Santa Elena (Spanish Florida) facts for kids

Santa Elena was a Spanish town built on what is now Parris Island, South Carolina. It was the main city of Spanish Florida from 1566 to 1587. Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, the first governor of Spanish Florida, started the town.

Before Santa Elena, both the Spanish and the French tried to build towns in the area. They heard stories from Chicora and Hernando de Soto about rich lands further inland. Menéndez wanted Santa Elena to be the new capital of the Spanish colony of La Florida. This moved Spain's main efforts north from St. Augustine, which was built in 1565. St. Augustine's goal was to remove the French from their town, Fort Caroline. Santa Elena was built where the French had left their outpost, Charlesfort, which was founded in 1562 by Jean Ribault.

In 1565, Menéndez destroyed the French Fort Caroline. Then, he founded Santa Elena. This town had many people, including religious teachers and soldiers. Santa Elena became the main place for the Jesuits and soldiers working in the northern part of Spanish Florida. From here, the Spanish built six other forts. This happened during Captain Juan Pardo's trip into the land and the Appalachian Mountains. But local Native American groups fought back. They killed the soldiers and destroyed all the forts in 1568. After this, Spain stopped trying to build towns in this area.

In 1586, Francis Drake led an English attack on St. Augustine. The Spanish left Santa Elena the next year. The people still living there moved to St. Augustine to make it stronger. Spain never tried to claim this area again. They focused on other parts of the American continent.

History of Santa Elena

People became interested in this area after Francisco Gordillo and Pedro de Quejo explored parts of the southeastern United States in 1521. Quejo and Francisco de Chicora, one of the 70 Native Americans brought to Hispaniola, told stories about how rich the region was. These stories inspired Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón to start a short-lived town called San Miguel de Gualdape. This town was left after only a few months.

In 1540, Hernando de Soto's group found European goods in the rich chiefdom of Cofitachequi in present-day South Carolina. They realized they were near where Ayllón's town had been. Their stories of wealthy lands led to more plans for towns. In 1559, Tristán de Luna y Arellano started a town at present-day Pensacola, Florida. This was meant to be a base for future towns in Santa Elena, but this plan failed. The French also heard these early stories and became interested. In 1562, Jean Ribault came to modern-day Parris Island. He set up the short-lived town of Charlesfort there. However, the Spanish attacked it, and it was abandoned the next year.

Governor Pedro Menéndez de Avilés founded St. Augustine in 1565. This was because the French had built Fort Caroline the year before in what is now Jacksonville, Florida. René Goulaine de Laudonnière led the French effort. Menéndez burned Fort Caroline and forced the French out of Florida.

In 1566, the Spanish focused again on building towns in Santa Elena. A town was founded there in 1566. Menéndez told Captain Juan Pardo to lead a trip from Santa Elena into the interior of Southeast North America. Pardo's job was to make peace with the Native Americans and convert them. He also had to find a land route to silver mines in central Mexico. The Spanish wrongly thought the Appalachian Mountains were connected to mountains there.

The first Pardo trip left in December 1566 with 125 men. They created the first Spanish and European town inside what became North Carolina. Pardo led his men to Joara, a large chiefdom of the Mississippian culture north of present-day Morganton. Pardo renamed the town Cuenca, after his hometown, claiming it for Spain. The Spanish built Fort San Juan here and made it their base for the winter. Pardo left 30 men there.

On another trip the next year, Pardo built five more forts. He left soldiers along the Appalachian mountains as far as Chiaha in southeastern modern Tennessee. He returned to Santa Elena without going back through Joara. In 1568, the Native Americans attacked the soldiers. They killed all but one of the 120 men in these forts and burned all the forts. The Spanish never returned to claim the land inside the country. The sites of Joara and Fort San Juan were found through digging, which is still happening today.

In 1576, Native Americans from the nearby Orista and Escamacu towns burned Santa Elena. The Spanish left Fort San Felipe, which was also burned. A year later, the Spanish came back and rebuilt the town. At the same time, they built Fort San Marcos. In 1580, the Spanish fought off an attack on the island by 2,000 Native Americans.

In May 1586, Francis Drake led an English force to attack and burn St. Augustine in La Florida. The Spanish worried about another attack. They thought their towns were too spread out, did not have enough men, and lacked weapons. Governor Pedro Menéndez Márquez talked with the Council of the Indies in Seville. They learned that St. Augustine was destroyed by July. He also spoke with King Philip II of Spain. They decided to focus their efforts on St. Augustine. Menéndez left Santa Elena and Parris Island. This was the end of Spain's lasting presence in what is now South Carolina. The Spanish moved back to present-day Florida. They decided to focus on building towns in other parts of the continent. The Escamacu people, who became Roman Catholic before the Spanish left in 1587, kept their religion. They survived as a tribe into the early 1600s. After that, they joined larger tribes.

During the 21 years Spain was there, Santa Elena had several forts. These included Fort San Salvador, built by Menéndez in 1566. Fort San Felipe was built after more soldiers and supplies arrived. Fort San Marcos was built during the second time the Spanish lived in Santa Elena. Since the late 1900s, the site of Santa Elena has been studied a lot by archaeologists.

Missions

A few missions were set up for Native people living near Santa Elena from 1566 to 1570. These included Escamau-Orista, Guatari, and Joadi.

Governors

• Vicente González and Tomás Bernaldo de Quirós: 1577 to 1580
• Juan de Posada: 1588-1589

See also

In Spanish: Santa Elena (Florida) para niños