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Our interest was piqued on the drive down before we even reached our destination of Port Isabel in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV). The drive was a rather long one since we had to backtrack across the north end of the Laguna Madre, and cut through southern Corpus Christi before heading southwest through ranching country. We drove for hours with huge ranches lining both sides of the road.

One of them, the King Ranch, is the largest ranch in the U.S. (it is larger than the state of Rhode Island). Many of the ranches have diversified from cattle and horses to oil and natural gas development and some have become “Hunting Ranches.” Meaning they stock large, exotic, wild game from places like Africa and India and charge hunters a fee for shooting them.

This exotic hunting can be extremely profitable as the trophy fee can be as much as $40,000! We were looking for Javelinas and Armadillos instead we saw delicate Impalas and large, slope-shouldered Nilgai. (Also called Blue Bulls, they can reach 600 pounds!) According to government regulations, 10% of the fee is supposed to be given to the animal’s home country to help pay for habitat conservation (like a scholarship program for animals). It would be interesting to know if that actually happens.

It sounds like a win-win-win; rancher gets money, hunter gets trophy, habitat gets protected except for one nagging little factor; the fence. Many of these exotics are on land fenced with the western standard of four strands of barbed wire that’s roughly 4’ tall. While those fences capably hold in domestic cattle these introduced wild animals aren’t phased by them. There are now wild populations of Nilgai roaming across Texas and Alabama. What effect do they have on the environment and the native animal populations? I can only imagine them as disruptive and potentially damaging. New and thought provoking concepts and we aren’t even there yet! I love these kind of trips.

Port Isabel, population 5,000, may be small but it is mighty interesting. Many people drive through without even stopping on their way to Texas’s most popular beach resort destination, South Padre Island (SPI). Joined by the Queen Isabella Causeway (the longest in Texas at 2.37 miles) the towns are roughly the same size and that is where the similarities end. SPI is entirely devoted to the tourism trade, Port Isabel is still mostly a shrimping and fishing village. SPI has towering, modern complexes, Port Isabel has historic two story Spanish Colonial-style buildings. SPI was developed in the late 1950s, Port Isabel was first settled in the 1770s. Now you can see why we opted to stay in Port Isabel and sally forth from there.

Port Isabel was originally inhabited by the Coahuiltecan Indians, a name given to various small hunter-gatherer tribes of the area. The first Spanish reached the area in the 1590s and started fishing the abundant waters of the Laguna Madre by the 1770s. In the 1820s El Fronton de Santa Ysabel (Bluff of Saint Isabel) was established by Mexican settlers. The village grew into a busy port by the 1840s which is why General Zachary Taylor commandeered it in March of 1846.

Taylor and his men were stationed in nearby Brownsville but needed an easy way to get supplies. He established Fort Polk at Santa Ysabel as a supply depot for the Mexican-American War, known in Mexico as the “North American Intervention.” Taylor’s military prowess helped him become the 12th president in 1848, an office he held for only 16 months before his death in 1850. His election is notable in that he was the first U.S. president elected without ever holding any other political office.

Santa Ysabel, now officially part of the U.S., was still an important port and in 1853 an 88’ tall lighthouse opened to guide ships into harbor. The light was equipped with a 3rd order Fresnel lens that carried a beam 16 miles out to sea. The light was even able to guide ships on the nearby Rio Grande. The light was in use until 1905 except for five years during the Civil War when the light was extinguished by the Confederates in a failed effort to stymie Union ships. Fully restored, the lighthouse is the only one on the Gulf coast open to the public. As a Texas State Historic park the lighthouse is the smallest park in the Texas system.

The town underwent several name changes through the years before developers settled on Port Isabel in 1928 because they thought it would entice investment. The Port Isabel Yacht Club was the first to attract tourists when it opened in 1929. Originally a private club it was far enough away and small enough to operate outside the law during Prohibition. It was host to Al Capone, Amelia Earhart, Charles Lindberg, Lady Bird Johnson as well as Presidents Harding and Eisenhower through the years. Unfortunately for the developers, Port Isabel was soon overlooked in favor of the nearby white sand beaches of SPI.

