Padre Island National Seashore, Corpus Christi, TX. Official Facebook page for Malaquite Beach & Padre Island National Seashore. We have camping, fishing, boating, windsurfing, beach fun. Upper Padre Island is located just east of Corpus Christi, three hours from Houston and two hours from San Antonio, along the coastal bend of Texas. The beaches of North Padre are situated facing the Gulf of Mexico, along the barrier islands that extend from north of Corpus Christi to the Padre Island National seashore to the south.

The following is a reprint of the text from a Corpus-Christi Caller-Times article from the early 1960s that is held in the Padre Island National Seashore archives. Photos of the article, along with accompanying photos and their captions, may be seen in the archives photo gallery.

Legends Grow from Padre Hull

• The 1554 wrecks on Padre Island are the oldest shipwrecks ever found in the US. The Texas Antiquities Committee conducted scientific excavation and recovery of the San Esteban in 1972 and recovered more than 25,000 pounds of encrusted artifacts.
• Padre Island National Seashore Save that cash and buy your honey a bouquet of flowers, this camping area is free of charge! The North Beach Campground runs along the northernmost part of the National Seashore, along the Gulf of Mexico.
• Padre Island National Seashore, Corpus Christi: Address, Phone Number, Padre Island National Seashore Reviews: 4.5/5.

By Jack Baughman

Growth of a legend is slow, and it took nearly 50 years for the old steamer “Nicaragua” to change from the very prosaic lumber carrier that she was when wrecked on Padre Island to a treasure ship and gun runner for Mexican revolutionists, a part she never played, despite popular tales to the contrary.

The slim, white ship was built in 1891 in Bergen, Norway, and her plans show that she was 190 feet overall. Lloyd’s of London [illegible] at 611 gross tons.

Carrying cotton and miscellaneous cargo, she left Tampico bound for Port Arthur. Five days later, on Oct. 16, 1912, during a great storm that sank vessels all over the Gulf of Mexico, the “Nicaragua” went down on the shores of Padre Island, in that section of the coast known as the Devil’s Elbow.

It was 10 days before her fate was known. Then on Oct. 22, members of the crew turned up in Port Aransas in a small boat and were rescued by crew members from the U.S. Coast Guard Life Boat Station.

According to the captain’s story, the “Nicaragua” was due east of Padre when hit by the hurricane raging over the Gulf. In the fury of the storm a strained rudder chain broke, and the ship, at the mercy of the storm, drove aground in the breakers.

Capt. Eschevarria and nine crew members took one of the ship’s boats and headed northward, tossing on the turbulent [illegible] for five days before they were spotted by the coast guard. Twelve other men, said Eschevarria, had headed south in two other boats, hoping they could reach a Texas port.

Before Eschevarria and his crew were rescued, the U.S. Revenue Cutter “Windom” had left Galveston at the request of the Mexican owners, to search for the “Nicaragua”. It was hope that the “Windom” would find the remaining 12 crewmen, but on return, Lt. Carnes, its commander, said that no trace of them had been seen. Download handshaker for mac.

They were believed lost, but on Oct. 29, footsore, weary, but well, six of them arrived at the Port Isabel life boat station, after having footed it 54 miles along Padre. They said that no one had left the “Nicaragua” after Eschevarria, but had stayed on board until they could reach shore, and then started to walk down the coast. Four more were on their way down Padre, and two had been left at the wreck, too ill to be moved.

Two are Rescued

A week later, men from the Port Aransas station, under Capt. Ed White, accompanied by Dr. J. A. Orr, made the long, rough trip down the Gulf and took the two sick men, a Spaniard and a Mexican, aboard without any trouble.

But their good luck didn’t hold. After they had proceeded only a few miles toward Port Aransas, the Gulf became too rough for their 30-foot power boat, on which 11 men were crowded--including the two sick ones.

Capt. White ordered the anchor put over, and five men took the surf boat they were towing and went ashore on Padre, where they contrived rough shelters out of driftwood. The others stayed aboard, and for two days and nights were drenched with spray from the breaking waves. Huge breakers tossed the craft so badly that it was impossible to cook, and the men aboard went without food, shivering with cold, as the spindrift sheeted over the decks.

Then the storm broke; they were rejoined by the five men who had been ashore, and proceeded to Port Aransas. Their errand of mercy kept them four days and nights at sea.

Various efforts were made to salvage the “Nicaragua,” none of them successful. Finally she was abandoned to the sea and the legend makers, who evolved the story that she had been a gun runner and treasure ship for Villa’s revolutionists.

A newspaper man who saw her 10 years after she was wrecked said:

“Her bow was headed northward, and from the storm-swept bridge deck you felt as though she had just plowed through the breakers, and was about to part the sea oats at high-tide mark and sail off into the shimmering mirages of the dancing and ever-shifting sand dunes.

“Her stern sloped off into the water, as her bow rose abruptly from the sandy beach. A rope ladder still dangled over her side…The deck cleaned and weathered by 10 years of sun, was tilted; and what was left of the superstructure gave you the impression of a ship starting a climb after wallowing through the trough of a wave.

“A galley door still swung protestingly on rusty hinges as the steady Gulf breeze swept through the ruined cabins. In the main salon the molding that had trimmed the doors and adorned the ceiling had long since sprung loose from the nails and hung at grotesque angles, like long fingers pointing at you.”

