THE BEGINNINGS OF THE TEXAS RAILROAD 
SYSTEM. 
ALEXANDER DEUSSEN, M. S.* 
I. THE NEED OF RAILROADS. 
Texas possesses very few natural facilities for transportation. Her 
rivers for the most part are unnavigable, and the soil of her black, 
waxy prairies renders wagon transportation in wet weather impossible. 
Isolated from her sister States, her most important need has ever 
been an adequate system of transportation — a system that not only 
makes possible communication between distant points within her own 
borders, but also affords an outlet for her products through St. Louis, 
Memphis and Chicago by land, and through Galveston and New Or- 
leans by sea. 
These considerations were apparent to the earliest settlers. It is, 
therefore, not surprising to learn that attempts were made as early 
as 1836 to. secure such railroad system. 
This paper purposes to give an account of the beginnings of this 
system. 
II. RAILROADS OF THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS, 
1. Texas Railroad , Navigation & Banking Company. 
The Republic of Texas was but a few days old when its first rail- 
road was chartered. This was in 1836, six years after the inaugura- 
tion of the first steam railroad in this country. The charter created 
the Texas Railroad, Navigation & Banking Company, and authorized 
the corporation to connect the important Gulf ports of Texas with 
the rivers by canals, and to construct railroads whenever demanded 
by the public wants. 1 The corporators were Branch T. Archer and 
James Collingsworth — historic names in the annals of Texas. 
These projects were never undertaken. The country was too much 
pre-occupied with civil conflicts ; it had little time to engage in works 
of internal improvement. The rights granted were soon forfeited, 
and the Texas Railroad, Navigation & Banking Company passed into 
history. 
"Instructor in Geology and Meteorology, University of Texas. 
