CHAPTER XII.
SUBJECTION OF THE APALACHIAN INDIANS--CONSTRUCTION OF THE FORT, SEA WALL, &c.--1638-1700.
In the year 1638, hostilities were entered into between the Spanish settlements on the coast, and the Apalachian Indians, who occupied the country in the neighborhood of the river Suwanee. The Spaniards soon succeeded in subduing their Indian foes; and in 1640, large numbers of the Apalachian Indians were brought to St. Augustine, and in alleged punishment for their outbreak, and with a sagacious eye to the convenience of the arrangement, were forced to labor upon the public works and fortifications of the city. At this period the English settlements along the coast to the northward, had begun to be formed, much to the uneasiness and displeasure of the Spanish crown, which for a long period claimed, by virtue of exploration and occupation, as well as by the ancient papal grant of Alexander, all the eastern coast of the United States. Their missionaries had penetrated Virginia before the settlement at Jamestown; and they had built a fort in South Carolina, and kept up a garrison for some years in it. But the Spanish government had become too feeble to compete with either the English or the French on the seas; and with the loss of their celebrated Armada, perished forever their pretensions as a naval power. They were therefore forced to look to the safety of their already established settlements in Florida; and the easy capture of the fort at St. Augustine by the passing squadron of Drake, evinced the necessity of works of a much more formidable character.
It is evident that the fort, or castle as it was usually designated, had been then commenced, although its form was afterwards changed; and for sixty years subsequently, these unfortunate Apalachian Indians were compelled to labor upon the works, until in 1680, upon the recommendation of their mission Fathers, they were relieved from further compulsory labor, with the understanding that in case of necessity they would resume their labors.
In 1648, St. Augustine is described to have contained more than three hundred householders (_vecinos_), a flourishing monastry of the order of St. Francis with fifty Franciscans, men very zealous for the conversion of the Indians, and regarded by their countrymen with the highest veneration. Besides these there were in the city alone, a vicar, a parochial curate, a superior sacristan, and a chaplain attached to the castle. The parish church was built of wood, the Bishop of Cuba, it is said, not being able to afford anything better, his whole income being but four hundred pezos per annum, which he shared with Florida; and sometimes he expended much more than his receipts.
In 1665, Captain Davis, one of the English buccaneers and freebooters (then very numerous in the West Indies), with a fleet of seven or eight vessels came on the coast from Jamaica, to intercept the Spanish plate fleet on its return from New Spain to Europe; but being disappointed in this scheme, he proceeded along the coast of Florida, and came off St. Augustine, where he landed and marched directly upon the town, which he sacked and plundered, without meeting the least opposition or resistance from the Spaniards, although they had then a garrison of two hundred men in the fort, which at that time was an octagon, fortified and defended by round towers.
The fortifications, if this account be true, were probably then very incomplete; and with a vastly inferior force it is not surprising that they did not undertake what could only have been an ineffectual resistance. It does not appear that the fort was taken; and the inhabitants retired probably within its enclosure with their valuables.[22]
In the Spanish account of the various occurrences in this country, it is mentioned that in 1681, "the English having examined a province of Florida, distant twelve leagues from another called New Castle, where the air is pleasant, the climate mild, and the lands very fertile, called it Salvania; and that knowing these advantages, a Quaker, or Shaker (a sect barbarous impudent, and abominable), called William Penn, obtained a grant of it from Charles II., King of England, and made great efforts to colonize it." Such was the extent then claimed for the province of Florida, and such the opinion entertained of the Quakers.
In 1681, Don Juan Marquez Cabrera, applied himself at once, upon his appointment to the governorship of Florida, to finishing the castle; and collected large quantities of stone, lime, timber, and iron, more than sufficient subsequently to complete it. About this period, a new impulse was given to the extension of the missions for converting the Indians; and large reinforcements of the clerical force were received from Mexico, Havana, and Spain; and many of them received salaries from the crown. A considerable Indian town is spoken of at this period, as existing six hundred varas north of St. Augustine, and called Macarasi, which would correspond to the place formerly occupied by Judge Douglas, deceased, and which has long been called Macariz. Other parts of the country were known by various names. Amelia Island was the province of Guale. The southern part of the country was known as the province of Carlos. Indian river was the province of Ys. Westwardly was the province of Apalachie; while smaller divisions were designated by the names of the chiefs.
It is hardly to be doubted, that the same spirit of oppression towards the Indians, exercised in the other colonies under Spanish domination, existed in Florida. It has been already mentioned that the Apalachians were kept at labor upon the fortifications of St. Augustine; and in 1680, the Yemasees, who had always been particularly peaceful and manageable, and whose principal town was Macarisqui, near St. Augustine, revolted at the rule exercised over them by the Spanish authorities at St. Augustine, in consequence of the execution of one of their chiefs by the order of the governor; and six years afterwards they made a general attack upon the Spaniards, drove them within the walls of the castle, and became such mortal enemies to them, that they never gave a Spaniard quarter, waylaying, and invariably massacring, any stragglers they could intercept outside of the fort.
