Antiquities at Padre Island

1. Antiquities at Padre Island The island has a long, rich history stretching back to the first native Americans on the Gulf coast around 5,000 years ago. These were followed by the Spanish, who explored the area for nearly three centuries, and finally by Anglo-American colonists. During its history, the island has seen probably hundreds of shipwrecks and untold thousands of settlers and military forces treading its shores and grasslands. Because of these factors, the island has a great potential for archeological discovery.

2. After a generation-long effort, on June 8, 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt signed the Antiquities Act into law, thus establishing the first general legal protection of cultural and natural resources in the United States. The Act set important precedents, including the assertion of a broad public interest in archeology on public lands, as well as support for the care and management of archeological sites, collections, and information. The act linked the protection of sites and their appropriate, scientific excavation with public programs to care for and provide public interpretation of artifact collections and information from the study of a site and its contents.

3. The Act grew out of concerns that developed over the course of the last quarter of the 19th century for the preservation of America’s archeological sites and the artifacts and information that they contained. National and regional educators and scientists, including those involved in the developing profession of archeology, joined together in a movement to safeguard sites on public lands being endangered by haphazard digging and purposeful, commercial artifact looting.

4. The Antiquities Act was the first law to establish that archeological sites on public lands are important public resources. It obligates federal agencies that manage the public lands to preserve for present and future generations the historic, scientific, commemorative, and cultural values of the archaeological and historic sites and structures on these lands. It also authorizes the President to protect landmarks, structures, and objects of historic or scientific interest by designating them as National Monuments.

5. The principle of protecting archeological resources was incorporated into the National Park Service’s founding legislation, which was written in 1916 and which is called “The Organic Act”. Sixteenth century Spanish coin.

6. “The service thus established shall promote and regulate the use of the Federal areas known as national parks, monuments, and reservations hereinafter specified by such means and measures as conform to the fundamental purposes of the said parks, monuments, and reservations, which purpose is to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wildlife therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.” -from “The Organic Act” of 1916, the founding legislation of the National Park Service.

7. Unfortunately, Padre Island National Seashore was not founded until 1962. The land for the National Seashore was purchased a parcel at a time during the 1960s with the park finally opening to the public in 1970. Therefore, prior to National Park Service ownership of the land, no protection was afforded to archeological artifacts found within the park.

8. Missing History In the 1950s and 1960s, newspapers lauded the island for its terrific treasure-hunting. As a consequence, untold numbers of Spanish coins, native American artifacts, and other relics have disappeared that could have added immensely to the public’s knowledge of the island’s history. The need for professional archeological investigation is critical to developing an accurate picture of the island’s history, because very little documentation exists about life on the island and much of what was written by explorers and pioneers has probably been lost.

9. Protecting Antiquities Because removing an artifact from a national park robs the public of a piece of American history, metal-detecting and removal of artifacts is prohibited in all national parks, including Padre Island National Seashore. Help us preserve the island’s history. If you find an artifact, please report it to the Information Desk at the Malaquite Visitor Center and let us know where you found it so that the park can conduct a proper archeological dig and find out more about the island’s history. In return, you will receive an official National Park Service certificate commemorating your efforts and contribution.

10. Contributions are welcome The park welcomes contributions of artifacts found—either before or after the park opened--within its boundaries to the park museum. If you donate something, please provide us with any data you can on where it was found so that we can correlate it with other archeological sites in that part of the island. Remains of nineteenth century pistol found in the National Seashore in 2006

11. The objects shown in this display are a few of the artifacts contained in the National Seashore’s museum collection. If you have questions about any of them, please contact the Malaquite Visitor Center at (361) 949-8068 or by using the appropriate links on the contact page of this web site. 19th-century “torpedo” bottle used for soda or other carbonated beverages. These were designed so as not to be able to stand upright. The cork sealing the bottle was therefore always wet and formed a tight seal. This prevented the beverage from going flat.