Florida's First Visitor

Juan Ponce de Leon

Spanish explorer, Juan Ponce de Léon, is probably best known for his fabled search for the 'fountain of youth' in Florida. However, his major exploit was conquering and settling of Puerto Rico and the exploration and naming of Florida. 

It is believed that Ponce de Léon was born into a noble family in 1460. As a page in the court of King Ferdinand of Aragon, he received an excellent education and became fascinated with exploring. In 1492, he took part in the conquest of Granada, located in Southern Spain. This ended the presence of the Moors on the Iberian Peninsula after more than seven hundred years and secured de Léon’s position with the Spanish crown.  

Juan Ponce de Leon's signature

It’s thought, although never proven, that in 1493 Ponce de Léon was a member of Christopher Columbus' second voyage to the New World. What is known for sure is that in 1502, he was living in Hispaniola, which is the modern day island Haiti and the Dominican Republic. There he served as a military captain and helped stop a native uprising. This led to his appointment as the provincial governor of the eastern half of Hispaniola.

In 1508-09, rumors of gold on the nearby island of San Juan Bautista (modern day Puerto Rico) prompted the Spanish crown to give Ponce de León authorization to explore the island.  Though he may have, unofficially, previously sailed to the island before that. On the official expedition, he took fifty soldiers and a single ship. He founded a settlement at Caparra, near what is now San Juan. When he returned to Hispaniola for supplies, Ponce de León was named the governor of Puerto Rico, but he had many rivals and was soon displaced.

Encouraged by Spanish royalty to discover more lands, Ponce de León set sail from Puerto Rico in March 1513. He would follow rumors he’d heard from local Indians about an island known as Bimini. The locals claimed along with gold; Ponce de León would find a magical spring whose waters would rejuvenate those who drank from it.

Juan Ponce de Leon's statue in St. Augustine, FL

In April of the same year, the expedition landed on the coast of Florida. At the time, Ponce de León thought that he had landed on another island. He named the location Florida, due to the area’s lush foliage and also because they landed around Easter time. On his first expedition to Florida, Ponce de León explored the east coast, the Florida Keys, and discovered the Gulf Stream. He then returned to Puerto Rico.

Gulf Stream

Ponce de León’s next voyage was to Spain. He used the warm Gulf Stream ocean current he’d discovered to speed up his trip. While in Spain, he was named the military governor of Bimini and Florida and given permission to colonize the region. The Spanish crown also ordered him to organize an army to subdue a native uprising in Puerto Rico. He returned to the New World with a small fleet in mid-1515.

In February 1521, Ponce de León departed San Juan on his second expedition to Florida. He intended to found and occupy a colony, so he took with him three ships and approximately two hundred people. They landed near what is now Charlotte Harbor on the southwest coast of Florida. The exact circumstances of what happened next are uncertain, but apparently in early July local Indians attacked the party of settlers, leaving Ponce de León fatally wounded by an arrow in his thigh. His comrades sailed back with him to Havana, Cuba, where he died.

Juan Ponce de León was ruthless when the occasion called for it, but he was also ambitious and hardworking. He built a small financial empire of his own and helped Spain colonize the Caribbean.

By all accounts, Juan Ponce de León was far too practical a man to waste time on such fantasies as a fountain of Youth, and there is no official record that he ever deliberately searched for it, but strangely, he did acknowledge the existence of the fabled magical waters in his memoir. So is there a spring of rejuvenating water that can keep us young forever? We may never know…

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Michele Morris’s love for historical fiction began when she first read Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House book series. She grew up riding horses and spending her free time in the woods of mid-Michigan dreaming of days-gone-by and knights-in-shining-armor. Therefore, it only makes sense that she now writes historical romance with a touch of suspense. Married to her high school sweetheart, they are living happily-ever-after with their six children, three in-loves, and six grandchildren in Florida, the sunshine state. When not spending time with her large brood or writing, Michele enjoys photography, genealogy, and cooking. 

Florida's 500th Anniversary and El Galeon

Are you aware that this year, 2013, marks the 500th anniversary since Juan Ponce de Leon landed in Florida? The state of Florida is doing some special things to commemorate the occasion, and while vacationing in St. Augustine last month, my family and I got to see one piece of the celebration. I wanted to share a bit about it with you.