First at Beaumont

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Far different did she look from the day in October, 1908, when the “Nicaragua” was the first ship into the new port of Beaumont!

About 1933, when the Texas Highway Department surveyed Padre Island, only a little of the hull had survived the Gulf storms of 20 years.

Today, only a few rusty ribs, awash at low tide, remain along with the old engine, which the plans say was triple compound, with three cylinders.

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Barnacles mark the high tide line on the rusty mass of iron, and sea lettuce paints its salty sides a brilliant green.

Free no deposit casinos usa. There it wastes slowly away as the waves wash around it, fit companion for the galleons of Spain, French brigs, pirate ships and the schooners of a later day that litter the sea floor in the region, or are covered and uncovered by the shifting dunes of the island.

Sources: Letters from numerous Southwestern and Mexican libraries; Lloyd’s of London; U.S. Coast Guard; Mrs. W.C. Tyrell, widow of “Nicaragua’s” owner; and Beaumont Enterprise files.

THE STORM

In April of 1554, four Spanish naos (a type of cargo and passenger ship similar to Columbus's Santa Maria) left Veracruz, Mexico bound for Havana, Cuba and then Spain. A Spanish priest named Juan Ferrer was one of the passengers and before the ships set sail, he had a prophecy that the ships would meet with disaster. Many of the other passengers were merchants and nobles that were returning to Spain with their families. Records indicate that the ships were carrying more than 85,000 pounds of silver coins stored in wooded barrels.

The ships almost made it to Havana before they were hit by a powerful storm. Only one of the four limped into the harbor at Havana. The other three were blown all the way back across the Gulf of Mexico and on to the beach at Padre Island. About half of the three hundred people on board the San Esteban, Espritu Santo, and Santa Maria de Yciar survived and made it to shore. The survivors included many women and small children.

DESPERATION

The crew had managed to salvage a small boat from one of the ships and about 30 of them set off towards Mexico for help. After six or seven days, when no help arrived, the remaining survivors decided to walk to Tampico. They believed that it was only a two or three day walk but it was actually almost 400 miles. Family games online.

The survivors dragged their way down the beach, many were sick and injured, they were short of food and water. After several days, they were approached by a large group of Karankawa Indians. The Indians seemed friendly at first, offering food and water, but suddenly they attacked. The Spaniards were poorly armed, but they managed to fight off the attack as they struggled to escape down the length of Padre Island.

For days, the Indians pursued the survivors, picking off stragglers, one by one with their bows and arrows. The Spaniards finally made it to the Rio Grande. It was too deep to wade, so they built crude rafts out of driftwood. The rafts were unstable and during the crossing, they lost all of their crossbows.

Soon after, the Indians captured two of the Spaniards but set them free after taking their clothes. The desperate survivors thought that maybe the Indians would leave them alone if they gave them their clothing, so they stripped naked and continued their march. The women were so embarrassed by their nakedness, that the priest told them and the children to walk ahead of the men. This proved to be a mistake when the Karankawa circled around and ambushed them, killing them all. The distraught men carried on for several more days but eventually all but two had been killed.

ONLY TWO SURVIVORS

One of the survivors was named Francisco Vazquez. Early on in the pursuit he had slipped away from the group and made his way back to the site of the wrecks, where he hid in the dunes until he was rescued by a Spanish ship.

The other survivor was a priest named Marcos de Mena. During one of the final attacks, he was struck by multiple arrows and fell down prepared to die. The Indians moved on and after awhile, the priest revived and eventually made his way to the village of Pánuco. It is from Fray Marcos de Mena that we have a written account of what happened to the survivors. Flaming 7s slots free.

Padre Island National Seashore Tides

HISTORIC RECOVERY ATTEMPT

Upon learning of the disaster, Spanish officials in Mexico organized a salvage expedition which arrived at the scene several months later. The San Esteban was still visible above the waves. They set up camp on the beach and for two months, free-diving salvage workers brought up load after load of silver reales. It is estimated that they recovered 40% of the treasure, the remaining 60% was lost to the Island.

REDISCOVERY

The location of these historic ships had been lost to time until one of them was discovered during the dredging of the Port Mansfield channel in the late 1950's. The dredge passed right over the Santa Maria de Yciar, destroying it. Only a few relics from this wreck have ever been recovered, including one of the anchors. Word spread quickly of the find and treasure hunter's soon found the Espritu Santo about 3 miles further north and the San Esteban another 2½ miles north of that.

In 1967, a professional salvage company (Platoro, Ltd.), began excavation of the Espiritu Santo. The State of Texas quickly shut down the operation and sued Platoro for recovery of the artifacts. The case remained in litigation until 1984, when a settlement was reached, awarding the salvage firm $313,000 while Texas kept the artifacts.

The 1554 wrecks on Padre Island are the oldest shipwrecks ever found in the US. The Texas Antiquities Committee conducted scientific excavation and recovery of the San Esteban in 1972 and recovered more than 25,000 pounds of encrusted artifacts. Today, this historic collection from the San Esteban can be seen at the Corpus Christi Museum of Science & History.

Over the years, many people have found old spanish coins washed up on the beaches of Padre Island. However, it is illegal to keep them and the use of metal detectors on Padre Island National Seashore is prohibitied.