Discovering Florida: First-Contact Narratives from Spanish Expeditions along the Lower Gulf Coast

340 Pages·2014·1.65 MB·English

by  John E. Worth

Discovering Florida
Florida Museum of Natural History:
Ripley P. Bullen Series
University Press of Florida
Florida A&M University, Tallahassee University of Central Florida, Orlando
Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton University of Florida, Gainesville
Florida Gulf Coast University, Ft. Myers University of North Florida, Jacksonville
Florida International University, Miami University of South Florida, Tampa
Florida State University, Tallahassee University of West Florida, Pensacola
New College of Florida, Sarasota
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Discovering Florida
First-Contact Narratives
from Spanish Expeditions
along the Lower Gulf Coast
Edited and Translated by John E. Worth
University Press of Florida
Gainesville • Tallahassee • Tampa • Boca Raton
Pensacola • Orlando • Miami • Jacksonville • Ft. Myers • Sarasota
A Florida Quincentennial Book
Copyright 2014 by John E. Worth
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
This book may be available in an electronic edition.
19 18 17 16 15 14 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Control Number: 2014934339
ISBN 978-0-8130-4988-5
University Press of Florida
15 Northwest 15th Street
Gainesville, FL 32611-2079
http://www.upf.com
To Henry
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Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Preface xi
Introduction: Sixteenth-Century Spanish
Exploration of Florida’s Lower Gulf Coast 1
1. The Juan Ponce de León Expeditions,
1513–1521 43
2. The Pánfilo de Narváez and Hernando
de Soto Expeditions and the Captivity
of Juan Ortiz, 1528–1539 87
3. The Luís Cancer Expedition, 1549 154
4. The Captivity of Hernando de Escalante
Fontaneda, 1549–1566 190
5. The Pedro Menéndez de Avilés Expeditions,
1566–1569 222
Notes 275
References 293
Index 303
S
N
vii
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Illustrations
Figure 1 Locations of documented indigenous groups
in sixteenth-century Florida 4
Figure 2 Maritime routes of sixteenth-century Spanish
expeditions 15
Table 1 Major named communities and chiefdoms of
Florida’s sixteenth-century lower gulf coast 3
S
N
ix