SUBJECTION OF THE APALACHIAN INDIANS--CONSTRUCTION OF THE FORT, SEA
WALL, &c.--1638-1700.
In the year 1638, hostilities were entered into between the Spanish
settlements on the coast, and the Apalachian Indians, who occupied the
country in the neighborhood of the river Suwanee. The Spaniards soon
succeeded in subduing their Indian foes; and in 1640, large numbers of
the Apalachian Indians were brought to St. Augustine, and in alleged
punishment for their outbreak, and with a sagacious eye to the
convenience of the arrangement, were forced to labor upon the public
works and fortifications of the city. At this period the English
settlements along the coast to the northward, had begun to be formed,
much to the uneasiness and displeasure of the Spanish crown, which for a
long period claimed, by virtue of exploration and occupation, as well as
by the ancient papal grant of Alexander, all the eastern coast of the
United States. Their missionaries had penetrated Virginia before the
settlement at Jamestown; and they had built a fort in South Carolina,
and kept up a garrison for some years in it. But the Spanish government
had become too feeble to compete with either the English or the French
on the seas; and with the loss of their celebrated Armada, perished
forever their pretensions as a naval power. They were therefore forced
to look to the safety of their already established settlements in
Florida; and the easy capture of the fort at St. Augustine by the
passing squadron of Drake, evinced the necessity of works of a much more
formidable character.
It is evident that the fort, or castle as it was usually designated, had
been then commenced, although its form was afterwards changed; and for
sixty years subsequently, these unfortunate Apalachian Indians were
compelled to labor upon the works, until in 1680, upon the
recommendation of their mission Fathers, they were relieved from further
compulsory labor, with the understanding that in case of necessity they
would resume their labors.
In 1648, St. Augustine is described to have contained more than three
hundred householders (_vecinos_), a flourishing monastry of the order of
St. Francis with fifty Franciscans, men very zealous for the conversion
of the Indians, and regarded by their countrymen with the highest
veneration. Besides these there were in the city alone, a vicar, a
parochial curate, a superior sacristan, and a chaplain attached to the
castle. The parish church was built of wood, the Bishop of Cuba, it is
said, not being able to afford anything better, his whole income being
but four hundred pezos per annum, which he shared with Florida; and
sometimes he expended much more than his receipts.
In 1665, Captain Davis, one of the English buccaneers and freebooters
(then very numerous in the West Indies), with a fleet of seven or eight
vessels came on the coast from Jamaica, to intercept the Spanish plate
fleet on its return from New Spain to Europe; but being disappointed in
this scheme, he proceeded along the coast of Florida, and came off St.
Augustine, where he landed and marched directly upon the town, which he
sacked and plundered, without meeting the least opposition or resistance
from the Spaniards, although they had then a garrison of two hundred men
in the fort, which at that time was an octagon, fortified and defended
by round towers.
The fortifications, if this account be true, were probably then very
incomplete; and with a vastly inferior force it is not surprising that
they did not undertake what could only have been an ineffectual
resistance. It does not appear that the fort was taken; and the
inhabitants retired probably within its enclosure with their
valuables.[22]
In the Spanish account of the various occurrences in this country, it is
mentioned that in 1681, "the English having examined a province of
Florida, distant twelve leagues from another called New Castle, where
the air is pleasant, the climate mild, and the lands very fertile,
called it Salvania; and that knowing these advantages, a Quaker, or
Shaker (a sect barbarous impudent, and abominable), called William Penn,
obtained a grant of it from Charles II., King of England, and made great
efforts to colonize it." Such was the extent then claimed for the
province of Florida, and such the opinion entertained of the Quakers.
In 1681, Don Juan Marquez Cabrera, applied himself at once, upon his
appointment to the governorship of Florida, to finishing the castle;
and collected large quantities of stone, lime, timber, and iron, more
than sufficient subsequently to complete it. About this period, a new
impulse was given to the extension of the missions for converting the
Indians; and large reinforcements of the clerical force were received
from Mexico, Havana, and Spain; and many of them received salaries from
the crown. A considerable Indian town is spoken of at this period, as
existing six hundred varas north of St. Augustine, and called Macarasi,
which would correspond to the place formerly occupied by Judge Douglas,
deceased, and which has long been called Macariz. Other parts of the
country were known by various names. Amelia Island was the province of
Guale. The southern part of the country was known as the province of
Carlos. Indian river was the province of Ys. Westwardly was the province
of Apalachie; while smaller divisions were designated by the names of
the chiefs.
It is hardly to be doubted, that the same spirit of oppression towards
the Indians, exercised in the other colonies under Spanish domination,
existed in Florida. It has been already mentioned that the Apalachians
were kept at labor upon the fortifications of St. Augustine; and in
1680, the Yemasees, who had always been particularly peaceful and
manageable, and whose principal town was Macarisqui, near St. Augustine,
revolted at the rule exercised over them by the Spanish authorities at
St. Augustine, in consequence of the execution of one of their chiefs by
the order of the governor; and six years afterwards they made a general
attack upon the Spaniards, drove them within the walls of the castle,
and became such mortal enemies to them, that they never gave a Spaniard
quarter, waylaying, and invariably massacring, any stragglers they could
intercept outside of the fort.
