While you are right, that I did a poor job of phasing my question, it was not that I wanted to know if Texas had been a “slave state”, I knew it was. My question would have been better asked as: ‘Was Texas a major Cotton producer pre-Civil War?’ It was more about economy and employmet in Texas, than about slavery, per se. I just didn’t think that cotton was produced in great amounts in Texas before there was suitable transportation routes developed to get the cotton crops to market. Unlike the SE & SC areas that had easy river and ocean/Gulf access to shipping.
You did know that Texas is on the Gulf (Of Mexico) Coast?
"I just didn’t think that cotton was produced in great amounts in Texas before there was suitable transportation routes developed to get the cotton crops to market"
I don't have a direct answer for you, but indirectly, ask yourself: in the pre-Civil War era, what were large numbers of slaves used for? Was it not primarily for growing cotton? So if you see a state with large numbers of slaves, can you not presume that large amounts of cotton were being grown?
So, how many slaves did Texas have in 1860, relative to other southern states?
Answer: Texas percentages were comparable to Upper South states like North Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee.
In Lower South states of South Carolina and Mississippi, slaves outnumbered free citizens.
In the Lower South states of Louisiana, Georgia and Florida, the number of slaves equalled the number of free citizens.
In the Upper South states of North Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee, free outnumbered slaves by roughly two to one. Texas, even though geographically "Lower South" fell into this category.
Remember also, that in 1860, Texas was mostly unpopulated. It's free population then ranked behind such Lower South States as Alabama and Georgia, while already ahead of Mississippi, South Carolina and Florida.
For information on 1860 populations, check out this site.
For more information on Texas cotton, here is an interesting site.