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Texas Detecting
KUCH
Posts: 1,186
Two weeks in January, I'll be near South Padre Island. Plan on doing detecting every day. Would welcome suggestions and/or comments.
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KUCH
Posts: 1,186
KUCH
Posts: 1,186
KUCH
Posts: 1,186
Comments
Have fun!
According to some documents from the Spanish Archives, Westerners first walked the shores of Padre Island around 1519 when Spanish Explorer Alonso Alvarez de Pineda surveyed the area as he charted the Gulf of Mexico for Spain . Padre Island first appears as a dot labeled ‘Isla Blanca' ( White Island ) on a map drawn by Pineda. In one of his letters, Pineda claimed that “giants inhabited the coast” and may have been referring to the mysterious Karankawa Indians, a supposedly cannibalistic Indian tribe that was known to mark its territory…and keep it. The Indians of the Archaic period are believed to have lived on the island from 2700 to 1000 B.C. and were followed by the Karankawan and Coahuiltecan peoples of the Rockport culture. Historical evidence and accounts of encounters between the Karankawans and South Texas cowboys and vaqueros (Mexican cowboys, the first cowboys) suggests that Indians roamed the area as late as 1850! However, at this time, most of the Indians were converted Christians from the nearby mission established by Padre Balli. Historians claim that when their end came, these Indians commited suicide on Padre Island. The tribe chose death istead of slavery and conversion. These warriors killed their feeble old men, women, and children, and buried them on the mainland. They they crossed back to the Island, burned their rafts, folded their arms proudly, and awaited their death by their conquerers.
Whatever the case, the native people of the island have been extinct since 1850 and the only remnants of their past are the few discarded arrowheads and pottery that occasionally spring up on the shoreline.
Earlier, in 1804, Padre Jose Nicolas Balli was given a land grant by the Mexican state of Tamaulipas and founded a settlement named “Rancho Santa Cruz” on Padre Island, about 26 miles north of its southernmost tip. He and his nephew, Juan Jose Balli, the mayordomo (foreman) established a ranching operation and were able to raise large herds of cattle, horses and mules on the island (note: the largest concentration of cattle in the US is, interestingly, on another island: Hawaii ).
South Padre Island is also one of the most legendary Islands in the world and there have been many tales of Spanish treasure, shipwrecks and hidden dinero on the Island . The most famous is an incident that happened here in 1554—a mere 60 years after Columbus discovered the New World . The story is referred locally as “The 1554 Shipwrecks” and is composed of all the ingredients that make up a superb thriller and adventure story.
It goes something like this:
In the mid-1500s, after several years of intense mining for silver and exotic minerals in the mountains of Mexico , Spain began to ship silver bullion back to its motherland across the ocean to help stabilize its weakening economy. At the time, Spain was suffering from several internal revolutions and conflicts. Intense exploitation in foreign lands helped alleviate some of the expenses. Heavy ships were loaded up at a port in Latin America and ferried across the ocean, often stopping in Florida to change ships, refresh provisions and prepare for the long journey to Spain .
In 1554, something happened.
Four ships, laden with hundreds of passengers, silver and metals mined from the mountains of Mexico , set sail from Vera Cruz to Spain —hoping to cash in on the riches of the New World .
But only one ship would make it.
Caught in a raging storm in the Gulf of Mexico , three of the four ships were driven helplessly West-ward, running aground on the merciless Texas coast ( Padre Island ). Over 300 passengers were able to make it ashore, but only two would survive an attack by cannibalistic Indians and eventually return to civilization to tell their bloody story.
Oh, yea, and over 10 million in silver lay at the bottom of the ocean and in the sand at Padre Island . To this day, local treasure hunters and beachcombers still find silver washed upon the shores. Two of the ships were accidentally discovered by a dredging crew in 1954, but the third still remains a mystery. Where is it and what does it contain? Spanish Archives still leave an open chapter in the history of the fleet of 1554.
During the American Civil War, and as the Northern Army moved South, many Confederate loyalists began to hide their valuable possessions in the sands of Padre Island . The “John Singer” family built a home of driftwood on the site of Balli's Rancho Santa Cruz in 1847, and when the Civil War engulfed the Island in 1861, the pro-Union Singers buried approximately $62,000 in coins and jewelry before escaping the area. At the end of the war, they returned to the burial spot, and found, to their surprise, that the shifting sands had concealed their hiding spot. The coins and jewelry still lie buried in an unmarked sand dune known as ‘Money Hill'. There are many stories about other buried treasures of gold and jewels that were being transported to Spain from Mexico, and the boats had been shipwrecked by storms at Padre Island.
Like I said, have fun and good luck!!
gene2393
To my knowledge not the south endof Padre--you'll have to look at a map. The south end from Mansfield cut to SPI is not National Seashore to my knowledge (I think it is private/public land). That said, I'm still not sure that detecting is legal in the area (I've heard that there are locals that can take people north of South Padre to the Mansfield Cut on a "charter"/"tour" basis). Although, I admit, there is very little public land anywhere in Texas. I do know that, on occasion, items of interest are still found in this area. Whether or not it is legal is beyond my knowledge--I have a detector but have never used it in this area. The coins in the Mansfield Cut I referenced were picked up from the surface, according to those in the know. Just like the ones that show up on the beach after hurricanes. A fascinating area to be sure.
Bill
My Original Song Written to my late wife-"Plus other original music by me"
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But isn't most or all of it off limits now? I believe the previous post is correct.
Edited: to add a little additional information. Also, just found a site about South Padre Island beach rules--and one rule was No Treasure Hunting--guess metal detecting would fall under that? Seems to be no prohibition about picking up stuff.
My Original Song Written to my late wife-"Plus other original music by me"
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8A11CC8CC6093D80
https://n1m.com/bobbysmith1