the British came in first, their surveyors laid out all the roads on paper and created all the lots BEFORE the settlers were allowed in to settle on them.
"BEFORE the settlers were allowed in "
Are you kidding?
The government encouraged Pioneering , the government tried to manage claims , but there was hardly any throttle on the process.
Especially in the earlyer periods , management was spotty and enforcement was undependable. Untill 1850 the word was that there was no law west of the Pecos.
The Settlers of Texas were exceptional , they were advertised for and invited by the Mexican government "allowed in" as you say , but a few years later the Mexican Government attempted to impose good government on the Texicans who refused to be disarmed , final result , Davy Crocket is dead, Santa Anna has killed his brother in law, and the Republic of Texas is formed.
The terrible rigidity of government we presently enjoy has developed gradually , origionally our government was small , nimble and cost less than 2% of GDP. If we could get that back perhaps we could grow as rapidly as we did in those days , kinda like China is .
Alas we are useing the government for many more things than just governing now and it is much more a burden. It seems like a ratchet , it never shrinks , even when we elect a president with a mandate to reduce or even when another one proclaims "the era of big government is over"
