During the early 1800s, the Tennessee River was the fastest way to travel and transport goods through the South, but the stretch between Tuscumbia Landing and Decatur was obstructed by shallow rapids and shoals, making overland hauling impractical and leaving rafts as the only option for moving goods. Tuscumbia also faced dangerous roads to the new landing, and the answer was the first railroad west of the Appalachian Mountains. The Tuscumbia Railway Company was formed in 1830 and built two miles of track from the town to the landing, using horse teams to pull cotton and other crops on steel-plated wooden rails. Before that line was even finished, delegates from several local towns met in Courtland on October 8, 1831, and created the Tuscumbia, Courtland, and Decatur Railroad Company to extend the railway to Decatur, bypass the shoals, and speed transportation for local farmers. Construction began the next year, reached Leighton in 1833, and reached Courtland in 1834, when the line's first steam locomotive, the Fulton, arrived after being built in England and delivered to Tuscumbia in June. It became the first locomotive west of the Appalachian Mountains and proved more efficient than horses, leading to the purchase of three more locomotives. The panic of 1837 forced the railroad into bankruptcy, but after reorganization in 1848 it was sold to David Deshler and renamed the Tennessee Valley Railroad Company. In 1849, the Governor of Tennessee came to North Alabama to announce plans to connect the Tennessee Valley, Georgia, and South Carolina railroads into a line running from Memphis, Tennessee, to Charleston, South Carolina. The Memphis and Charleston Railroad was established in January 1850, and when it officially purchased the Tennessee Valley Railroad in June 1851, the first railroad in Alabama came to an end.