bay coast situated consists mainly combined waters san_antonio rivers located mouth miles northeast miles southeast san_antonio protected gulf_of_mexico leaving relatively small distant outlets gulf little mixing bay gulf waters bay prevented establishment major ports seen corpus bay south found southwest portion bay diverse wildlife shores lack sizable human settlement history indians land near delta camping purposes populated opposite bay captain crossed visit island discovered indians killed mates british trading vessel short time convinced indian leaders kill survivors island effort convert indians establishment mission san bay found shallow crossing indians travel mainland prevent indians hiding place stage attacks commandant burned cut brush point crossing permanent colony established island arrival white settlers 19th century began commit offenses settlers including slaughter livestock result settlers engaged indians battle bay near extension bay swiftly defeated survivors agreed return finding refuge years later extension began fill mud leaving shallow hard navigate reports suggest infested bay killing residents beginning 20th century set build new port western shore established town quickly began build channel early stages development channel filled mud abandoned eastern shore city established following american civil war began develop place interest fishing shipping town likely named floating debris swept ashore incorporated population growth subsided hurricane ravaged area lived town population slowly recovered surpassed original peak following wave vietnamese refugees emigrated city vietnam war city residents features land near bay lies consists grassy support conifers water tolerant surrounding land agricultural purposes exception preserved wildlife average system meters deep covers approximately square kilometers system bay extensions main extensions include santo bay bay east bay northwest north second approximately cubic meters gal water flows bay exchange gulf_of_mexico occurs cedar pass result exchange bay parts thousand compared average little exchange bay waters coming freshwater flows san_antonio rivers ecosystem wide variety wildlife found according following fish caught bay bass striped bass black drum red drum jack southern spotted shores bay specifically home countless birds including endangered crane ducks american feral white tailed deer crabs included bay diverse wildlife rescued cleaned horizon oil spill brought shore june industry nearly detached gulf_of_mexico barrier islands support large shipping industry port merit bay shipping channel inhabitants near bay work chemical crab picking aluminum plants centuries farming surrounding economy december commercial harvesting suspended discovered exported crops resulting recall
San Antonio Bay