The Singer gold of Padre Island

John Singer, brother of the sewing-machine Singer, ranched the wild length of Padre Island until the Civil War forced the family off in 1861. The story holds they buried the ranch fortune, tens of thousands in gold and silver, in the dunes before leaving, and returned to find the shifting sand had erased every landmark. The dunes are still moving, and the island still gives up Spanish wreck coins after storms, which keeps the story warm.