Transpotation

During the 1850s, Texans continued to ride horseback or wagons pulled by mules or oxen. Sandbars and rafts made steamboat travel impossible on most Texas rivers. In eastern Texas, where there were large rivers, small boats could travel for about 100 miles upriver in spring or fall when rainfall made the water high enough. Other towns offered stagecoach for transportation. The Butterfield line also offered stagecoach service across northern Texas. Railroads started being built in the 1850s, but mainly for transporting products to ports and markets.