Staking Their Claim

On June 1, 1539, Hernando de Soto and his men established a fortified base camp in this area in an abandoned Indian village called Ucita during his expedition through Florida Native American territories in search of gold and glory. To defend the site, they built a wooden palisade around the perimeter, sent cavalry to search for Indians to use as guides and interpreters, and after minor skirmishes brought back prisoners who identified the village. Rodrigo Rangel wrote that the land around the town was choked with lofty forest, and De Soto ordered it cut down for the distance of a crossbow shot so the horses could run and the Christians would have the advantage if attacked at night. Florida's coastal people lived in village societies governed by a hereditary chief, or cacique, and archaeological evidence shows they traded seafood, shells, and game with tribes to the north for goods such as corn, pottery, and stone arrow points. In 16th-century Spanish maps, the territory called La Florida extended beyond present-day Florida across the American Southeast, as far north as Virginia and as far west as Texas.

Apollo Beach, Florida · United States