  The ghostly etchings of past eras, traced in the mysterious sands of Padre, are a lusty view for the hardiest. Here thrived humanity at its most intense pitch. Adventure, somehow, often seeks islands in which to ferment. Here were wars, savages dueling with royalty, romances of Indian princesses, pirates’ revenge, blood-soaked buried treasures, conquerors’ defeats, resting places of high-spirited explorers, refuges for thieves, scoundrels, and for idealists. Their secrets nap beneath the rhythmic shifting sands. Padre intruded into history in the 1500’s, when one of the earliest explorers, and certainly one of the earliest winter tourists, Alonso Olvarez de PiÑeda, set foot on its coast to open the door to the New World. Next in the parade of travellers was Cabeza de Vaca, who stepped ashore at the southern tip of the island. La Salle and De Soto also briefly touched Padre, and even Cortez (and Drake, in later history) explored the island on the way to conquest. Fierce Indians were first masters of the island. Relics of their primitive way of life have been retrieved and sent to museums throughout the country. Chief among the Indians were the terrible Karankawas, a cannibal tribe who ravaged the island at the turn of the nineteenth century. Jarring against the soft setting of aquamarine seas, white sands, and pink skies, they shot giant redfish with wildly decorated bows and arrows. They sliced their brown bodies deep into the seas, seeking food and, with glittering knives, often battling sharks. They shouted blood-tingling chants to the accompaniment of shell drums, flutes, and stone-filled gourds. To this pagan music, the painted and feathered “Kronks” danced into the whirl of three day orgies. The woeful tale of the “Flight of the Three Hundred,” to be dealt with in detail in the following chapter, reveals the plight of satin-clad cavaliers and ladies on Padre, who failed to conquer the challenge Pirate Jean Lafitte, hero of the War of 1812, and scoundrel of the seas, held court over his renegade colony of outlaws on Padre, and added more legend to the notorious past of Lady Padre. During his reign, he amassed a fortune by preying on Spanish treasure ships. Many a sea adventurer met his death on the shores of Padre because of the treachery and cunning of these devious shipwreckers. These scoundrels would set up lights on the island to confuse the seamen’s course and lure the ships into shallow waters nearby. The vessels would run aground or become wrecked, and the pirates would steal their cargo. Lafitte and his one thousand followers finally settled on Galveston Island. One day he sailed away with a handpicked crew and was never heard of again. It is said that many of the most solid, respectable family trees, just a stone’s throw from Padre Island, sprouted from the buccaneers left behind. One of the first white men to actually lay claim to the island was a Catholic priest, Padre NicolÁs Balli, who obtained sovereign right to it from the Spanish crown about 1800. He came to Padre to convert the Indians to Christianity. Father Balli then established a mission and ranch near the center of the island, calling his settlement “Rancho Santa Cruz.” In 1827, to substantiate Father Balli’s claim, the island was surveyed with braided rawhide cords. Padre Island became his namesake. Earlier the island had been called Isla Blanca (White Island), although the northern end was also called Isla de Corpus Christi, and the southern end San Carlos de las Malaguitas. The good Father, unfortunately, had little luck in converting the Indians. The last of the family to which Padre Balli belonged left the island in 1844. For three years the island remained deserted, until still another episode in its colorful history unfolded with the wrecking of the three-masted schooner of the illustrious Singer family, of sewing machine fame. Captain of the ship was John Singer, brother of the founder of the Singer Sewing Machine Company. John Singer then built a house, brought cattle from the mainland, and raised a family at Rancho Santa Cruz, the same site used earlier by Father Balli. It is interesting to note that here, on Padre Island, The United States flag appeared over the island when Captain Ben McCulloch of the Texas Rangers galloped down the interminable beach. Often in the course of history Padre’s sands have felt the footsteps of soldiers, for wars have figured generously in her past. Padre’s hard sandy beach road served perfectly for the movement of troops. General Zachary Taylor’s troops marched down the long slender isle and used it as a camping ground during the United States-Mexican War in 1846, as later did the Federal troops during the Civil War. General Sheridan blew apart the Singer Ranch on his way to give impetus to the French withdrawal from Mexico. As the Imperialists left Mexico, Carlotta’s faithful Belgians sought refuge here on the island. One of the most colorful figures to appear on the scene at Padre was the self-styled “Duke of Padre Island,” Patrick F. Dunn (Don Patricio, as his bronzed cowpokes called him). Beginning in 1879 he raised cattle on his leased, sprawling dunes and the sandy beach until well into the 1900’s. Out of valuable mahogany which floated ashore, he built his The southern part of the island was finally acquired through the doggedness of devoted Texan John L. Tompkins, who travelled throughout the United States securing titles from stockholders of a defunct corporation. Tompkins learned that title to the turbulent historical island had even changed hands in high-stake poker games. Like a shimmering mirror, Padre Island has reflected its own flamboyant growth, from savages and cavaliers, buccaneers and privateers, priests and soldiers, to a rapidly growing resort and recreational area. (uncaptioned)
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