Sarasota News Leader

04/19/2013

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Sarasota News Leader April 19, 2013 Page 82 where between Tampa and Clearwater and CHANGE OF VENUE then marched north into utter ruin. A decade later, the new Spanish king, Philip The third man to try was Don Hernando de II, called on Don Tristán de Luna y Arellano to Soto, a soldier's soldier, a Knight Commander establish a colony in the Florida Panhandle. of the noble Order of Santiago. He won expeHe arrived in 1559 at the height of hurricane rience with intrigue, plunder and slaving while riding with Pizzaro in the conquest of the In- season, accompanied by 1,000 colonists and can empire. When de Soto went back to Spain 500 soldiers. with riches, glory and fame at the age of 37, his king — Charles V, grandson of Ferdinand and Isabella — proclaimed De Soto the Adelantado of all the lands he could conquer. De Soto picked Florida as a starting point. To celebrate their safe arrival, Don Tristán called for celebrations and sports, with boat and horse racing along the beach. Supplies were left aboard 13 ships. On Aug. 20, a tropical storm whipped through Pensacola Bay and nine ships sank at anchor. Remaining supplies were quickly used up. Soldiers foraged for food, but the decimated indigenous population was too small to offer much help. He landed in 1539 somewhere between Charlotte Harbor and Tampa Bay. The officially proclaimed landing site is in Manatee County near the mouth of the Manatee River. He planned to colonize the area, but he succumbed to the yearning for gold and marched A relief fleet appeared on April 1, 1561 with north for plunder. supplies and a new governor. The PensacoAs native guides led him through every swamp la colony was abandoned. Philip II decided and bog and around every village, his 750 men Florida was hopeless and — like his father, helped spread the diseases that would even- Charles V — banned any further Spanish extually destroy the indigenous population and ploration of the peninsula. their societies. An adult male infected with measles becomes sterile, for example, and Only Florida would defeat and expel the will produce no further children. The native Spanish invaders of the New World. Three Floridians had no defense against the host of the four Adelantados — De León, De Soto of diseases introduced and disseminated by and Narváez — were experienced conquistaDeSoto's march through Florida. dors, with conquests under their belts. The DeSoto eventually trekked off into Georgia, Spanish plundered and enslaved the Aztec South Carolina and Tennessee and died in Ar- and Incan civilizations with single incursions kansas in 1541. Florida had expelled another (in Spanish, entradas). In the southwestern Adelantado and claimed all but a handful of North America, native resistance was neglihis followers. Astounded that the peninsula had consumed three well-prepared expedi- gible. Across the Caribbean, resistance was tions, Charles V banned further exploration crushed. Only Florida prevailed against the alien invasions, all four of them. % of Florida.

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