De Soto Point

Along this shore, Indians once gathered oysters and clams, fished the river, and left shell mounds formed from discarded shells after countless meals. Long after they were gone, road builders carried away most of one mound for roadbed. Four centuries ago, Spaniards sailed these waters and may have used the Indian shell mounds to guide their ships up the Manatee River, leaving place names and some of their heritage. American settlers arrived in the 1840s and soon shipped sugar and molasses down the Manatee to New Orleans. During the Civil War, Union gunboats brushed aside a local guard and sailed upriver to burn Mr. Gamble's sugar mill. Today, pleasure boats have replaced Indian dugouts and Spanish ships, and the river that once carried commerce now serves recreation.

Florida · United States