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Other Expeditions to Florida- 1543- 1561. While De Soto was thus traversing Florida and the country east of the Mississippi, Mendoza, the Viceroy of Mexico, had fitted out an expedition to enter upon the route of De Vaca. It consisted of but thirty horsemen, under the command first of Juan de Caldivar, and afterwards of Coronado, who passed as far north as Missouri, and crossed several rivers, to which he gave names, but which are described with so little accuracy as to give but slender aid to their being now identified. Passing through a province called Quivira, they were informed of four white men having been there, whom they supposed must have been De Vaca and his comrades. After the return of Coronado, the zealous brothers of the order of St. Francis determined to visit Quivira, which, having undertaken with a small party, these worthy men fell martyrs to their Christian zeal, being murdered by the natives, with all of their party, except two men who escaped to Mexico by different routes. Upon the arrival of Don Luis Muscoza de Alvarado in Mexico with the remnant of De Soto's expedition, Mendoza, the Viceroy, endeavored to induce some of them to lead an expedition he was anxious to fit out for Florida; but they were unwilling again to enter upon this enterprise. In the following year, 1544, Julian de Samano and Pedro de Ahumada, being satisfied that Florida abounded in pearls and fine furs, and believing that mines of gold, silver, and other metals could be opened, sought the privilege of conquering the country, but failed to obtain the desired permission. A treasure-ship, on a voyage to Spain from New Mexico, was lost, on the eastern coast of Florida, in the year 1545, and of some two hundred persons on board who escaped to the land, all were sacrificed by the Indians except a few who were reduced to servitude. One of these made his way to Laudonniere twenty years afterwards, and several others escaped to Menendez. The religious zeal of the Franciscans again induced an attempt to plant the cross on the shores of Florida. It is probable that had this attempt preceded the armed expeditions which had landed on these shores, they would have been received with the kindness which seems to have welcomed the first comers to the shores of America. But the natives had learned to associate all white men with the armed invaders of their soil, and they could make no distinction between the sword of the one and the cross of the other. Four Franciscan brothers, Fra Luis Cancer de Bastro, of the order of St. Dominic, who had been in Mexico, and held the office of Provincial Vicar of Guatemala and Chiapas, Fra Gregorio de Betata, Fra Diego de Penalosa, Fra Juan Garcia, and one Donado, called Fuentes, sailed from Havana in the year 1549, and landed at Espiritu Santo Bay. Penalosa and Fuentes, attempting to penetrate into the country, were set upon at once and massacred by the natives. The others had remained on board their vessel in the harbor, and, while lying there, a Spaniard came off to them, named Juan Munoz, who was a page of Captain Calderon, an officer of De Soto's expedition. He had been captured by the Indians, and held by them ten years, and now most gladly availed himself of this opportunity of escape. Fra Luis, the chief of the clerical party, was not discouraged by the fate of Penalosa and Fuentes, and, not- withstanding the earnest efforts of Munoz and others to dissuade him from the attempt, he determined to try his power of persuasion upon the hostile natives. His Christian zeal could not be restrained by the dictates of prudence, and, unwilling to give up the object of his journey thither without a final effort to reach the hearts of those people, he prepared to sacrifice his life, if necessary, in the attempt. Accordingly, he insisted upon landing alone among the dusky throng of warriors who lined the shores of the Espiritu Santo. Scarcely had the zealous priest touched the beach before he fell beneath the war-clubs of the infuriated savages, a martyr to his zeal ; and the shores of this most beautiful bay were reddened with the blood of one whose Christian devotion and unselfishness formed a marked contrast to the characters of those whose lust for gold had brought them to the New World. The companions of Fra Luis de Cancer, deterred by his fate from making any further effort to Christianize the natives of Florida, abandoned the expedition, and set sail for Cuba. Some three years afterwards, a Spanish plate fleet, which had left Vera Cruz with upwards of one thousand persons on board, was wrecked on the coast of Florida. Stopping, as usual, at Havana, the fleet had again set sail for Spain, when it was overtaken by one of those tremendous gales which prevail with such terrific effect in the southern seas, and driven before its resistless power. The whole fleet, with the exception of a single vessel, was