Bonus Texas quote of the day --- an 1839 description of Houston. It's rather gruesome. Again, spelling and odd capitalization preserved:
"The fleas were as thick as the sands of the sea. Our clothes were actually bloody, and our bodies freckled after a night of warfare with the Vermine [sic]. I cannot convey an idea of the multitude of Rats in Houston at that time [1839]. They were almost as large as Prairie Dogs and when night came on, the streets and Houses were literally alive with these animals. Such running and squealing through the night, to say nothing of the fear of losing a toe or a nose, if you chanced to fall asleep, created such an apprehension that together with the attention that had to be given our other Companions made sleep well nigh impossible."
----- C.C. Cox, quoted in the Southwestern Historical Quarterly, 1902