In early Texas, overland travel was often marked by hardship, frustration, and danger, so many people turned to rivers as a possible solution. From 1829 to the Civil War, Texans tried to use the area's long, winding rivers for transportation but faced repeated disappointment. On the Colorado River, the greatest obstacle was "the raft," a series of timber masses, some floating and some sunken, that blocked the river about 10-25 miles above its mouth and stretched for 3-8 miles. Despite this obstruction, the keelboat "David Crockett" became the first boat to navigate the river in 1838. Afterward, flatboats carried cotton, hides, lumber, and pecans down to the raft, where the cargo had to be unloaded and hauled by wagon to Matagorda. The Republic of Texas incorporated two companies to clear the river, and the state authorized construction of a new channel around the raft, but the blockage remained a hazard and impediment. Although shallow-draft boats made occasional trips, the more efficient railroads eventually drew away much of the business, and after the Civil War Texas rivers ceased to be an important factor in transportation.