In 1836, when ad interim President David G. Burnet chose Columbia as the capital for the first elected Congress of the Republic of Texas, the town had about 3,000 people. Local businessmen promised accommodations for the government, and Mary Austin Holley wrote that Columbia had only a few public and private buildings, including structures from its time as a seat of the courts and a new, spacious hotel kept by Bell. Francis Lubbock, who had come from New Orleans, took pride in Columbia's name and recalled that lodging was so scarce he ate with tavern-keepers Fitchett and Gill and slept under a live oak tree, as many others did, while also praising the live oaks, forest trees, and abundant game near the town. The selection of Columbia as capital did not please everyone, because citizens were expected to provide the promised accommodations without rent from the government. Josiah Bell believed it interfered with raising his red hogs, some residents objected to the "riff raff" who had come to town, and others withdrew accommodations they had promised, helping create the shortage that led to the capital's removal.