Alabama and the Borderlands: From Prehistory To Statehood

9 Eugene Lyon - Continuity in the Age of Conquest: The Establishment of Spanish Sovereignty in the Sixteenth Century

9 Continuity in the Age of Conquest: The Establishment of Spanish Sovereignty in the Sixteenth Century Eugene Lyon The purpose of this essay is to explore threads of continuity among the several efforts of sixteenth-century Spaniards to conquer North America east of New Spain. It will also examine the culmination of these attempts, during the period of Pedro Menendez de Aviles and his advances into Florida &om 1565 to 1577. By 1536, Spaniards had touched the East Coast of the North American continent and traversed its Gulf shoreline, and the crown had parceled out vast areas to successive would-be conquerors, from Juan Ponce de Leon to Panfilo de Narvaez. Tales told by the few survivors of Narvaez' expedition, who straggled into Mexico City, sparked a rivalry of exploration and a lawsuit between Hernando Cortes, Viceroy Antonio de Mendozo, Hernando de Soto, and Pedro de Alvarado.l After Soto landed in Florida, the viceroy sent Francisco Vazquez de Coronado northward and eastward to the pueblos of Arizona and New Mexico and thence to the plains of Kansas, the fabled Cibola and Quivira. Coronado, of course, sought more than fertile land and mineral riches, and Baltasar de Obregon, a sixteenthcentury commentator on his expedition, states that Coronado's captains were bitterly disappointed at what they considered his premature return to New Spain. They felt they had been drawing near to "the great salt river and the Sea of the North, where they were certain would be the Strait of Newfoundland, which opens toward Ireland."2 This rumored transcontinental waterway Ithe 154 CONTINUITY IN THE AGE OF CONQUEST famed but elusive Northwest Passage) was a preoccupation of sixteenth -century Spanish explorers. Reports of expedition survivors, royal and viceregal letters, and accounts of friars and soldiers added to Spain's knowledge about the continent. Some explorers found remnants of previous Spanish explorations; Indians described direct or traditional recollections of contacts with Europeans; and the most important result of the lengthy journeys of Hernando de Soto was their contribution to the body of continental knowledge. The several narratives of Soto's expeditions furnished some understanding of major rivers, natural roadways, and the quality and products of the land. Areas rich in promise, such as Coosa, were noted. Tristan de Luna y Arrellano, who had served Coronado as major lieutenant, was named by Viceroy Velasco to command the next effort to dominate Florida, in 1559. The viceroy provided Luna with a map of the lands the Soto expedition had traversed and with a copy of a relation of the journey.3 The Luna and the later Villafane expeditions failed, but the Spanish efforts in Florida-considered to be all of Eastern North America-had not ended. On Tuesday, August 14, 1565, the ships of Pedro Menendez de Aviles arrived in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on their way to Florida. Menendez, an Asturian shipowner who had served as general of the royal ships in the Indies trade, had just been appointed the latest adelantado and captain-general of Florida. In another instance of continuity in the Spanish crown's approach to the settlement of North America, the king again chose the instrument of adelantamiento -the licensing of quasi-private-conquest entrepreneurs. In a time when the resources of the crown were often insufficient to compass the reach of policy, the resources of the adelantados could underwrite conquest.4 A typical"contractor in conquest," Menendez received governmental control for a season, revenues, a personal land grant (25 square leagues) and the title of marquis to go with it, tax exemptions , and ship and slave licenses. In return, he was obliged-at his expense-to populate and pacify all the lands under his control, stretching from the Gulf Coast to Newfoundland. Philip II signed Menendez' asiento before he learned of the French incursion at Fort Caroline in Florida; thereafter, the king added crown aid, in the form of royal soldiers and supplies, to the resources of the adelantado. At San Juan on that day, a copy of the Florida contract was made, and a marginal note indicates it was for the adelantado's personal 155 Eugene Lyon use. There followed a note and two narratives, first located in the Archive of the Indies in r975. The note read: In most parts of Florida there is much worked copper.... In the inland mountains are great veins of silver, very concentrated ore. Those who entered from Mexico by...