Sam Recruiting, after the injunction of secrecy had been removed, 1855. Lithograph by Wilhelm C. A. Thielepape. Broadsides Collection, The Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin; CN 00694. In 1854 the American (Know-Nothing) party became active in Texas, and Houston adopted some of its tenets. The reference to secrecy in this cartoon alludes to Sam Houston's connection with the party, which was in many ways a secret society.