MOMENTS IN TIME: Treasure lost on South Padre Island

Tara Nichols from Madison Wisconsin, asks, “Who was Padre Balli and did John Singer really lose a treasure of Spanish gold?”

Padre Nicholas Balli, for whom the Island gets its name, was the first European to bring families to the Island. Twenty-six miles north of the Island’s southern tip, he and his nephew Juan, founded El Rancho Santa Cruz de Buena Vista (later known as the Lost City), where he kept cattle, horses and mules. The actual ranch and outbuildings were little more than thatched huts known as jacals. Because of its natural fences of water, the Island was a perfect spot for raising livestock.  In 1811, Padre Balli stated in his will that he owned 1,000 head of cattle. He also built the first church on the Island for the conversion of the Karankawa Indians and for the benefit of the settlers. Ironically, Balli never lived on the Island that bears his name today. He left the day-to-day operations of the ranch to his nephew Juan, who also held title to a sizable amount of the Island, while he (the Padre) spent most of his time on the mainland ministering to the spiritual and material needs of his people.

Padre Ballí died on April 16, 1829, and was buried near Matamoros. His share of the Island was divided among several heirs including Juan who with his wife Dolores, operated the ranch until the storm of 1844 after which they moved their cattle operation to the mainland. The ranch was abandoned, but only a few short years would pass before its new occupants arrived on the scene.

John Singer’s lost treasure has been the subject of numerous stories; the stuff from which legends are born. According to some accounts, during the final days of the Mexican War, John and Johanna Singer along with several sons, had been beating down the coast in their schooner, the Alice Sadell, when a severe storm drove their craft aground near the center of the Island. It was there the family discovered the remains of Santa Cruz, the old ranch owned by Padre Balli himself. The Singer’s bought the land from Juan Balli in 1851, paying $2500 an acre that included the headquarters of the old ranch. Wild cattle, left over from the Padre’s ranch, were easy to catch and by the time Lincoln was elected, the Singer’s herd numbered over 1,500. But this wasn’t the only source of income for the newcomers. It was rumored that John and his boys, who were by now avid beachcombers, had accumulated somewhere in the neighborhood of $60,000 worth of jewels, Spanish coins and gold bullion.