DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it — the early history of Galveston County, straight from the inscription, with a little road dust shaken in. Now, Galveston Island has never been the kind of place that sits quietly. For centuries it was a crossroad — Indians, privateers, Spanish and French explorers, all of them passing through, all of them leaving a mark.
But there came a moment when this barrier island off the Gulf Coast became something no one might've predicted: the capital of the Republic of Texas. It happened during the Texas War for Independence, when Santa Anna launched his 1836 invasion. On March 17 of that year, the hastily organized ad interim Cabinet of President David G.
Burnet evacuated Washington-on-the-Brazos in a hurry — the kind of hurry that doesn't leave time to look behind you. They moved first to Harrisburg, then in April they moved again, out to Galveston. And there they stayed, that cabinet, holding the government together by whatever thread they could find — until the Texas Victory at San Jacinto on April 21, 1836 changed the entire equation.
But even after the shooting stopped, Galveston kept right on carrying the Republic's weight. From January 1836 all the way until U.S. annexation in 1846, Galveston served as the naval base for the fleet that protected Texas shipping and worked to prevent any Mexican invasion coming in by way of the sea. That is a long stretch of years to stand as the last line of defense on the water.
And the Navy had its troubles. By September 1837, all four ships of the Texas Navy had been lost. Every single one.
For a republic trying to hold itself together, that is a particular kind of setback. It wasn't until April 1840 that the Navy was reorganized, this time under President M. B.
Lamar. A former U.S. Naval officer named Edwin W.
Moore was made commodore. Now here is where the story gets thorny. Moore found himself in a bitter controversy with President Sam Houston — and Houston, not one to let a dispute linger without action, ordered the Navy to be sold.
The sale was scheduled. The bidders showed up. And the people of Galveston showed up too.
Incensed is the word the marker uses, and that word is doing real work. The people of Galveston used forceful means to prevent bidding. Whatever that looked like on the docks that day, the auction did not go as Houston intended.
In the end, it didn't much matter. When annexation came, the ships that remained were all transferred to the U.S. Navy anyway.
Crossroad for centuries. Capital of a republic. Naval stronghold.
Galveston Island has never once been just a beach.
What the marker says
Galveston Island, for centuries a crossroad for Indians, privateers, Spanish and French explorers, for a time was capital of the Republic of Texas. This was during the Texas War for Independence, when Santa Anna was making his 1836 invasion. On March 17, the hastily organized ad interim Cabinet of President David G. Burnet evacuated Washington-on-the-Brazos, moving to Harrisburg, and then in April to Galveston. Here it remained until after the Texas Victory at San Jacinto on april 21, 1836. From January, 1836 until U. S. annexation in 1846, Galveston was the naval base for the fleet which protected shipping and sought to prevent Mexican invasion of Texas by way of the sea. By September, 1837, the four ships of the Texas Navy had all been lost. Not until April, 1840 was the Navy reorganized, under President M. B. Lamar. A former U. S. Naval officer, Edwin W. Moore, was made commodore. Afterward, when Moore became involved in a bitter controversy with President Sam Houston, Houston ordered the Navy to be sold. At the sale, the incensed people of Galveston used forceful means to prevent bidding. The ships at annexation were all transferred to the U. S. Navy.