cast upon the inhospitable shores of Florida, somewhere within the Gulf of Mexico, probably very considerably to the west. Of the thousand persons on board, only three hundred reached the shore. They endeavored to reach Mexico by passing along the shores, making rafts to cross the mouths of the rivers, but, incessantly harassed by the Indians, and over-come by fatigue, they gradually decreased in numbers until all had perished except one Francis Marcos. He had been left by his companions, in a dying condition, buried in the sand, wirh only his face exposed; but, reviving sufficiently to exert himself a little further, he crawled along the coast until he was discovered and taken up by two friendly Indians, who carried him in a boat to Panuco. With the exception of the few who were in the vessel that escaped shipwreck, this Francis Marcos was the sole survivor of more than a thousand persons who had left the shores of New Spain full of joyful anticipations of a return to their native land, where they would become famous among their country men as those who had visited far countries, performed great feats, seen wonderful things, and returned enriched with some of the treasures of Mexico. Notwithstanding the many disasters that had befallen those who had approached the shores of Florida, and which seemed to promise to the future invaders only disappointment and death, there yet appeared to exist some great attraction for the adventurous, and a belief in the hidden treasures of this country induced renewed efforts for its conquest. In 1556 a memorial was addressed to the emperor by the Viceroy of Mexico, and the Bishop of Cuba, to whose diocese Florida belonged, setting forth the great richness of Florida, and the immense benefits which would result to the cause of religion and to the empire from its acquisition. In consequence of this memorial, orders were transmitted to the Viceroy of New Spain to prepare an expedition for the conquest and settlement of Florida, and it was said that such were the accounts given by those who had been in the expeditions of Narvaez and De Soto, of the exceeding richness of the country, that there was a widespread desire to engage in the enterprise. The expedition, which was to leave Vera Cruz in the spring of 1559, was planned upon an extensive scale. It consisted of fifteen hundred soldiers, and a large number of friars and zealous preachers, burning for the conversion of the Indians, all under the command of Don Tristan de Luna and other officers of experience. They sailed from Vera Cruz amid salvos of artillery and shouts of good will and kind wishes from the assembled multitude, and, gayly flinging their pennons to the breeze, they went forth with the most brilliant anticipations of success. On the 14th of August the fleet cast anchor in a bay to which they gave the name of Santa Maria, and described as a spacious and convenient harbor. This was doubtless the Bay of Pensacola, which we find frequently mentioned afterwards in the Spanish relations as the Bay of Santa Maria. Upon their arrival at this point, dispatch-vessels were sent to Mexico and Spain to announce their progress and confirm the opinions entertained of the value of the country. Reconnoitring expeditions were sent along the rivers, and preparations made for exploring the interior. On the 20th of August, six days after their arrival, there was a terrible gale, which wrecked the entire fleet, and destroyed a large portion of their provisions. Don Tristan de Luna encouraged his followers to persevere in their course, assuring them that supplies would soon reach them from the viceroy, and he directed an expedition to be fitted out, composed of four companies, to penetrate the country which was called the Province of Coca. With the remainder of his men he established himself at the port, with the hope that some opportunity would offer by which he might inform the viceroy of their unfortunate condition. The sergeant-major, with the four companies, traveled for forty days through an uninhabited country, until he arrived upon the banks of a river which he was unable to cross. Following along the banks of this river, which was undoubtedly the Alabama, they at length came upon an Indian village, from which, on the approach of the Spaniards, the inhabitants all fled. They found within the houses a considerable supply of corn, beans, and other vegetable products. In examining the surrounding country they encountered some of the natives, whom they propitiated with beads and other trifling presents, and who, although they seemed surprised, made no attempt at escape. By means of an Indian interpreter, the Spaniards asked the name of the town and province, why it was deserted, and what country lay beyond it. They replied that the town was called Napicnoca ; that it had been very large and well peopled, but that other strangers, like the Spaniards, had destroyed it, and forced