SPI exploded as a resort town after the Causeway opened. Now the area is known as the prime Spring Break destination for college students throughout the U.S. We carefully timed our visit to the area in order to avoid the mayhem. The island is also home to some of the best U.S. surfing waves east of the Pacific. The day we visited was cool and rainy so the beaches and waves were empty but it was still beautiful. We ducked into the Padre Island Brewing Company to warm up. The micro-brew was tasty and the food wasn’t bad either, overall it was an enjoyable pit stop.

The stormy weather had deposited hundreds of Portuguese Man O’ Wars on the beach. Deceptively attractive these blue creatures really pack a punch. From what I’ve read the sting of a jellyfish or sea urchin (which I’ve had the dubious pleasure of experiencing and don’t recommend) is minor compared to the intense pain caused by Man O’ Wars. They have small venom-filled structures that can sting long after the creature is dead. “Blue Bubbles” as they are called, are not jellyfish, though they do resemble them. Man O’ Wars are actually a colony of four different animals, each doing a specific job. And I thought lichen was complex and unusual!

SPI has one other very alluring commodity; treasure or at least rumors of it. It all began in April of 1554. Four heavily loaded Spanish ships were returning to Spain with cargo valued at over $9.8 million (in 1975 values). Of course, there was a lot of gold and silver but the next most valuable cargo wasn’t metal, it was dead insects. Cochineal to be exact. The tiny scale insects grow on prickly pear pads native to the Southwest and Mexico. When dried and crushed the bugs produce a brilliant red dye previously unknown in Europe. The color was highly desired and Spain was in the envious position of controlling the only known supply (until 1720 when a French spy stole a pad infested with the insect). Obviously, it was a money maker for the crown.

Three of the four ships, San Esteban, Santa Maria de Yciar and Espiritu Santo, were run aground and destroyed by a fierce storm. The fourth ship, San Andres, limped into a Spanish port further east. Spain was devastated by the loss. It seems that Charles V (Ferdinand and Isabel’s grandson who inherited the throne at the ripe old age of 15) was a war-mongering, power hungry young man. His constant warring and extravagant expenditures put the empire on the brink of bankruptcy despite the incredible wealth coming out of New Spain.

So, Spain immediately organized a salvage trip to the southern end of Padre Island to recover what they could. It is estimated that Spain salvaged about half of the precious metals and that the cochineal and other biodegradable goods were lost to the pounding waves.

Settlers along the Gulf Coast often chanced upon old coins and other bits of treasure in the sand but it wasn’t until the 1960s that the three ships were discovered. The wrecks were excavated by archaeologists and we toured a large exhibit of artifacts from San Esteban at the Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History a few weeks ago. It is known that other ships met a similar fate in the Gulf waters near SPI but little is known about them. I think it would be amazing to find a piece of one of these old wrecks. I didn’t but I was able to see some reales (old Spanish coins) at the Treasures of the Gulf Museum in Port Isabel which is devoted to telling the story of the 1554 wrecks.

As we rode the free Wave Shuttle back over the Causeway we couldn’t help but think about the September 2001 disaster that killed eight people there. A barge on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, which runs under the bridge, rammed into one of the support columns. Over 200’ of road collapsed and at least five cars plunged 85’ into the water below. Amazingly, three people survived the fall! The Causeway also has Pelican warning signs and closes at times of high Pelican levels. Apparently the birds take over the bridge and it becomes too dangerous to cross. We didn’t witness this but it would have been interesting.

Our RV Park was small but located right on one of the many canals built during the 1920s development boom. The park even had a small dock where we watched birds (pelicans and herons mostly), hermit crabs and small fish. If we fished or had a boat Port Isabel would be a perfect place to spend the winter. Many of our neighbors were Winter Texans from colder climes who had been coming to Port Isabel for over 20 years. In some ways I don’t think much has changed over the years and that was fine with us. What a nice way to spend our last week along the Gulf Coast.

Photos: View our photos from Port Isabel, Texas.

Notes: We stayed on Port Isabel from 02/04/2007 to 02/11/2007.