Scottish Highlanders in Colonial Georgia

Chapter 1. Discovery, Exploration, and First Contests in the Debatable Land Called Georgia

CHAPTER 1 Discovery, Exploration, and First Contests in the Debatable Land Called Georgia Has Heaven reserved, in pity to the poor, No pathless waste, or undiscovered shore? No secret island in the boundless main? No Peaceful desert, yet unclaimed by Spain? Quick, let us rise, the happy seats explore, And bear oppresion's insolence no more! —Samuel Johnson, London; A Poem THE TRACT OF LAND in the New World known at various times as the land of Ayllon, Guale, La Florida, Carolina, and ultimately Georgia became the scene of the first attempts at settlement and colonization within the present boundaries of the United States and the theater for many of the international conflicts that arose in the years following its discovery. Herbert Bolton and Mary Ross labeled the territory along the southern frontier of the British colonies in America, between the Savannah and St. Johns rivers, as the "Debatable Land" because of the 25o-year-long contest among the Spanish, French, English, and Native Americans for control of this land.1 It would be in this context of continuous conflict that Scottish Highlanders would ultimately be used to settle the matter. An expedition led by Juan Ponce de Leon for Spain in 1513 is the first recorded European contact with the mainland of North America.2 Some historians suggest that he might have traveled as far north as the Georgia coast.3 Having received royal permission to discover and settle the "Islands of Bening [Bernini]" to the north of Cuba in 1512, Ponce de Leon set about making the arrangements for an expedition the following year.4 In March 6 Scottish Highlanders in Colonial Georgia 1513, he sailed with three ships from his base in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in search of the Fountain of Youth and the fortune he thought could be found on Bernini. The Spanish ships reached land on the eastern coast of the Florida peninsula in April and named it La Florida because they had arrived during the time of the "Feast of Flowers" (Pasqua Florida).5 Several modern experts claim that Ponce de Leon's landing was south of Cape Canaveral instead of the traditionally accepted site of Saint Augustine, further north.6 His attempts at settlement failed before they had a chance to begin due to Indian resistance; however, the mainland would not long be free from Spanish incursions. The coastline of Georgia would be the next entry point for colonization. Lucas Vasquez de Ayllon, a wealthy lawyer and legal official in Hispaniola, inspired by the same desire for wealth and power as was Ponce de Leon, went to Spain in 1523 to discuss a proposed exploration and conquest of a new land north of Ponce de Leon's grant. He received from Spain's Charles V a royal charter to the lands known as Chicora. The charter had certain specifications that reflected the change in attitude by the Spanish government over the previous fewyears. It directed Ayllon to deal with the natives in the same peaceful manner in which Spain dealt with other sovereign nations. This was in response to pressure by the Dominican friars, who were staunch defenders of Indian rights in the New World. The objective was to incorporate the Indians into Spanish society by peaceful rather than violent means, which had been the tactic used by previous conquistadores.7 During his audience with the king, Ayllon raised an issue that would reappear many times in future schemes for the development of a colony in the debatable land—-that being the possibility of a silk industry in the New World. Ayllon averred that Chicora had a mild climate where mulberry trees abounded and was perfectly situated for the production of the finest silk.8 Charles V was persuaded and ordered the Spanish explorer to take silkworms with him on his colonizing effort.9 He was also to explore up to eight hundred leagues (about 2,560 nautical miles) of coastline before making settlement. In 1525 Ayllon sent two caravels under the direction of Pedro de Quejo on a reconnaissance mission up the coast to survey the land he intended to settle. The voyage covered some 250 leagues (650 miles) of shoreline from the tip of Florida to an area just south of the Cape Fear region of North Carolina. It was on this preliminary voyage that the Spanish are believed to have landed at the mouth of the Savannah River, identified as the Rio de la Cruz on the Juan Vespucci...