San Buenaventura de Guadalquini facts for kids
San Buenaventura de Guadalquini was a Spanish mission, like a small settlement with a church, located on St. Simon's Island in Georgia. It existed from around 1597 to 1609 until 1684. That year, pirates attacked and burned the mission and its town.
After the attack, the mission moved. It went to the north side of the St. Johns River in what is now Duval County, Florida. There, it was known as Santa Cruz de Guadalquini. After a few years, it joined with another mission called San Juan del Puerto.
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Where Was Guadalquini?
The name Guadalquini was what the Timucua people called St. Simon's Island. The Spanish called it Isla de Ballenas, which means "Isle of Whales." You might also see the name written as Boadalquivi in old Spanish papers.
For a long time, historians thought the San Buenaventura de Guadalquini mission was on Jekyll Island. But after looking at old and new documents, they found out it was actually on St. Simon's Island.
Who Lived at Guadalquini?
Many experts in the early 1900s believed the people of San Buenaventura de Guadalquini were Guale. However, there is proof that by 1580, the people of Guadalquini were part of the Mocama group.
Some historians think that the Guale people might have lived on Guadalquini when Europeans first arrived in Georgia. They believe that after the Guale rebellion of 1597, the Guale people might have left the southern part of the island. Then, Mocama people, who spoke Timucua, moved in and took their place.
In 1580, two French ships visited Guadalquini. They tried to get local tribes to attack the Spanish fort at Santa Elena. This fort was on what is now Parris Island, South Carolina. About 1,000 warriors from towns along the Georgia and South Carolina coast surrounded Santa Elena for a couple of weeks. But they left without success.
The San Buenaventura mission was built on the southern end of Guadalquini sometime between 1597 and 1609. It was probably near where the St. Simons Island Light is today. This mission was the northernmost mission in the Mocama area. It was about 32 leagues (a Spanish measurement of distance) away from St. Augustine.
Important Meetings and Attacks
In 1618, the San Buenaventura de Guadalquini mission hosted an important meeting for the Franciscan religious order. Food was cheaper there than in St. Augustine. Also, friars (religious brothers) could easily travel there by canoe from other missions.
The governor of Florida, Alonso de Aranguiz y Cortes, sent Spanish soldiers to San Buenaventura. This happened after the Chichimecos (a name the Spanish used for the Westos) destroyed the Santo Domingo de Talaje mission in 1661.
In 1680, groups of raiders attacked Colon, a town near Guadalquini. These raiders included Chichimeco, Uchise (the Spanish name for Muscogee), and Chiluque (a name for some Mocamo and Yamasee people). They were helped by the English from the Province of Carolina. Spanish soldiers and Native Americans from San Buenaventura went to help Colon. The raiders left, then attacked the Santa Catalina de Guale mission to the north. In 1684, more raiding parties, supported by the English, attacked missions in the Guale and Mocama areas.
Mission Population
We don't have a lot of information about how many people lived at the mission. A count in 1675 reported 40 Christians there. In 1681, another count showed 45 men and 42 women over the age of 12.
The mission of Santa Isabel de Utinahica might have joined with San Buenaventura around the mid-1600s. Clara, the female chief (cacica) of Utinihica, was still living at the new Santa Cruz y San Buenaventura de Guadalquini mission in 1685.
The Santa Cruz Mission
In 1683, pirates attacked St. Augustine. Because of this and the attacks on missions along the Georgia coast, Governor Juan Márquez Cabrera ordered the missions to move closer to St. Augustine. The plan was for San Buenaventura to join with the San Juan del Puerto mission.
But before the mission could move, pirates returned in 1684. When Lorenzo de Santiago, the chief of San Buenaventura, heard about the pirates, he moved his people. They took most of their belongings and stored corn to the mainland. When the pirates landed at San Buenaventura, they found only ten men guarding the village. These men went into the woods, and the pirates burned the village and mission.
After the burning, the people of Guadalquini moved. They went to a new spot on the north side of the St. Johns River. This was about one league west of San Juan del Puerto. A new mission called Santa Cruz de Guadalquini was built there. It was likely placed at a site the Spanish called Vera Cruz. This site had been an old mission outpost that was abandoned 50 years earlier. This might be why they chose the name Santa Cruz.
Growing Community
In 1685, people living at Santa Cruz asked if Guales, people from Colon, and other Yamassees could join their village. By 1689, Santa Cruz had 60 families, which was twice as many as at San Juan. In 1695, the people living at Santa Cruz included chiefs from San Simon and Colon, who were not Mocama.
The San Juan Mission
By 1697, the Santa Cruz mission had joined with the San Juan del Puerto mission. Lorenzo de Santiago, who had been the chief of San Buenaventura on Guadalquini before it moved in 1684, became the chief of San Juan by 1701. It seems that most of the people living at San Juan in 1701 had come from the Guadalquini mission. Some had even come from the village of Colon, which was north of the old San Buenaventura mission on Guadalquini. Lorenzo de Santiago, who had been chief of Guadalquini for a long time, became the main chief in the Mocama Province.
Moving Again
In 1701, the people at San Juan wanted to move to a place south of the St. Johns River called Piritirica. But the Governor in St. Augustine wanted a town to stay at San Juan. This was important for spotting attacks early from the English or their Native American allies.
Some people from Santa Cruz were allowed to move to Piritihica. This new place was three leagues from Santa Cruz, across the St. Johns River. People who stayed at Santa Cruz were also allowed to farm fields at Piritihica.
In 1702, the mission at San Juan del Puerto, the new settlement at Piritihica, and other Spanish missions north of the St. Johns River were destroyed. This was done by soldiers from the Province of Carolina and their Native American allies. The people living in the missions fled to St. Augustine just before the attacks.
Piritihica After the Attacks
Soon after the English and their allies left their attack on St. Augustine, the Spanish and the Guale and Mocama Native Americans returned to Piritihica. The Spanish built a wooden fort there. They settled the Native Americans in villages north and south of the fort. One village was for the Guale people who had fled missions on Amelia Island. The other village held the Mocama people who had escaped from San Juan del Puerto. These included the people who had once lived at San Buenaventura de Guadalquini.
About a year and a half later, Native Americans allied with the English attacked Piritihica. Many people were killed or taken away. The survivors from the Mocama village, some of whom had lived on Guadalquini Island, were moved again. They were resettled in Palica, a village five leagues from St. Augustine. This was the fourth time they had moved in twenty years!
Finding the Mission Today
Archaeologists have been digging at a site on Black Hammock Island in the Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve. This might be the location of the mission. The Cedar Point archaeological site (8Du81) is at the south end of Black Hammock Island. People have lived there on and off for over 4,000 years, from the Archaic period until the 20th century.
