NORTH AMERICA, PARTICULARLY TEXAS IN THE YEAR 1849: A TRAVEL ACCOUNT. A BOOK FOR EMIGRANTS, ESPECIALLY FOR PERSONS ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT EMIGRATION.
Dallas: DeGolyer Library & William P. Clements Center for Southwest Studies,1999. xiv,206pp. Index. Notes. Illustrations. Translated from the German by Gilbert J. Jordan. Edited by Terry G. Jordan-Bychkov. Decorative paper over boards with black cloth spine. First edition in English, limited to 500 copies (only four copies of the 1850 original are known to exist). Fine copy (no dust jacket issued). A German traveler’s journal of his visit to Texas, Steinert comments on health, way of life, housing, food, farms, crafts, trade, markets, transportation, hunting, plant and animal life, rivers, weather, and many other matters. As a reformer, he concerned himself with matters of government, public honesty, newspapers, churches, and the slavery problem. While he did not enter Texas with a negative view, he gradually became disillusioned. Eventually, he concluded that emigration to Texas, or anywhere else in North America, was ill-advised. In this respect, he differs from most German writers of the period who had only glowing views of Texas and its opportunities.