DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker in Kleberg County has to say — and friend, this one reaches back further than you might expect. Fifty-two years. That's how far ahead of Plymouth Rock this story starts.
While most folks think of 1620 as the moment Englishmen first set foot in the New World in any serious way, there were three men — sailors, not pilgrims — who were already walking through what is now South Texas back in 1568. Fifty-two years earlier. Let that settle in a moment.
It started in 1567, when these men went to sea with Sir John Hawkins — an admiral of the fleet of Queen Elizabeth I herself — on a trading voyage. Sir John was no small figure. But what waited for him at Vera Cruz, Mexico, was not a friendly port.
On September 26, 1568, the Spanish attacked him. He lost five of his six ships. Five out of six.
One battered, crippled vessel left, and too many mouths on it to make it home. So Sir John made a brutal calculation. On October 8, 1568, near Tampico, he put 114 of his men ashore.
Just put them ashore — on a foreign coast, deep in territory the Spanish controlled, with no clear plan for what came next. Most of those men went south. Most of them were captured by the Spanish.
But twenty-six went north. North meant Indian fights. North meant misfortunes the marker doesn't spell out but you can feel in those words.
Of those twenty-six men who turned their faces away from Spanish capture and into the unknown, only three ever made it back to England. Three. Their names were Richard Browne, David Ingram, and Richard Twide.
Now — how do we know they came through this part of Texas? Because David Ingram talked. In 1582, he gave testimony to Her Majesty's secretary, and what he described lines up with this country in a way that doesn't leave much room for doubt.
He talked about cannibal Indians along the Gulf Coast. He described the lush grass at the mouth of the Rio Grande. He told of sandy regions north of that river.
He mentioned large musquetas — mosquitoes, and if you've spent a summer evening anywhere near the Texas Gulf Coast you know the man was not exaggerating. He talked about eating prickly pear fruit. That's this land.
That's right here. And then there's the walking. Eleven months of steady walking.
Only once did they rest as long as five days — once, in eleven months. They kept moving north and east until they reached Frenchmen in Nova Scotia, and a ship captain carried them on to Europe. Richard Browne, David Ingram, Richard Twide.
Three men out of twenty-six. Twenty-six out of a hundred and fourteen. They walked out of a disaster on the Gulf of Mexico and kept going until they got home — and somewhere along the way, they walked right through what is now Kleberg County, Texas.
Fifty-two years before Plymouth Rock.
What the marker says
Fifty-two years before the celebrated landing of English settlers at Plymouth Rock, in what is now Massachusetts, three Englishmen traveled this South Texas area. They were sailors who had gone to sea in 1567 with Sir John Hawkins, an admiral of the fleet of Queen Elizabeth I, on a trading voyage. At Vera Cruz, Mexico, on Sept 26, 1568, Sir John was attacked by the Spanish, losing five of his six ships. Forced by famine and overcrowding to lighten the remaining crippled ship, he put ashore 114 of his men on October 8, 1568, near Tampico. Most went south, only to be captured by the Spanish; 26 went north, had indian fights and other misfortunes. Of the 26, only Richard Browne, David Ingram, and Richard Twide ever reached England again. That Browne, Ingram, and Twide passed through this part of Texas is evident by Ingram's testimony, given to her Majesty's secretary in 1582. He told of cannibal Indians along the Gulf Coast. Described the lush grass at the Rio Grande's mouth and the sandy regions north of that river, told of large "musquetas" and of eating prickly pear fruit. In 11 months of steady walking-- only once resting as long as five days-- they reached Frenchmen in Nova Scotia, and a ship captain took them to Europe. (1973)