A thumb-nail history of the city of Houston, Texas, from its founding in 1836 to the year 1912 Page: 8

8 A THUMB-NAIL HISTORY OF
showed up just at the critical moment and burned
Harrisburg. Before the Harrises could recover
from the blow, and while their town still lay in
ashes, the Aliens acted and not only had their town
laid out, but were actively engaged in selling town
lots to settlers. Not much progress was made during
the first year, however, and there was not much
of a city in evidence and scarcely more to indicate
where that city was to be, for Governor Frank
Lubbock, in his memoirs, gives an amusing description
of his search for the town, even after he had
reached and passed the foot of Main street. He
came to Houston on the first steamboat that ever
arrived here and it took four days to make the trip
from Harrisburg to Houston. That being the pioneer
trip an immense amount of work had to be
done to clear the stream of sunken logs and overhanging
trees. There was plenty of water, but
there were numerous obstructions in and over the
channel. After that first boat there was little or no
delay and before long there were other boats that
came to Houston, and in a year or two there was a
regular service established between Houston and
Galveston.
The question of transportation was one of the
most serious with which the early settlers had to
contend. Transportation by land was not only difficult,
but actually dangerous, for there were hostile
Indians and predatory bands of Mexicans ever
on the watch for unwary settlers. There were no
roads, ordinary trails being the only guides for the