In the language of immigration, a gateway is the place where an immigrant first enters or settles in a new land. Texas has long boasted some of the top gateway cities for newcomers to our nation, although the names and modes of travel have changed over time. Today, for example, the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex stands out as one of the nation’s preeminent “emerging” gateways for intercontinental air travel and settlement in the nation. When Texas first joined the United States, over 150 years ago, Galveston was the fastest growing city, and the latest immigrant gateway to the nation—emerging as one of the top ten immigrant ports of entry for transoceanic travel by the end of the 1800s.