Urriparacoxi facts for kids

Urriparacoxi, also known as Paracoxi, was an important Native American chief. He lived in central Florida a long time ago, around the year 1539. This was when a Spanish explorer named Hernando de Soto traveled through the southeastern United States. The name "Urriparacoxi" was actually a special title, meaning "war leader." We don't know the real name of the people he led or the exact name of their land.

Meeting the Spanish Explorers

In the summer of 1539, Hernando de Soto arrived on the west coast of Florida. He came with many men, hoping to explore and settle the land. Many historians believe de Soto landed near Tampa Bay.

Soon after landing, de Soto met Juan Ortiz. Ortiz was a Spanish sailor who had been held captive by local chiefs for eleven years. Ortiz told de Soto about a powerful chief named Urriparacoxi. This chief lived inland and had a lot of maize (corn). Other local groups, like Mocoso and Uzita, paid tribute to Urriparacoxi.

De Soto sent one of his captains, Baltazar de Gallegos, to visit Urriparacoxi. This happened on June 20.

The Spanish Visit Urriparacoxi's Town

When the Spanish soldiers got close to Urriparacoxi's town, the people left. The Spanish found fields full of corn, beans, and pumpkins. Urriparacoxi himself refused to meet de Gallegos face-to-face. Instead, he sent messages through others.

Urriparacoxi told de Gallegos about a large town called Acuera, which was three days away. He also mentioned another big town, Ocale, two more days beyond Acuera. Urriparacoxi claimed both towns had lots of corn. He even said that Ocale kept turkeys in pens and had herds of tame deer. He also told the Spanish that the people of Ocale had gold, silver, and pearls.

De Soto left his camp on the coast on July 15 with most of his army. Six days later, he met de Gallegos at a place called Luca. From Luca, de Soto's army continued on to Ocale. They did not have any more contact with Urriparacoxi after that. Urriparacoxi disappears from history after his meeting with de Soto's army.

Where Was Urriparacoxi's Land?

The old records from de Soto's trip say that Urriparacoxi's town was about 20 to 30 leagues from the coast. A league was an old way to measure distance, roughly 2.6 miles (or 4.2 kilometers). So, his town was about 52 to 78 miles (84 to 126 kilometers) from the coast.

Experts believe Urriparacoxi's town was about 25 leagues (around 66 miles or 106 kilometers) northeast of eastern Tampa Bay. This area is in southeastern Lake and southwestern Orange counties, near lakes like Lake Louisa and Lake Butler.

Old mounds near Lake Butler were dug up in the late 1800s. Inside them, people found Spanish artifacts. Some of these items match things that would have been used by de Soto's expedition. Urriparacoxi was the most powerful chief in his region.

What Does "Urriparacoxi" Mean?

The name "Urriparacoxi" came from the Timucua language. It was a term used for a war leader. The word "Paracousi" in Timucuan meant "prince or war-prince." The word "iri" (or "urri") meant "war-counselor, war-prince, or warrior."

This suggests that Urriparacoxi and his people might have spoken the Timucuan language. However, it's also possible that people who didn't speak Timucuan borrowed the title. Languages often borrowed words from each other in that region. For example, the title "holata" for "chief" was used in both Timucua and some Muskogean languages.

The word "Urri" or "iri," meaning "war," was borrowed by Muskogean languages from Timucua. While "holata" was common in many languages in the southeastern United States, the title "urriparacoxi" is only known to be used by Timucuan speakers.