In 1554, three Spanish ships heavily laden with $10 million dollars in silver and gold and 410 passengers ran aground in a stormy sea on Padre Island east of Willacy County. Karankawa cannibals murdered many of the survivors. In that same year, 35,000 pounds of treasure were salvaged, leaving 51,000 pounds of silver in the Gulf of Mexico. From 1967 to 1975, modern salvage methods recovered more treasure. For hundreds of years, Dos Reales and Quatro Reales coins have washed ashore after each passing storm.