07/23/2024
Recovery of the anchor from the San Esteban, one of the 1554 wrecks off Padre Island.
In 1554, four ships, the San Andres, San Esteban, Espiritu Santo, and Santa Maria de Yciar, set sail from Veracruz with that year's silver for the Castilian Empire of Spain. The ships were almost across the Gulf of Mexico when they were caught by a spring gale, which drove them west to the Texas Coast. Only the San Andres would arrive safely in Havana, Cuba. Three of the four ships were driven on the shoals near Padre Island and tragically wrecked.
The wrecks lay undiscovered for more than 400 years before they were discovered by Vida Lee Connor, who was flying overhead searching for reefs. She noted several shapes in the water, flew back to the area to mark them, and planned a dive to investigate. She later published her findings, then in 1967, a salvage company began recovering artifacts from the wreck of the Espiritu Santo. This work was challenged by the state, because the salvage company did not obtain the proper permits. This began a 17-year legal battle, the state ultimately retained the artifacts from Espiritu Santo. The salvaging of the artifacts exposed the need for stronger protections for cultural resources, in 1969 the Antiquities Code of Texas was enacted.
In the early 1970s, the San Esteban was excavated and more than 5,000 artifacts were recovered.
Image Credit: Corpus Christi Museum of Natural Science and History