the inhabitants to fly, except a few who remained to gather the harvest. (1) The sergeant-major sent out several detachments to examine the adjacent country, but they were greatly discouraged on finding only vast deserts and solitudes. Returning to Napicnoca, sixteen men were sent back to Santa Maria to report the progress of the expedition. In the mean time Don Tristan de Luna, who had with him at Santa Maria a force of over one thousand men, receiving no intelligence from the sergeant-major, and concluding from the time which had elapsed that the exploring party had been cut off by the natives, determined to remain no longer at the bay, where they were suffering from the want of provisions, their supplies being now exhausted. While preparing to go into the interior, the sixteen men sent back by the sergeant-major arrived, and, learning from them that at Napicnoca were corn and other supplies, De Luna determined to proceed with his men to that town, some going by land and others by the river. Upon his arrival, Don Tristan named the place Santa Cruz de Napicnoca. The large number of persons to be provisioned soon consumed the supplies which the sergeant-major had gathered, and they were obliged to rely upon such chance food as they could obtain, living upon acorns, which they partially relieved of their bitterness by boiling them first in salt water and afterwards in fresh water. The women and young children, unable to eat the acorns, lived upon the tender leaves and young twigs of the forest trees. They were soon reduced to the last stage of hunger and despair, looking forward to death as their only relief, when they were told of the province of Coca, which had the reputation of being an abundant and rich province, of which they had before heard, but were ignorant of the route to reach it. This information was gladly received; some of the party, who had probably visited that province with De Soto, assuring them that if they could once reach there they would find an abundance of everything. De Luna thereupon sent the sergeant-major, with two hundred men, to explore the route to Coca, two worthy friars accompanying the expedition. The sergeant-major, now hopeful for the future, moved northwardly, forced to rely for food upon the roots and branches of trees; seeming to have been too unskillful to obtain game. They were forced to eat even their thongs and straps, and seven of their number died of starvation and from eating poisonous shrubs. They found no habitations, and encountered none of the natives, and were so reduced as to be almost incapable of either advancing or returning to their comrades; but they still pushed on, until they at length entered a wooded country, abounding in chestnuts and hickory-nuts. Relieved of their sufferings, they now felt cheered to prosecute their journey, and, fifty days after leaving Napicnoca, they came to Indian settlements upon the banks of a river which the Indians called Olibahaki, and farther on they came to small towns. Making friendly advances to the natives, they procured provisions of them in limited quantities, the natives manifesting much caution and distrust. A miracle is reported to have occurred while they were in this settlement, which is illustrative of the veneration
entertained by the Spaniards for the mysteries of their faith. A rude chapel had been erected, of boughs, for the
purpose of celebrating mass, and while the priest was in the act of consecrating the Host, he perceived upon the
edge of the chalice a disgusting and probably poisonous worm, so situated that an attempt to remove it would cause
its fall within the chalice. Perplexed by so unfortunate a circumstance, the priest fell upon his knees and earnestly
prayed that the worm might not be permitted to fall into the holy sacrament, and immediately the worm fell from
the cup to the altar, devoid of life. The priest, regarding it as a miraculous answer to his prayer, made use of
the occasion to urge upon the company constancy and conformity in their works, at all times, to the will of God. (1) Finding themselves duped, some counseled a return to Olibahaki, but the majority preferred to go on, and a few days afterwards reached the object of their search, the far-famed province of Coca. The principal town of this province contained about thirty houses, and there were seven other towns belonging to this tribe. The land, in consequence of the want of cultivation, did not appear so productive as had been reported in Mexico by the survivors of De Soto's expedition. The neglect of the soil was attributed by the Indians to the fact that the people had fled from their habitations and fields, and been dispersed by the followers of De Soto. The sergeant-major remained at Coca seven days, receiving every mark of attention from the natives. Learning that the people of Coca were at war with a neighboring tribe, the Spaniards proposed, in recompense for the kindness