The Great Galveston Disaster / Containing a Full and Thrilling Account of the Most Appalling Calamity of Modern Times Including Vivid Descriptions of the Hurricane and Terrible Rush of Waters; Immense Destruction of Dwellings, Business Houses, Churches, and Loss of Thousands of Human Lives; Thrilling Tales of Heroic Deeds; Panic-Stricken Multitudes and Heart-Rending Scenes of Agony; Frantic Efforts to Escape a Horrible Fate; Separation of Loved Ones, etc., etc.; Narrow Escapes from the Jaws of Death; Terrible Sufferings of the Survivors; Vandals Plundering Bodies of the Dead; Wonderful Exhibitions of Popular Sympathy; Millions of Dollars Sent for the Relief of the Stricken Sufferers

by Paul Lester

RESTORATION OF GALVESTON.

An intelligent and well-posted citizen, writing to the leading journal of the city, expressed the following sentiments:

“The restoration of Galveston is a question which does not alone interest the people of the stricken city, but all Texas as well. The discussion now going on is not confined to Galveston, but is on the lips of every public-spirited citizen of the State. The preponderance of opinion among the people of the interior is that the city will be rebuilt or restored upon a scale of magnificence and stability far superior to anything it has ever known. There are some, however, who express the opinion that it would be worse than a waste of energy, enterprise and money to do so, for the reason that it is liable to be swept away at any time. This opinion is fallacious in the extreme.

“We are not prepared to give precise historical data in support of the assertion, but crossing the limits of the circle in which only exact information is contained, and invading the circle in which conclusions are only reached by a system of reasoning, it can be quite confidently asserted that the island of Galveston has been standing since the waters of the flood receded from the earth, and quite likely from the foundation of the world, and though it has been swept by a thousand storms, tossed by a thousand tidal waves and deluged a thousand times by rains, it still stands securely where the Almighty Creator placed it a million and perhaps a billion years ago.

“To successfully maintain the assertion that the island will be ultimately swept away, it is necessary, first, to prove the assertion that the storm, or tidal wave, that will do the work will be a thousand times more furious than any the world has heretofore known. Any attempt to support either proposition is absurd. It is admitted, however, that the assertion that the island has been standing since the flood, or is a part of the original creation, is a theory, and worth no more than any other theory started from a proper predicate, but Galveston island has been known for more than 400 years, and has a fairly well-authenticated history since 1542. In 1541 De Soto is said to have landed on the Texas coast near the island, established a base of operations and penetrated the interior as far as the present site of the town of San Marcos.

“After his death a part of his exploring force settled on Galveston island in 1542, and constructed some kind of fortifications to protect themselves from the Indians and Spanish pirates or freebooters. This was 358 years ago. This undisputed historical fact proves beyond question that the Spanish pirates and the American Indians were acquainted with the island before De Soto’s men established themselves. Just how long is not known, but a knowledge of the island strip may be contemporaneous with the existence of the aborigines of America that were here during the explorations of the Norsemen, who made several voyages in the ninth century, 1000 years ago. In 1585, while La Salle was cruising around in the Gulf of Mexico, he mentions having lost a man in the Maligu (Brazos) River, and it is therefore very probable that he touched at Galveston island.