El Galeon, © Jennifer Uhlarik

When we arrived in St. Augustine for our few days away, it didn’t take us long to notice a huge wooden ship docked beside the Bridge of Lions. We quickly learned that the ship was a life-size, all-wooden replica of a Spanish Galleon, like those Ponce de Leon and his contemporaries would’ve sailed. El Galeon, as it was called, was making the rounds of several Florida ports—Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Cape Canaveral, and St. Augustine—docking for several weeks at each in order for visitors to take self-guided tours of the impressive vessel. El Galeon had such a great turnout the first weekend in St. Augustine that they opted to stay from several months in order to accommodate the visitors.

Looking toward the stern, ©Jennifer Uhlarik

The life-size replica measures 170 feet in length, and weighs 495 tons. Forty crew members manned the ship and sailed it on the same general path that Ponce de Leon took to Florida 500 years ago. (You can see an interactive map of their route here). I have never been much of a sea-faring person, so stepping onto such a ship was awe-inspiring. It was also pretty mind-boggling when I began to realize that, while large, a ship this size didn’t provide a lot of personal space for that many people. And when you stop to consider that back in the days of New World exploration, many times an explorer would set out with several ships, only to lose some along the way. When that happened, the crew of the abandoned ship would get absorbed into the crews of the other ships. So by the end of their voyages, these ships often carried two or three times the number of people than they started with. Just imagine the trouble getting to use the bathroom must have been. LOL

Bathroom. Was this authentic to the time period?
©Jennifer Uhlarik

On a side note, one of the interesting things we were told while vacationing was that many of the explorers’ ships were lost not to storms or running around, but rather to a particular type of clam, the shipworm or toredo worms, that lives in saltwater and eats wood. These worm-like clams would begin to bore into the wooden vessels, and over time, the ships would spring leaks. When the crew couldn’t stop the incoming water, they would inform the captain that the ship couldn’t be saved, so they would flag down their sister ships, abandon their own, and watch it sink as they sailed away. After stepping foot on such a magnificent ship as El Galeon, I can only imagine the heartbreak such a sight would cause.

Tall ship! ©Jennifer Uhlarik

While El Galeon has departed from St. Augustine as of July 23, my understanding is that the crew will be sailing up the eastern seaboard for the next 3-5 years on tour. If you missed the ship in Florida, you might still have an opportunity to see it in another eastern port. And we also were told that El Galeon had petitioned to make St. Augustine its home port while not out touring. At the time we were there, the petition was being considered, but no decision had been made. Hopefully those in power will allow it, as it seems only fitting to me that such a ship should make historic St. Augustine home. You can find more impressive photos here.

Ship's bell. ©Jennifer Uhlarik

Now it’s your turn. Have you ever been onboard a boat or ship (including small boats or cruise ships)? What was your experience like?




Interesting view of Anastasia Island from El Galeon.
©Jennifer Uhlarik

Jennifer Uhlarik discovered the western genre as a pre-teen, when she swiped the only “horse” book she found on her older brother’s bookshelf. A new love was born. Across the next ten years, she devoured Louis L’Amour westerns and fell in love with the genre. In college at the University of Tampa, she began penning her own story of the Old West. Armed with a B.A. in writing, she has won the 2012 CWOW Phoenix Rattler, 2012 ACFW First Impressions, and 2013 FCWC contests, all in the historical category. She is also the winner of the 2013 Central Florida ACFW chapter's "Prompt Response" contest. In addition to writing, she has been a schoolteacher of English, literature, and history, as well as a marketing director. Jennifer is active in American Christian Fiction Writers and lifetime member of the Florida Writers Association. She lives near Tampa, Florida, with her husband, teenaged son, and four fur children.

Cowboys of the Wild East?

When I moved to Florida in the early 1980’s, the town I lived in consisted of a few main roads, a smattering of stores, a fair number of houses, all surrounded by lots and lots of cow pastures. It’s only thirty years later as I research the background for a possible new story that I recognize the depth of historical significance those cow pastures hold.
 

Statue of Juan Ponce de Leon, St. Augustine, FL
State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory
 http://floridamemory.com/items/show/8049

Florida’s cattle history starts all the way back in 1521, when Juan Ponce de Leon set foot in Florida for the second time. He’d originally come in 1513 and claimed the land for Spain, but didn’t stay long. He returned in 1521 with 200 settlers, as well as horses, cattle, and pigs. But tensions between the Spaniards and the Native American tribes inhabiting Florida’s peninsula became hostile and fighting broke out. When Ponce de Leon was shot with an arrow, the would-be settlers quickly abandoned their animals and sailed for Cuba, where their leader died.