they had received, to assist their friends of Coca, a proposal which the Indians gladly accepted. Meanwhile, the friars were not unmindful of the spiritual purposes of their mission, and sought to enlighten the minds and reach the hearts of the natives, portraying to them, to the best of their ability, the truths of the gospel; but with little success, the Indians, it is said, being more intent upon punishing their enemies than upon the salvation of their own souls. The expedition against the Napaches, by the aid of the Spaniards, proved successful, no loss being sustained on either side, and a satisfactory treaty being made between the tribes. The sergeant-major proceeded to examine the country with a view to settlement, and in the mean time dispatched an officer with twelve men to report to the general, who, with eight hundred of his followers, had remained at Napicnoca. De Luna, having remained at the latter place for some time, and receiving no intelligence from the sergeant-major, concluded to return to the Bay of Santa Maria. Some of his party during their stay at the Indian town had died of hunger, and others had become greatly enfeebled. Before leaving, he buried at the foot of a tree a vase containing a scroll, with directions for any of the Coca expedition who should return there ; and on the tree he cut the words, "Dig below.'' The Spaniards arrived at Santa Maria after a journey of severe toils and sufferings. At their own request, the friars were permitted to set sail with two small vessels for Havana, and to proceed thence to New Spain to procure succor for their companions. The twelve soldiers dispatched by the sergeant-major reached Napicnoca in twelve days, traversing in this space of time the distance which the Spaniards had taken seventy days to pass over upon their advance. Arriving at Napicnoca, the detachment were surprised to see no signs of the Spaniards who had been left there, but, entering the town, they observed the inscription upon the tree, and disinterred the vase containing instructions for them, and rejoiced to learn that their friends were still living. Then pushing on with all haste to Santa Maria, which was forty leagues distant, they reached there in three days, when they met with a joyful reception from their friends. The party which had been sent by the sergeant-major delivered the letters with which he had intrusted them for the general ; and to the inquiries eagerly made in the camp as to "the character of the country which they had visited, they replied, making a very unfavorable report of the regions which they had passed through, enlarging upon the trials and sufferings they had undergone, and depreciating the province of Coca. These reports caused great discontent in the camp, and disposed a large number to advocate the instant abandonment of such a country. Juan de Ceron, the master of the camp, and others of the principal officers, expressed their opinion openly, and De Luna, in calling his officers together to announce to them his determination to proceed to the province of Coca, was met by a stout opposition on the part of De Ceron and those who entertained his views. The general, in reply to those who had no faith in the value of Coca, charged them with a desire to avoid the labor and trials attending the march and settlement of the country, and said that they were influenced more by their indolence than other reasons, and issued his orders that all should prepare for the march to Coca. But the discontent had already extended to the larger part of the army, and, supported in their opposition by their officers, they set at defiance the authority of the general, and secretly sent word to the sergeant-major to return to Santa Maria. The messenger sent by them arrived safely at Coca, and informed the sergeant-major that the general commanded his return, as the army was about to leave the country. The Indians of Coca parted from the Spaniards with great regret, accompanying them two or three days journey, and crying with great demonstrations of affection. The sergeant-major arrived at Santa Maria in the beginning of November, having been engaged some seven months in this exploration of the country. Events often derive their importance from the skill with which they are narrated; and had this journey of the sergeant-major been sufficiently fortunate to have a chronicler like Cabeca de Vaca, doubtless it would have been regarded with as much interest as the expeditions of Narvaez and De Soto. The route pursued cannot be very well traced, the slight notices of natural objects and the unrecognizable names of towns giving no clue to identification. It is quite probable that the river encountered on their march to Napicnoca was the Alabama, and that the Indian town was somewhere near Camden. The twelve days' travel thence to Coca was through the pine-barrens and sand-hills of South Alabama, and the Olibahaki was the