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Spanish Colonial

In 1539 Spanish explorer Hernando De Soto arrived in “Anhaica,” an Apalachee Indian Village near today’s downtown Tallahassee, with his expedition after traveling up the state from the Tampa Bay area, setting up camp here through winter. The De Soto encampment was the site of the first North American Christmas celebration. More Spanish explorers arrived during the 1500-1600s in search of gold. Missionaries accompanied the explorers and sought to convert the Native Americans to Catholicism while co-existing at the Missions. Missions played an important role in the settlement of Spanish America and Mission San Luis was the western capital, located on one of the region’s highest hilltops. In 1675 Mission San Luis had more than 1,400 residents. For the next two centuries, Spanish settlers worked cattle ranches and farms built around more than 100 Franciscan mission towns that stretched from the Apalachicola River to St. Augustine. British raiders and their Indian allies ended Spanish settlements in the early 1700’s. In 1819, Spain gave up its colonial ambitions in Florida, and the first American settlers quickly moved into “Middle Florida”, many setting up cotton or tobacco plantations.