Gustav Dresel's Houston Journal

Born in Rheingau, Gustav Dresel (1818-1848) spent most of his adult life in Texas and the Gulf Coast states.Max Freund (1879–1980) was a professor of German at the Rice Institute (now Rice University).

• AcknowledgmentsIntroductionVoyage from Le Havre to New York, May 17-June 17, 1837Sojourn in New York, June 17-November 19, 1837Journey to Philadelphia and Washington on the Susquehanna, November, 1837-April, 1838Journey from Washington to Fort Madison, April-May, 1838Sojourn in Iowa TerritoryVoyage to New OrleansVoyage to Texas, July 12, 1838Voyage to Velasco, Galveston, and Houston, August, 1838Sojourn in Houston, August, 1838-January, 1839In New Orleans Again, January, 1839Trip to NatchezIn Port GibsonExpedition from Mississippi through Louisiana, August, 1839In Texas AgainProgress to Alabama Village and Visit with the IndiansSojourn in Montgomery CountyA Short Stay in HoustonRenewed Sojourn in Montgomery CountyWagon Train to Houston, November, 1839A Yuletide ExcursionLife and Activities in HoustonFalling SickBack to New Orleans, November, 1840Voyage from New Orleans to Hamburg, June 21- August 12, 1841Postscript, January, 1847Appendix: The Dresel Family at the Time of Gustav Dresel's DeathNotesIndex

The travel diary, published for the first time in English, of a young German businessman who spent a couple of years in and around Houston just after the establishment of the Texas Republic. His journal is so crowded with glimpses of camp meetings, street fights, drinking sprees, and wilderness jaunts that it seems unlikely that he did a lick of work. A valuable find. (New Yorker)