When Hermann Seele anived in New Braunfels in 1845 the raw colony was plagued by poverty disease lack of food and hostile Indians This personal record of the Germans in Texas shows their evolution from struggling colonists to prosperous citizens From his viewpoint of a hardworking yet imaginative pioneer Seele presents first a history of German immigration and settlement in Texas during the nineteenth century Next his autobiographical writings range from a sentimental recollection of his first Christmas Eve in Texas to his first day of teaching in New Braunfels from accounts of the popular singing society to murder and justice along the Comal River In addition Seele s romantic novel The Cypress is a delightful though improbable tale of a traveling botanist a chieftain s daughter and a savage Indian cult Hermann Seele farmer lawyer teacher lay preacher mayor state representative Civil War major and editor epitomizes the best of the German immigrants who established their communities as models of respectability and prosperity