DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna do it justice. Friday afternoon, May 15, 1896. The week's nearly done, the day's winding down — and then the sky over Sherman, Texas, has other plans.
In the late afternoon hours, a tornado drops out of the heavens and touches down right near where that marker stands. From that spot, it cuts a two-mile-long path straight through the city. Two miles.
That's not a glancing blow. That's a tornado that came to Sherman with a purpose. About sixty-six people were killed.
Many more were injured. The property damage was severe. And if that weren't enough, the same funnel — that same churning monster — struck at other locations in the area.
So did several smaller ones. The storm wasn't content with one pass. Sherman got hit, and hit again.
Most of the victims were buried in that very cemetery where the marker stands today, which means every time someone walks those grounds, they're walking among the people who lived through the late afternoon of May 15th — and didn't make it to the evening. Now here's the thing about Sherman, and about Texas: when it was over, the citizens of Sherman and the neighboring towns didn't just stand in the rubble. They helped with the rebuilding.
Relief contributions came in from many distant places. Strangers sending what they could to a city they'd never seen, because a two-mile scar through it was enough to break your heart from anywhere. The Great Sherman Storm of 1896.
Sixty-six souls. Two miles. And a town that didn't stay down.
What the marker says
In the late afternoon of Friday, May 15, 1896, a disastrous tornado swept Sherman, killing about 66 persons, injuring many others, and causing severe property damage. The twister touched down near here, then cut a 2-mile-long path through the city. The same funnel and several smaller ones struck at other locations in the area. Most of the storm's victims were buried in this cemetery. After the tragedy, citizens of Sherman and neighboring towns helped with the rebuilding, and relief contributions were sent from many distant places.