Transportation

In the 1850's most Texans traveled by horseback or in wagons pulled by horses, mules, or oxen. People who raised cattle rode horses while they worked. Sandbars and rafts (floating masses of natural debris) made steamboat travel impossible on most Texas rivers. The exception was the Rio Grande where Richard Kind and Mifflin Kennedy established regular shipping during the war with Mexico. They continued to operate this until they made the King Ranch in South Texas. Many towns had stagecoaches which carried, a few passengers, some freight, and mail. In the 1850's railroad construction began. These railroads mainly transported products to the ports and the market.