Coosa or Alabama. The province of Coca was the Coosa country in the northeastern part of Alabama. Upon the return of the sergeant-major to the Bay of Santa Maria, the camp still remained divided. The general retained his purpose to remain in the country, and the disaffected were equally determined to depart from that region. All respect for authority was weakened, and the quarrel became so violent as to render useless the efforts of the priests to reconcile it. The general, jealous of his authority and indignant at the opposition of his officers, became daily more harsh and irritable. In the mean time, the two vessels which had gone with the friars to procure relief reached Havana in safety, and thence proceeded to Vera Cruz, where they carried to the unwilling ears of the Viceroy their tale of the sufferings and disappointments which had attended the expedition. He was loath to credit the information; but the high character of the envoy, Don Pedro de Feria, afterwards Bishop of Chiapa, gave no room to doubt the painful truth. It was a sad disappointment, after all the flattering accounts which had been brought to Mexico of the riches and fertility of the country, to be compelled to believe otherwise. The viceroy promptly sent off the two vessels loaded with provisions to Santa Maria. This opportune relief produced no change in the condition of affairs at the camp of Don Tristan de Luna. Five long months they lingered on the shores of Santa Maria, each party inflexibly adhering to its resolution, so that the general could not proceed with his expedition, nor could the disaffected leave the hated shores. A reconciliation was finally effected, from the foot of the altar, by the skill and energy of Father Domingo. At length there arrived at the port of Santa Maria, Don Angel de Villafane, who had been sent out by the Viceroy of Cuba as Governor of Florida, with instructions to make an examination of the shores of the gulf, which, in consequence of the continual storms, he had been inable to do. Upon his arrival, councils were held by the officers as to the course which it was advisable to pursue. The general and a few others desired to continue the enterprise, but the larger number preferred to abandon the country. Those who desired to leave embarked on the vessels of Don Angel de Villafane. Don Tristan de Luna, with a few of his followers, remained at the Bay of Santa Maria, and communicated to the Viceroy of Mexico the events which had occurred, the obstacles he had encountered, and his views of the manner of remedying them; but the Viceroy, discouraged by the failures which had hitherto attended the expedition, and go unwilling further to pursue it, recalled De Luna, and abandoned his efforts for the conquest of Florida. Thus ended the most considerable and best-appointed expedition which had ever landed on the shores of Florida, and which, under better management, might have been measurably successful in planting a colony on the banks of the Coosa. Although no such terrible disaster attended this as had befallen the previous expeditions, yet the privations and sufferings which were undergone were well calculated to deter others from a renewal of the attempt. The cavalier Don Tristan de Luna remained to the last, unwilling to turn his back upon a country the conquest of which had been assigned to him, and which he was satisfied was really valuable and productive. The clergy, who had in considerable numbers been attached to the expedition, added their voices to those who felt unwilling to remain, and De Luna was forced to abandon the beautiful Bay of Santa Maria, and leave the occupation of the country he had explored to be accomplished by succeeding generations. It seems evident, upon comparing the narrative of the expedition of the sergeant-major of De Luna with the accounts of Cabeca de Vaca and De Soto, that the sergeant major must have wandered through some barren portion of Lower Alabama, and failed to reach more than the outskirts of the numerous Indian settlements in the country bordering on the Coosa and the Tennessee Rivers, and which De Vaca and De Soto had rightly described as rich and fertile. This expedition of De Luna possesses much interest, as establishing the fact that a settlement of Spaniards occupied the shores of the Bay of Pensacola in 1561, and that the whole of that region was known to them. Moreover, this was the last of the exploring expeditions which visited Florida, and occurred only a year prior to the landing of the French Huguenots, under Ribaut, on the eastern coast, and only antedated by four years the permanent settlement of Florida, effected by Pedro de Menendez. It is but just that among the historic names connected with the discovery and exploration of Florida should be remembered that of Don Tristan de Luna.
(1) Undoubtedly the other strangers were De Soto and his party.
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