After a year of effort, though, they finally arrived in Louisiana. The men turned down several offers for the meteorite and shipped it to New York, where a chemist found that it was made not of platinum, but of iron.

The explorers didn't profit from the meteorite, which was named the Texas Iron. But their foray prompted Spain to step up its patrols. And the meteorite was one of the first to receive extensive scientific review. Today, it's on display at the Peabody Museum at Yale University.