Beginnings
As a young man Samuel W. Allen (no relation to the Allen Brothers who founded Houston) came to the newly established Republic of Texas in 1842 in search of opportunity. He arrived at the young town of Harrisburg (modern east Houston) and soon after married into the Thomas family which had come to Texas as part of Stephen F. Austin's original colony. Using land from the Thomas grant which was located along the Buffalo Bayou between Harrisburg and Galveston Bay (what is now Pasadena) Sam Allen launched a cattle ranch in 1844. His cattle range extended much father down the shoreline of the bay.
Like many ranchers in Texas, Allen began his herd by gathering Longhorn cattle, descended from Spanish cattle brought to the New World, which ran wild throughout Texas. Allen's herd grew rapidly such that by the 1860s had gained exclusive shipping rights for cattle to New Orleans and Cuba from the Morgan Lines, Texas first steamship company which was later to become a major factor in establishing Houston as an important Texas port and railroad shipping center.
Read more about this topic: Allen Ranch
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