought much about them until they were contacted by curators two years ago.
The museum was cataloguing its collection and wanted to clarify the agreements it had with artifact owners, said museum President George Donnelly.
"We asked them, `What's your pleasure? Do you want to donate it to us? Do you want to keep it on loan? Do you want us to return it?' " Donnelly said.
The Fisher family couldn't decide.
"I think it was just too many of us to decide what to do with it," the woman said.
So they chose to sell it and let someone else worry about where it should go.
For what it's worth, the Fisher family member said she hopes "it comes back to Texas."