After a meeting, Ney was invited to sculpt portrait statues of Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin for the exhibit, though the commission had no funds to pay the artist for her work.

[3]: 88  After the conclusion of the Exposition, Ney and the women's commission intended to cut editions of the Houston and Austin statues in marble for permanent display in the Texas State Capitol,[1]: 141–142  but it took years to secure the necessary funding.

[4][3]: 93  An additional copy of each statue was cut for submission to the National Statuary Hall Collection and unveiled in the United States Capitol in 1905.

Houston is portrayed as a young pioneer, dressed in fringed buckskins and calf-length boots, with a Native American sarape thrown over his left shoulder.

In composing the piece, Ney borrowed Houston's actual saber from his daughter, Maggie Williams, and rendered the weapon in authentic detail.