In 1670, an English settlement was established near Port Royal, South Carolina, one hundred and five years subsequent to the settlement of St. Augustine. The Spaniards regarded it as an infringement upon their rights; and although a treaty, after this settlement, had been made between Spain and England, confirming to the latter all her settlements and islands, yet as no boundaries or limits were mentioned, their respective rights and boundaries remained a subject of dispute for seventy years.
About 1675, the Spanish authorities at St. Augustine, having intelligence from _white servants_ who fled to them, of the discontented and miserable situation of the colony in Carolina, advanced with a party under arms as far as the Island of St. Helena, to dislodge or destroy the settlers. A treacherous colonist of the name of Fitzpatrick, deserted to the Spaniards; but the governor, Sir John Yeamans, having received a reinforcement, held his ground; and a detachment of fifty volunteers under Colonel Godfrey, marched against the enemy, forcing them to retire from the Island of St. Helena, and retreat to St. Augustine.[23]
Ten years afterwards, three galleys sailed from St. Augustine, and attacked a Scotch and English settlement at Port Royal, which had been founded by Lord Cardross, in 1681. The settlement was weak and unprotected, and the Spaniards fell upon them, killed several, whipped many, plundered all, and broke up the colony. Flushed with success, they continued their depredations on Edisto River, burning the houses, wasting the plantations, and robbing the settlers; and finished their marauding expedition by capturing the brother of Governor Morton, and burning him alive in one of the galleys which a hurricane had driven so high upon land as to make it impossible to have it re-launched. Such at least is the English account of the matter; and they say that intestine troubles alone prevented immediate and signal retaliation by the South Carolinians.[24]
One Captain Don Juan de Aila went to Spain in the year 1687, in his own vessel, to procure additional forces and ammunition for the garrison at St. Augustine. He received the men and munitions desired; and as a reward for his diligence and patriotism, he also received the privilege of carrying merchandise, duty free; being also allowed to take twelve Spanish negroes for the cultivation of the fields of Florida, of whom it is said there was a great want in that province. By a mischance, he was only able to carry one negro there, with the troops and other cargo, and was received in the city with universal joy. This was the first occasion of the reception of African slaves; although as has been heretofore mentioned, it was made a part of the royal stipulation with Menendez, that he should bring over five hundred negro slaves.
Don Diego de Quiroga y Losada, the governor of Florida in 1690, finding that the sea was making dangerous encroachments upon the shores of the town, and had reached even the houses, threatening to swallow them up, and render useless the fort which had cost so much to put in the state of completion in which it then was, called a public meeting of the chief men and citizens of the place, and proposed to them that in order to escape the danger which menaced them, and to restrain the force of the sea, they should construct a wall, which should run from the castle and cover and protect the city from all danger of the sea. The inhabitants not only approved of his proposal, but began the work with so much zeal, that the soldiers gave more than seventeen hundred dollars of their wages, although they were very much behind, not having been paid in six years; with which the governor began to make the necessary preparations, and sent forward a dispatch to the home government upon the subject.
The council of war of the Indies approved, in the following year, of the work of the sea wall, and directed the viceroy of New Spain to furnish ten thousand dollars for it, and directed that a plan and estimate of the work should be forwarded. Quiroga was succeeded in the governorship of Florida, by Don Laureano de Torres, who went forward with the work of the sea wall, and received for this purpose the means furnished by the soldiers, and one thousand dollars more, which they offered besides the two thousand dollars, and likewise six thousand dollars which had come from New Spain, remitted by the viceroy, Count de Galleo, for the purpose of building a tower, as a look-out to observe the surrounding Indian settlements. Whether this tower was erected, or where, we have no certain knowledge. The towers erected on the governor's palace and at the northeast angle of the fort, were intended as look-outs both sea and landward.
The statements made in reference to the building of this wall, from the castle as far as the city, confirm the opinion previously expressed, that the ancient and early settlement of the place was south of the public square, as the remains of the ancient sea wall extend to the basin at the Plaza. The top of this old sea wall is still visible along the centre of Bay street, where it occasionally appears above the level of the street; and its general plan and arrangement are shown on several old maps and plans of the city. Upon a plan of the city made in 1665, it is represented as terminating in a species of break-water at the public square. It is unnecessary to add that the present sea wall is a much superior structure to the old, and extends above twice the distance. Its cost is said to have been one hundred thousand dollars, and it was building from 1837 to 1843.
In the year 1700, the work on the sea wall had progressed but slowly, although the governor had employed thirty stone-cutters at a time, and had eight yoke of oxen drawing stone to the landing, and two lime-kilns all the while at work. But the money previously provided, and considerable additional funds was requisite, resembling in this respect its successor. The new governor, De Curriga, took the matter in hand, as he had much experience in fortifications. The defenses of the fort are spoken of as being at the time too weak to resist artillery, and the sea wall as being but a slight work.