This is the travel diary of a young German businessman who came to Texas and worked for several years in Houston and the surrounding areas. His diary, originally published in German as Texanisches Tagebuch, gives a fascinating view of life in the Texas republic.

Born in Rheingau, Gustav Dresel (1818-1848) spent most of his adult life in Texas and the Gulf Coast states.

Max Freund (1879–1980) was a professor of German at the Rice Institute (now Rice University).

• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Voyage from Le Havre to New York, May 17-June 17, 1837
• Sojourn in New York, June 17-November 19, 1837
• Journey to Philadelphia and Washington on the Susquehanna, November, 1837-April, 1838
• Journey from Washington to Fort Madison, April-May, 1838
• Sojourn in Iowa Territory
• Voyage to New Orleans
• Voyage to Texas, July 12, 1838
• Voyage to Velasco, Galveston, and Houston, August, 1838
• Sojourn in Houston, August, 1838-January, 1839
• In New Orleans Again, January, 1839
• Trip to Natchez
• In Port Gibson
• Expedition from Mississippi through Louisiana, August, 1839
• In Texas Again
• Progress to Alabama Village and Visit with the Indians
• Sojourn in Montgomery County
• A Short Stay in Houston
• Renewed Sojourn in Montgomery County
• Wagon Train to Houston, November, 1839
• A Yuletide Excursion
• Life and Activities in Houston
• Falling Sick
• Back to New Orleans, November, 1840
• Voyage from New Orleans to Hamburg, June 21- August 12, 1841
• Postscript, January, 1847
• Appendix: The Dresel Family at the Time of Gustav Dresel's Death
• Notes
• Index