About 40 years later in the 1560’s, more Spanish arrived in Florida and managed to settle the land. The surviving horses, cattle, and pigs that had been left by Ponce de Leon’s crew years earlier had become wild, roaming free among the thick scrub covering Florida. The newly-arrived settlers brought more livestock, and by 1600, horses and cattle were prevalent among the Spanish missions and ranches that had come to Northern Florida. Spanish vaqueros worked the ranches, developing a strong cattle industry here.

In the 1760’s, Spain briefly lost control of the land to Britain, but regained it 20 years later at the end of the American Revolution. During that time, both the Seminole Indians and a restless group of British colonists moved into Florida. The whites were a wild bunch who tended to buck authority every chance they got. The Spanish governor in the 1780’s described them as “nomadic like Arabs,” and “distinguished from savages only in their color, language, and superiority of their depraved cunning and untrustworthiness.” They immediately took to the wild cattle roaming free in the Florida scrub, falling back on the traditions of their Celtic ancestry—free range cattle herding. They became known as “Crackers.”

Cow whip made by George Mills,
State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory
http://floridamemory.com/items/show/108400
Photo by Robt. L. Stone

Today, we think of that term as derogatory and demeaning. It originally meant a braggart or boaster. But there was a dual meaning. In Florida, where the wiregrass and palmettos were so thick, it was impossible to use a lariat to rope cattle like those further west did. Instead, the Florida cow hunters (as they preferred to be called) used bullwhips that cracked like a gunshot in the air above the cattle they were herding. The sound could be heard for miles before the small herds were seen.

From the late 1700’s all the way through the end of the 1800’s, the Florida cow hunters ruled the scrub. They hit their heyday after the Civil War, just as the western cowboys did. They would sometimes drive their small, often scrawny cattle north into neighboring states to sell, but more often went south to the Fort Myers, Florida, area, where they’d load them on ships to sell in Cuba. They might not have to drive them as far as their western counterparts, but the work was every bit as hard. They worked with smaller herds, and rather than letting them roam free while on the trail, they would bed the cattle down in large corrals erected along their trail.

Artist and author Frederic Remington wrote an article for Harper’s Magazine in 1895 about these men, in which he painted a rather dark and dreary picture. He portrayed them as a sorry lot, unscrupulous and prone to violence and thievery. And some probably were. But so were some of the western cowboys Remington was more familiar with. Plenty of the Florida cow hunters were hardworking, honest men who took pride in their jobs.

Despite the often negative connotation of the “Cracker” name, the descendants of these historic Florida figures take great pride in their heritage and are fighting even today to keep that heritage alive with places like “Cracker Country” at the Florida State Fairgrounds, or the “1876 Cow Camp” at Lake Kissimmee State Park. I so appreciate these efforts as I research an upcoming story, but beyond that, just to learn one more fascinating tidbit of history from the state I’ve called home for most of my life.

So let's hear from you. What is the most interesting thing you’ve discovered about your local history? Leave me a messsage, and you'll be entered into the drawing for this quilled paper cross shadowbox, handmade by me, to be given away tomorrow. Also, you'll be entered in the $25 Amazon giftcard drawing, to be given at the end of the month. The giftcard is being given by several of the "surprise giveaway" authors this month, so check the sidebar and go back to leave messages on giveaway authors' posts to increase your chances for the giftcard.

Jennifer Uhlarik discovered the western genre as a pre-teen, when she swiped the only “horse” book she found on her older brother’s bookshelf. A new love was born. Across the next ten years, she devoured Louis L’Amour westerns and fell in love with the genre. In college at the University of Tampa, she began penning her own story of the Old West. Armed with a B.A. in writing, she has won the 2012 CWOW Phoenix Rattler, 2012 ACFW First Impressions, and 2013 FCWC contests, all in the historical category. She is also the winner of the 2013 Central Florida ACFW chapter's "Prompt Response" contest. In addition to writing, she has been a schoolteacher of English, literature, and history, as well as a marketing director. Jennifer is active in American Christian Fiction Writers and lifetime member of the Florida Writers Association. She lives near Tampa, Florida, with her husband, teenaged son, and four fur children.