Attracted by the bounty of the Gulf of Mexico, the city's earliest inhabitants were the first of many generations of "Winter Texans." To this day, Corpus Christi attracts many seasonal residents, like the early day Karankawa Indians, who call our beaches home. Not until almost 400 years after the initial discovery of the Sparkling City by the Sea, did the early European explorers gain enough of a following to create the beginnings of a new settlement. Even today, many people consider Corpus Christi to be the best kept secret in America.