Clear Lake: The Texas Caribbean Page: 3 of 8
This text is part of the collection entitled: Randy Mallory Papers and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the UNT Libraries Special Collections.
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In the early 1800s, pirate Jean Lafitte patrolled the lake and, legend has it, buried
plunder along the north shore. Early American settlers came to Clear Lake with
Stephen F. Austin's original 300 Texas-bound colonists.
In 1830 settler Ritson Morris built a home near the mouth of Clear Lake. When
Texas revolutionaries triumphed at the Battle of San Jacinto a few miles away, they
brought the defeated Mexican general to Morris' home for the night. Next morning,
Morris' cook Savannah prepared breakfast in the company of her pet parrot who had a
habit of screaming her owner's name. When the bird belted out "Savannah," the
stunned prisoner paled at what sounded like his own name: Santa Anna.
The railroad came in the mid-1800s, but sailing ships continued to haul most
cargo and passengers for decades to come. Early on, ships docked at Clear Creek, as
locals called the area, because water stood deeper and more protected than in Galveston
Bay. Families built rooftop platforms called "widow's walks" on shoreline homes. From
such a promontory a wife could spot her husband's arriving boat and send a buggy to
pick him up at the dock.
By century's end, developers like James Webster, John C. League, and Seabrook
Sydnor built thriving communities that still bear their names (Webster, League City,
and Seabrook).
The 1900 hurricane which all but destroyed Galveston also raked across Clear
Lake, yet the area rebuilt as an agricultural and fishing center. In 1903 a former
member of the Japanese Diet, Seito Saibara, came to advise local farmers about rice
growing. He found the area so suitable that he and son Kiyoaki leased land at Clear
Lake and grew rice seeds that helped spawn Texas' rice industry.
Outside the Bay Area Museum saunter down grassy slopes to the wide stretch of
Armand Bayou known as Mud Lake. Year-round (especially early mornings on
weekends), enthusiasts of the Bay Area Rowing Club ply the calm waters from inside
sleek racing sculleys.
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Mallory, Randy. Clear Lake: The Texas Caribbean, text, 1995-06~; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1923993/m1/3/?q=%22Business%2C+Economics+and+Finance+-+Transportation+-+Boats%22: accessed July 10, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.