{"product_id":"the-galveston-houston-packet-steamboats-on-buffalo-bayou-9781540221179","title":"The Galveston-Houston Packet: Steamboats on Buffalo Bayou","description":"Many imagine the settlement of the American West as signaled by the dust of the wagon train or the whistle of a locomotive. During the middle decades of the nineteenth century, though, the growth of Texas and points west centered on the seventy-mile water route between Galveston and Houston. This single vital link stood between the agricultural riches of the interior and the mercantile enterprises of the coast, with a round of operations that was as sophisticated and efficient as that of any large transport network today. At the same time, the packets on the overnight Houston-Galveston run earned a reputation as colorful as their Mississippi counterparts, complete with impromptu steamboat races, makeshift naval gunboats during the Civil War, professional gamblers and horrific accidents.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"History Press Library Editions","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50354361860370,"sku":"9781540221179","price":23.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_d0ea389b-67bb-4fee-aaab-470a37c496f1.jpg?v=1728294337","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-galveston-houston-packet-steamboats-on-buffalo-bayou-9781540221179","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}