Treasures of the Storm
There's not much good that comes from a serious tropical storm. But if you're a beachcomber or treasure hunter, the days following a serious storm are the best days for finding treasures on the Texas beach...
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There's hardly anything good that can be said about major hurricanes that assail populated coastal areas. And Texas has had their share. In addition to the recent Hurricane Rita disaster, Hurricanes Carla, Allen, Beulah, Celia - and others - have wrecked havoc on Texas communities leaving death and destruction in their wake.
But storms are a fact of life. Whether it's a snow storm in Minnesota, a blizzard in Alaska, drought in the Midwest or thunderstorms in Texas, serious storms happen. We don't have to like them. We might stand in awe of the power of nature. But there seems to be little good that come from such destructive forces of nature. Unless you're a serious treasure hunter.
Weekend vacationers are discovering what professional treasure hunters have known for a long time, namely, serious tropical storms that lash the coastline are notorious for uncovering buried treasures.
Case in point: John Brandon of Florida , who has been hunting treasures since he was 16 years old, recently discovered buried treasure off the Florida coast that had been buried for centuries.
 "We found 12 pounds of gold bars," reports Brandon, who believes Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne may have shaken loose and lost Spanish treasure off Florida's coast.
On South Padre island, Texas, treasure hunter and historian Steve Hathcock says the days following a storm are the absolute best for walking the beach and looking for uncovered artifacts.
"There's no better time to look than after the weather has rearranged the dunes," Hathcock reports. Author of the book, "Behind the Third Dune", Steve has made some of his best discoveries after tropical storms.
"When high tides and elevated surf pound the beaches, it's not unusual for dunes to be rearranged, often revealing treasures long hidden in the sand, " he says.
While Hathcock hasn't discovered the "big cache" yet, he says he has found some valuable artifacts by searching the beach after a storm. Careful not to reveal his secrets, he reports just about any beach in Texas is a good place to look for treasure.
"Texas served under six flags and as such, treasure shipments of the French, Spanish, Mexican, Confederate and U.S. governments were common in Gulf waters. A lot of ships were sunk by weather and the remains of some of these are often uncovered by storms." he says.
There is, apparently, a lot of treasure to be discovered. In the past, entire Spanish ships have been uncovered on Padre Island (near Port Mansfield), and while dredging a cut through the barrier island a few years back, a construction crew uncovered Spanish gold coins, throwing them up on the beach as an automatic dredging machine dug deep into the channel.
Keep in mind that uncovered treasure in Texas is technically the property of the State. So be careful if you're planning a treasure hunt adventure on storm ravaged beaches. Get familiar with the laws and know your legal rights. Chances are your discovery will be limited to small coins, occasional artifacts from sunken ships and random treasures of unknown origin. But you never know if someday you'll be walking along the beach to discover the uncovered prow of a Spanish Galleon.
Happy hunting!
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