Corpus Christi History by Murphy Givens

Diaries describe unique way of life

Mustang Island was a remote place in the 1870s and '80s. It was named for the herds of wild mustangs that ran through the scrub brush and sand dunes.
   The south end of Mustang was separated from Padre Island by the mile-wide Corpus Christi Pass. Storms began to silt in the pass and by 1891 there were three islands in the mouth of the pass._It was closed permanently by the 1916 storm. The north end of the island was populated by families who made their living from the sea, pilots who guided ships over the bar and through the Aransas pass.
   The most famous of the pilots were the Mercers. Robert, the father, died in 1876, and two sons, John and Ned, followed him in the trade. John died in 1896 and Ned in 1913.
   The Mercers were more than pilots. They also ran cattle on El Mar Rancho, their ranch by the sea. Their unique way of life was recorded on diaries between the 1860s and the 1880s. Written in the terse style of ship logs, the diaries tell us a lot about the island's early history and its hardy residents.
   Some of the place names mentioned in the diaries are familiar, like Turtle Cove, Cedar Bayou, Ransom Island, Coyote Island. Others are not, including Blind Bayou, Cat Island and Pitt's Island. The Mercers took their boats to Hog Island where a man named "Hog Island" Jones repaired their copper bottoms.
   Many diary entries are filled with ranching items. "John got brave and sawed a cow's horns off." "Drove a bunch of wild cattle and three mustangs and penned them." "They brought the mustangs abreast of Clubb's but they stampeded and went back down the island. The mustangs lit out fast as a ring-tailed norther."
   Other entries tell of tragedies, like the drowning of two young Corpus Christi sisters, daughters of Ruben Holbein. They tell of courtships, saying that some young man was off to visit his "dulchina." They tell of weddings, births, sailboat regattas, oyster roasts, egg-hunting ventures, "cruising" the beaches for salvage, and of the fierce storms that lashed the islands.
   In the storm that all but destroyed Indianola, the log notes that "chickens had the life blown out of them" and that water was waist-deep at El Mar. Entries described the chores of repairing the storm damage, cleaning out wells, and rounding up livestock.
   Most of the entries are about ships. Vessels had trouble crossing the sand bar, where the depth of water varied from five to ten feet. After crossing the bar, ships had to contend with the winding pass. Before the jetties were built, the channel steadily shifted southward, which is why the Aransas Lighthouse on Harbor Island found itself a mile inland.
   Arriving or departing ships would hoist a flag for a pilot. The Mercers kept watch from a pilot's lookout on top of the house. The pilots charged $3 per draft foot (later $4) to guide ships through the pass. Low water on the bar often kept ships waiting for days, even weeks.
   The logs are filled with activities of the pilots and the arrival and departure of ships:
   "Schooner Clements came for Corpus. Got aground on the flats. The Arthur anchored with a flag up for a pilot." "John and Frank started to put stakes in the dugout (a channel through the pass was called the dugout) but the wind died and got only as far as Heath's wharf. Steamer Clinton got aground in the channel last night and is there yet."
   The logs describe the loss of the Reindeer in 1870, the Fountainebleau in 1873 and the Mary, recounted in the first of these columns.
   "Thursday, Nov. 30, 1876. Steamer Mary while trying to cross the bar at dead low water failed. She pounded her bottom out. Set the colors of distress. John, Ned, Tom Brundrette, Tom Lacey, Perry Humphrey started for her in the Doaga. The sea was very heavy. Made several trips to get alongside her. The cargo between decks was leaving in big piles. The Mary struck at 7 a.m. and her fires were put out in 30 minutes. She settled very fast. No lives were lost."
   We end this series with an entry from the logs taken from Dec. 19, 1872: "This day begins with the wind N. moderate. Cool weather. Got Clubb's and our ox cart and moved the pilothouse. It was too close to the pass to be comfortable. Moved it nearer Turtle Cove. Schooner George Peabody came from Corpus and anchored near the dugout. So ends this day. Wind N.N. W."
   (This is the third of three columns. Some diary entries were taken from articles written by Dee Woods that appeared in the Caller in 1939. Other sources include "Sixty Years in the Nueces Valley" by Mrs. S. G. Miller; "Hurricane Junction, a History of Port Aransas" by Cyril Kuehne; and Caller-Times archive articles.)
   (Murphy Givens can be reached by phone at 886-4315 or by e-mail at givensm@caller.com.)
  
  

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