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Chapter 1 Early Houston A Magnet for Entrepreneurs in Business and Medicine “The pioneer physicians of Houston, long on the art of medicine and short on the science, not only battled disease but other vicissitudes of the times.” —Walter H. Moursund, MD, Dean, Baylor University College of Medicine, 1923–1953 Houston, Texas, was founded in August 1836 by two land speculators, brothers Augustus C. and John Kirby Allen. From the beginning, the city has attracted ambitious people, many of whom built successful businesses and accumulated great wealth. Along with a driving ambition , the Allen brothers also possessed a civic mindedness that inspired them to give back to the community and leave the city a better place for those who followed in their footsteps. This spirit of hard work, civic obligation, and generous giving can be found first in the men responsible for establishing the M. D. Anderson Foundation and later in those who led the way in creating what ultimately became the largest medical complex in the world, the Texas Medical Center. The very founding of Houston typified the spirit of entrepreneurship that would come to be associated with the city in later decades. Contrary to early advertising, however, Houston was hardly a garden spot and, with its location fifty miles inland from the Gulf of Mexico, not a place that seemed destined to be a major port of trade. It is reasonable, then, to ask what attracted 2 CHAPTER 1 so many hardworking, visionary people to Houston, and how did the largest medical center in the world come to be established here, in what one might have considered the most unlikely of places? The story of the M. D. Anderson Foundation and the development of the Texas Medical Center are unique in American history. In order to understand fully the significance of how the Texas Medical Center would be created and fostered in such a wild yet wonderful place, it is important to look briefly at the economic origins of the city, the growing concern for public health in the community, and the leadership role that the city’s physicians and businessmen have taken during the course of Houston’s history. Houston’s founders, the Allen brothers, demonstrated savvy marketing ability when they named their new town to honor Gen. Sam Houston, a hero of the Battle of San Jacinto, who would soon be elected president of the Republic of Texas. Using his name ensured immediate recognition that the brothers hoped would entice officials to locate the new seat of government in this fledging community. They immediately began to advertise their city as a pleasantly situated place of great potential for success and business opportunity. Just four months after Texans secured their independence at San Jacinto, an advertisement published in the Telegraph & Texas Register, August 30, 1836, and soon circulated throughout much of Europe, promoted this notion, boldly stating: “There is no place in Texas more healthy, having an abundance of excellent spring water, and enjoying the sea breeze in all its freshness.”1 The struggling town on Buffalo Bayou served as the capital of the Republic of Texas from 1836 to 1839 and quickly attracted its share of entrepreneurs and rapscallions, dreamers and visionaries, tradesmen and farmers, and all manner of folk looking for a fresh start in the new nation precariously positioned at the edge of both the US and Mexican frontiers. One key to the success of both the young frontier republic and its crude, temporary capital on Buffalo Bayou was the role of physicians who arrived with dreams and ambitions of their own. The grim reality of what all of these people found upon their arrival stood in stark contrast to the Telegraph & Texas Register advertisement, which promised a “handsome and beautifully elevated, salubrious and well watered” town site. Instead, new arrivals found the area to be flat, with dusty streets that turned quickly into a muddy quagmire after the frequent tropical [18.222.69.152] Project MUSE (2024-04-26 08:57 GMT) 3 EARLY HOUSTON rains. The conglomeration of shacks and cabins sprang up on land that was infested with mosquitoes, inhabited by alligators and snakes, and for a time nearly overrun by an overabundance of rats. Epidemics of disease and other health problems related to poor sanitation seemed at times to challenge the very survival of the community. But it was in this milieu that daring entrepreneurs found opportunity, dedicated physicians found a calling, and public health became one of the major and enduring...

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