As you read the following pages, we hope you can feel a bit of the primitive, swashbuckling history of Padre Island. Where once roamed savages, cavaliers, pirates, soldiers and pioneers, there now rises—out of the sand dunes—an isle which every man has pictured for himself. Tropical birds, sea shell treasures and exotic driftwood are cradled among the gleaming white sand dunes. Once in awhile the shifting sands reveal to the lucky hunter an old money cache or relic of a bygone civilization. Padre Beach, located at the southern tip of the island, is a resort oasis of modern architecture. A National Seashore Park is being considered to preserve the virgin beauty of the center portion of the island. Multi-million dollar causeways stretch majestically over shimmering Laguna Madre to connect the island at both ends to the Texas mainland. The world famous tropical Rio Grande Valley is Padre’s luxurious neighbor, preening its giant sized fruit trees and breath-taking jungle-like flowers and palms. The civic and industrial richness of the Valley overflow into Padre to revitalize the growth and development of its beaches. Around the corner from Padre, bordering the Valley, is the gay flavor of Mexico. Visits to the border towns are gala occasions, with little or no red tape. Dollars meet their usual welcome. Opposite the northern tip of Padre Island is the booming city of Corpus Christi, one of the country’s most beautiful coastal towns. On the mainland, beside the long stretch of the island, Texas presents its most historical and natural points of interest. To playfolk who want year-round resort recreation; to hunters and fishermen or to treasure hunters and those interested in legends and wildlife; to retirement seekers and pioneers, and to easy-livers, the following pages will delineate the past, present and future of Padre Island and its hinterland. _Loraine Daly_ _Pat Reumert_ First Picture Section [Illustration: Water skiing off Padre Island] [Illustration: Padre driftwood takes many weird shapes] [Illustration: Driftwood’s beauties are many and varied] [Illustration: Padre’s white sand dunes contrast with Gulf waters] [Illustration: “Cactus garden” in the Lower Rio Grande Valley (Ken Snyder Photo)] [Illustration: Shipwreck! Boilers and wreckage from the _Nicaragua_] [Illustration: Earthen oven used by missionaries—Mission, Texas] [Illustration: Mier Bell tolled disaster—1842 (Ken Snyder Photo)] [Illustration: Ruins of the Patrick Dunn Ranch] [Illustration: Rio Grande R.R. Locomotive (Ken Snyder Photo)] [Illustration: Port Isabel lighthouse] [Illustration: Century-old church—Weslaco] [Illustration: Spanish dagger (Holbrook Photo)] [Illustration: Grapefruit cluster (Ken Snyder Photo)]