In 1670, an English settlement was established near Port Royal, South
Carolina, one hundred and five years subsequent to the settlement of St.
Augustine. The Spaniards regarded it as an infringement upon their
rights; and although a treaty, after this settlement, had been made
between Spain and England, confirming to the latter all her settlements
and islands, yet as no boundaries or limits were mentioned, their
respective rights and boundaries remained a subject of dispute for
seventy years.
About 1675, the Spanish authorities at St. Augustine, having
intelligence from _white servants_ who fled to them, of the discontented
and miserable situation of the colony in Carolina, advanced with a
party under arms as far as the Island of St. Helena, to dislodge or
destroy the settlers. A treacherous colonist of the name of Fitzpatrick,
deserted to the Spaniards; but the governor, Sir John Yeamans, having
received a reinforcement, held his ground; and a detachment of fifty
volunteers under Colonel Godfrey, marched against the enemy, forcing
them to retire from the Island of St. Helena, and retreat to St.
Augustine.[23]
Ten years afterwards, three galleys sailed from St. Augustine, and
attacked a Scotch and English settlement at Port Royal, which had been
founded by Lord Cardross, in 1681. The settlement was weak and
unprotected, and the Spaniards fell upon them, killed several, whipped
many, plundered all, and broke up the colony. Flushed with success, they
continued their depredations on Edisto River, burning the houses,
wasting the plantations, and robbing the settlers; and finished their
marauding expedition by capturing the brother of Governor Morton, and
burning him alive in one of the galleys which a hurricane had driven so
high upon land as to make it impossible to have it re-launched. Such at
least is the English account of the matter; and they say that intestine
troubles alone prevented immediate and signal retaliation by the South
Carolinians.[24]
One Captain Don Juan de Aila went to Spain in the year 1687, in his own
vessel, to procure additional forces and ammunition for the garrison at
St. Augustine. He received the men and munitions desired; and as a
reward for his diligence and patriotism, he also received the privilege
of carrying merchandise, duty free; being also allowed to take twelve
Spanish negroes for the cultivation of the fields of Florida, of whom it
is said there was a great want in that province. By a mischance, he was
only able to carry one negro there, with the troops and other cargo, and
was received in the city with universal joy. This was the first occasion
of the reception of African slaves; although as has been heretofore
mentioned, it was made a part of the royal stipulation with Menendez,
that he should bring over five hundred negro slaves.
Don Diego de Quiroga y Losada, the governor of Florida in 1690, finding
that the sea was making dangerous encroachments upon the shores of the
town, and had reached even the houses, threatening to swallow them up,
and render useless the fort which had cost so much to put in the state
of completion in which it then was, called a public meeting of the chief
men and citizens of the place, and proposed to them that in order to
escape the danger which menaced them, and to restrain the force of the
sea, they should construct a wall, which should run from the castle and
cover and protect the city from all danger of the sea. The inhabitants
not only approved of his proposal, but began the work with so much zeal,
that the soldiers gave more than seventeen hundred dollars of their
wages, although they were very much behind, not having been paid in six
years; with which the governor began to make the necessary preparations,
and sent forward a dispatch to the home government upon the subject.
The council of war of the Indies approved, in the following year, of the
work of the sea wall, and directed the viceroy of New Spain to furnish
ten thousand dollars for it, and directed that a plan and estimate of
the work should be forwarded. Quiroga was succeeded in the governorship
of Florida, by Don Laureano de Torres, who went forward with the work of
the sea wall, and received for this purpose the means furnished by the
soldiers, and one thousand dollars more, which they offered besides the
two thousand dollars, and likewise six thousand dollars which had come
from New Spain, remitted by the viceroy, Count de Galleo, for the
purpose of building a tower, as a look-out to observe the surrounding
Indian settlements. Whether this tower was erected, or where, we have no
certain knowledge. The towers erected on the governor's palace and at
the northeast angle of the fort, were intended as look-outs both sea and
landward.
The statements made in reference to the building of this wall, from the
castle as far as the city, confirm the opinion previously expressed,
that the ancient and early settlement of the place was south of the
public square, as the remains of the ancient sea wall extend to the
basin at the Plaza. The top of this old sea wall is still visible along
the centre of Bay street, where it occasionally appears above the level
of the street; and its general plan and arrangement are shown on several
old maps and plans of the city. Upon a plan of the city made in 1665, it
is represented as terminating in a species of break-water at the public
square. It is unnecessary to add that the present sea wall is a much
superior structure to the old, and extends above twice the distance. Its
cost is said to have been one hundred thousand dollars, and it was
building from 1837 to 1843.
In the year 1700, the work on the sea wall had progressed but slowly,
although the governor had employed thirty stone-cutters at a time, and
had eight yoke of oxen drawing stone to the landing, and two lime-kilns
all the while at work. But the money previously provided, and
considerable additional funds was requisite, resembling in this respect
its successor. The new governor, De Curriga, took the matter in hand, as
he had much experience in fortifications. The defenses of the fort are
spoken of as being at the time too weak to resist artillery, and the
sea wall as being but a slight work.