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Spanish missions in Georgia facts for kids

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St Aug Nombre de Dios missions plaque02
A plaque showing the locations of a third of the missions between 1565 and 1763

The Spanish missions in Georgia were like special outposts set up by Spanish Catholics. Their main goal was to share the Christian message with the Guale and Timucua peoples living in what is now southeastern Georgia.

Starting in the late 1500s, Spain built many missions across Spanish Florida. This large area included much of the Southeastern United States today. Spain wanted to teach Christianity to the Native Americans. They also wanted to control the land and stop other countries, like England and France, from settling there. Spain mostly controlled parts of Florida and southeastern Georgia, with cities like St. Augustine and Tallahassee. Some missions were also built for a short time in other places, like Mission Santa Elena in South Carolina.

Native Peoples of the Missions

The missions in southeastern Georgia were built for the Guale and Timucua people. The Spanish divided their land into "provinces." These provinces were often named after the language or dialect spoken by the people living there.

The Guale people lived north of the Altamaha River on the Sea Islands of Georgia. South of the Guale were different groups of Timucua people. The coast from the Altamaha River down to St. Augustine was first called "San Pedro." Later, it became "Mocama."

Many Timucua groups lived in this area. For example, the Cascangue and Icafui people lived on the mainland south of the Altamaha River. The Yufera people lived inland from them. The Ibi people lived west of the Yufera, near the Okefenokee Swamp. The Tacatacuru people lived around Cumberland Island and St. Simons Island. Later, Yamassee people also moved into the Guale area and joined some of the Spanish missions. This happened because other native groups, allied with the English, were putting pressure on them.

How Missions Worked

Spanish missions were set up based on how the native groups already lived. Usually, a group of five to ten towns or villages formed a chiefdom, with one main town for the chief. Sometimes, several chiefdoms would join together under one main chief.

The Spanish built two types of mission stations:

  • Doctrinas: These were main stations with a missionary living there. They usually had a church, a house for the missionary, and a kitchen.
  • Visitas: These were smaller stations in outer villages. They had a cross and a simple chapel, often outdoors. A missionary would visit these places, but no one lived there permanently.

Churches at doctrinas were often made of wood posts with a thatched roof and clay floors. Some had walls made of planks or wattle and daub. While missionaries held some services at visitas, people from those villages would go to the doctrina for important holidays.

By 1620, there were 32 doctrinas serving over 200 towns in Spanish Florida. However, the number of native people living in the missions went down over time. By the 1630s, many smaller visitas were closed, and people moved to the main doctrina towns.

Sometimes, Spanish soldiers were stationed at missions to protect them from pirates and attacks from the English or French. When native people became Christians, they received a Christian name and started following some Christian customs. Many also learned Spanish.

The Retreat of the Missions

In 1670, the English started a colony at Charles Town. This caused big problems for the Spanish missions. The English traded guns and other goods with the Muscogee and Yamassee peoples. These native groups then began attacking the Spanish missions in Florida.

In 1680, a group of Muscogee warriors attacked the Santiago de Ocone mission on Jekyll Island, but they were pushed back. Another group of 300 warriors, led by English officers, attacked the Santa Catalina mission on St. Catherines Island. Six Spanish soldiers and 16 Guale musketeers bravely defended the mission and won.

After these attacks, the Spanish governor ordered a retreat from the northern part of Guale Province. This meant the native people living in the mission towns had to leave. The Guale people did not want to go. Many ran into the woods, and some even joined the Muscogee and Yamassee raiders. By 1684, most of the northern Guale people had sided with the English.

At the same time, pirates started attacking the remaining Spanish missions along the Georgia coast. Spain could not protect the missions from the English, their native allies, and the pirates. By 1686, all Spanish missions north of the St. Marys River were abandoned.

Many mission towns were moved closer to St. Augustine in Florida. For example, the Santa Isabel de Utinahica mission was moved to St. Simons Island. The Santa María de los Angeles de Arapaje mission was listed in the 1630s. Some missions, like the Ibi and Oconi, were combined. When the Spanish ordered them to move to the coast and they refused, the Spanish destroyed their town.

The San Pedro de Mocama mission was last mentioned in Spanish records in 1655. Guale and Yamassee people moving south likely pushed the Timucuan Mocamas further south, perhaps to Amelia Island.

In 1675, only 70 Mocama people were reported living at two missions: San Buenaventura de Guadalquini and San Juan del Puerto in Florida.

Missions in 1675

  • San Felipe, Cumberland Island, Guale
  • San Buenaventura de Guadalquini, St. Simons Island, Timucua
  • Santo Domingo de Asaho, St. Simons Island, Guale

Attacks on the missions continued. In 1680, about 300 Chichimeco, Uchise, and Chiluque warriors, helped by English instructors, attacked the town of Colon on St. Simons Island. Spanish soldiers and Mocama people from the San Buenaventura de Guadalquini mission helped defend Colon. The same group then attacked Santa Catalina de Guale a few days later.

Pirates attacked St. Augustine in 1683. After that failed, they raided several missions along the coast, including San Phelipe on Cumberland Island. The Spanish government planned to move the remaining missions closer to St. Augustine. But before they could, pirates returned in 1684. Most people from Guadalquini moved to the mainland for safety. The pirates burned the church and priest's house. The mission was then moved to a new site in Florida, called Santa Cruz de Guadalquini.

List of Missions

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