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According to Spanish accounts, Villafañe's divers found a trunk belong to Pedro Milanes, a man they knew. Spanish salvage operations began on Jat San Esteban Villafañe located Espiritu Santo. In the face of this lost wealth, the ships demanded salvage efforts.

The ships had carried a valuable cargo from Spain to Mexico-resins, sugar, wood, cowhides and cochineal (insects from which a red dye could be produced) valued at $9.8 million in Spanish currency, gold bars and silver bullion and bound for the coffers of Charles V, and reales from trade in the New World. On July 15, 1554, six salvage vessels under Captain García de Escalante Alvarado left Veracruz for the site of the wrecks. Meanwhile, a salvage expedition was organized and outfitted in Veracruz. On June 6, a rescue mission, led by Angel de Villafañe, set out by sea to search for survivors. Friendly natives helped him make his way to Panuco.Ĭaptain Huerto reached Veracruz safely, and there he told his story to Spanish officials. Revived by the warmth of the sand, he crawled from his 'grave' and made his way along the coast. His companions, thinking death was imminent, buried him in the sand, leaving only his head exposed. Many traveled with wounds from Indian arrows, including Fray Marcos de Mena, who was shot seven times. Without even that meager protection, the group faced even greater hardships-mosquitoes and hot sands. Other Spaniards stripped off their garments along the trail, thinking the Indians wanted their clothing.

Once at the campsite, they attacked them. At first, the natives offered some of the injured survivors fish to eat. Local Karankawa Indians picked off the survivors during their torturous journey. Of this group, only a few were to make it to Tampico, which was actually 300 miles away. Other survivors from the ship started walking southward, believing a Spanish outpost was within only a few days walk. Master of San Esteban, Francisco del Huerto, salvaged a boat and sailed for Veracruz with a few seamen. The three ships wrecked within 2½ miles of each other, and it is believed that their crews and passengers banded together for comfort and safety. More than 300 people died during the tragic event, which has become known as “The Wreck of the Three Hundred.” San Esteban, Espíritu Santo, and Santa María de Yciar were swept off course and ran aground on the sandbars off Padre Island, about 50 miles south of Corpus Christi Bay. The convoy was halfway to Havana on April 29, 1554, when a storm hit.

The story of the shipwrecks and the harrowing trials of the survivors provides one of the earliest and most interesting accounts in Texas history. The remainder met a disastrous fate off the Texas coast. Of the four ships, only the San Andrés was to reach Havana. En route the convoy was to stop off in La Havana, Cuba. Among them were prisoners, old conquistadors, merchants, and wealthy citizens returning home to Spain. The fleet included four ships-the San Andrés, San Esteban, Espíritu Santo, and Santa María de Yciar-and carried more than 400 people.

On April 9, 1554, a Spanish convoy set sail from the Veracruz, Mexico, port of San Juan de Ulua, on their homebound voyage to Spain, where anxious merchants awaited the treasury on board. Spanish Shipwrecks in 1554: “The Wreck of the 300”

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