Mustang Island State Park

Mustang Island State Park is a state park located south of the city of Port Aransas, Texas, United States on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico that covers 3,954 acres (1,600 ha) and has a 5-mile (8.0 km) beachfront. The land was acquired from private owners in 1972 and opened to the public in 1979. The island takes its name from wild mustangs that roamed the island which eventually succumbed to ranching in the late 1800s.^[1]

History

Mustang Island is believed to have formed around 2,500 years ago as sand and other sediments built up sandbars.^[2]

The earliest known inhabitants of Mustang Island were Karankawa Indians. The Karankawas were a hunter-gatherer people, and lived off the shellfish and mussels they caught in the Gulf.

The first known historical record of Mustang Island was made by Alonso Álvarez de Pineda, a Spanish explorer who charted the island in 1519. A fort was built on Mustang Island during the Mexican-American War, 1846–48, to guard the entrance to Aransas Bay. Records show that an Englishman named Robert A. Mercer and one H. L. Kinney both ran cattle on Mustang Island in the 1850s. During the Civil War, the coastal area was blockaded by the Union Navy, but the conflict ended with no major battles occurring in the area.

The area was later bought by Sam Wilson Jr., husband of the eccentric Ada Wilson. With the help of Sissy Farenthold, the state of Texas bought the land and developed the park.^[3]

Features

Natural

Mustang Island is a coastal barrier island dependent upon sand dunes for protection from storms and the sea. The vegetation holding the dunes in place are drought-resistant species such as sea oats, and soilbind morning glory. The island's fauna is dominated by rodents such as pocket gophers, marsh rice rats and cotton rats. Other small mammals include opossums, raccoons, striped skunks, jackrabbits, cottontail rabbits, armadillos and coyotes. Large numbers of waterfowl and shorebirds are common, as well as several species of hawks and a large variety of songbirds, most of which are migratory.

Recreational

The park offers camping among 48 water and electric sites and 300 drive-up primitive sites, picnicking , kayaking with access to the Mustang Island Paddling Trail, fishing, swimming, hiking mountain biking, sunbathing, and birdwatching with over 400 bird species identified here.

References

↑ "Mustang Island State Park History". Texas Parks and Wildlife. Retrieved November 21, 2015.
↑ "Mustang Island State Park Nature". Texas Parks and Wildlife. Retrieved November 21, 2015.
↑ Givens, Murphy (August 6, 2014). "Ada Wilson had a towering ego and a great heart". Corpus Christi Caller-Times. Corpus Christi. Retrieved November 21, 2015.

External links

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Mustang Island State Park.

Texas Parks and Wildlife: Mustang Island State Park

Protected areas of Texas

Federal

National Parks	Big Bend Guadalupe Mountains

National Monuments and Memorials	Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument Chamizal National Memorial Military Working Dog Teams National Monument Waco Mammoth National Monument

National Historical Parks and Historic Sites	Fort Davis NHS Lyndon B. Johnson NHP Palo Alto Battlefield NHP San Antonio Missions NHP

National Historic Trails	El Camino Real de los Tejas National Historic Trail El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro

National Recreation Areas	Amistad Lake Meredith

National Wildlife Refuges	Anahuac Aransas Attwater Prairie Chicken Balcones Canyonlands Big Boggy Brazoria Buffalo Lake Caddo Lake Grulla Hagerman Laguna Atascosa Little Sandy Lower Rio Grande Valley McFaddin Muleshoe Neches River San Bernard Santa Ana Texas Point Trinity River

National Forests	Angelina Davy Crockett Sabine Sam Houston

National Grasslands	Caddo Lyndon B. Johnson McClellan Creek Rita Blanca

Other Protected Areas	Big Thicket National Preserve Padre Island National Seashore Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River

State

State Parks and Natural Areas	Abilene Albert and Bessie Kronkosky State Natural Area Atlanta Balmorhea Barton Warnock Environmental Education Center Bastrop Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley Big Bend Ranch Big Spring Blanco Boca Chica Bonham Brazos Bend Buescher Caddo Lake Caprock Canyons Cedar Hill Chinati Mountains State Natural Area Choke Canyon Cleburne Colorado Bend Cooper Lake Copper Breaks Daingerfield Davis Hill Davis Mountains Devils River State Natural Area Devil's Sinkhole State Natural Area Dinosaur Valley Eisenhower Enchanted Rock State Natural Area Estero Llano Grande Fairfield Lake Falcon Fort Boggy Fort Parker State Park Fort Richardson State Park Franklin Mountains Galveston Island Garner Goliad Goose Island Government Canyon State Natural Area Guadalupe River Hill Country State Natural Area Honey Creek State Natural Area Huntsville Indian Lodge Inks Lake Kickapoo Cavern Lake Arrowhead Lake Bob Sandlin Lake Brownwood Lake Casa Blanca International Lake Colorado City Lake Corpus Christi Lake Livingston Lake Mineral Wells Lake Somerville Lake Tawakoni Lake Texana Lake Whitney Lockhart Longhorn Cavern Lost Maples State Natural Area Martin Creek Lake Martin Dies Jr. Matagorda Island McKinney Falls Meridian Mission Tejas Monahans Sandhills Mother Neff State Park Mustang Island Old Tunnel Palmetto Palo Duro Canyon Palo Pinto Mountains Pedernales Falls Possum Kingdom Purtis Creek Ray Roberts Lake Resaca de la Palma San Angelo Sea Rim Sheldon Lake South Llano River Stephen F. Austin Tyler Village Creek Walter Umphrey Wyler Aerial Tramway

State Historic Sites	Acton Admiral Nimitz Barrington Living History Farm at Washington-on-the-Brazos Battleship TEXAS Caddoan Mounds Casa Navarro Confederate Reunion Grounds Eisenhower Birthplace Fanthorp Inn Fannin Battleground Fort Griffin Fort Lancaster Fort Leaton Fort McKavett Fort Richardson State Park Fulton Mansion Goliad Hueco Tanks Kreische Brewery Landmark Inn Levi Jordan Plantation Lipantitlan Lyndon B. Johnson Magoffin Homestead Mission Espiritu Santo Mission Rosario Monument Hill Penn Farm Point Isabel Lighthouse Sabine Pass Battleground Sam Bell Maxey House Samuel T. Rayburn House San Felipe San Jacinto Battleground Sauer-Beckmann Farm Seminole Canyon Starr Family Home Varner–Hogg Plantation Washington-on-the-Brazos Zaragoza Birthplace

State Forests and Arboretums	E.O. Siecke I.D. Fairchild John Henry Kirby Masterson W. Goodrich Jones Ruth Bowling Nichols Arboretum Olive Scott Petty Arboretum

State Wildlife Trails	Great Texas Coastal Heart of Texas Panhandle Plains Prairies and Pineywoods

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

Coordinates: 27°40′31″N 97°10′37″W / 27.67528°N 97.17694°W / 27.67528; -97.17694

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 5/28/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.