The Battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma were fought on May 8 and 9, respectively, 1846. The battlefield of the latter lies about three miles from old Fort Brown on the Rio Grande.

According to John Lewis, who was foreman on the Collins Ranch in Cameron County, on which the site of the Battle of Palo Alto was located, seven cartloads of pay money for the Mexican army were buried on the battlefield. As proof of the claim, he found part of an old-fashioned Mexican cart while he was digging on Agua Dulce Creek, which runs near the battlefield.

A Mexican named Santiago in Austin claimed that one of his ancestors helped bury seven cartloads of army money on the Palo Alto battlefield. Taylor’s army was pressing the Mexicans. To save time, the Mexicans had to lighten their baggage. The officer in charge of the pay carts had orders to bury the money. He detailed a party and ordered them to dig a trench beside a gully or little creek lined with mesquite brush. When the trench was ready, the officer ordered the money transferred from the carts into it. While the last cartload was being put into the trench, Santiago’s ancestor fled, for he knew that the men who dug the trench would have to follow the treasure. He had scarcely disappeared into the mesquites when he heard shots that told him very plainly he had acted prudently in leaving.