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According to international law, it was necessary for a power to establish permanent settlements on its newly discovered lands in order to perfeet its titles thereto. To quote Mr. Evans: t "The permanent English settlements at Charleston and along the Carolina coast estab- lished England's claim to Carolina, while the permanent Spanish settle-
*" History of Georgia, " Chas. C. Jones, Jr., Vol. I, p. 70.
+ " History of Georgia, " Lawton B. Evans, p. 10.
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ments at St. Augustine established Spain's title to Florida ; but no agree- ment could be reached as to a dividing line between Florida and Caro- lina. The northern boundary line of Florida was not fixed until 1763, 100 years after the grant to the Lords Proprietors, when Spain ceded all Florida to England."
In a subsequent chapter, we will tell how an effort was made by Sir Robert Montgomery, in 1717, to establish within the Province of Caro- lina on what is now the Territory of Georgia, a separate jurisdiction to be called the Margravate of Azilia; but the ambitious scheme of this English nobleman, failing to enlist popular support, was finally abandoned.
Meanwhile great dissatisfaction had resulted from the government of Carolina by the Lords Proprietors, seven of whom deeded back to the crown all rights and titles held by them to these lands. Lord Carteret alone retained his interests. When a charter was granted to the trus- tees of Georgia only an undivided moiety of seven-eights was conveyed to them in the lands lying between the Savannah and the Altamaha rivers. But Lord Carteret subsequently deeded to them his interest ; and thus was Georgia's title perfected.
To quell the Indians who had been incited by French and Spanish traders to make inroads upon the Carolina settlements, Governor Moore invaded the territory of the Indians west of the Savannah River and compelled the Province of Appalachee to submit to English rule. At a later period the Yemassees, driven out of Carolina by Governor Craven, allied themselves with the Florida Seminoles among whom they found homes. In 1729 a treaty of peace between England, France, and Spain was signed at Seville, the object of which was to adjust rival interests in the new world; but its effect was only to produce a temporary lull. Meanwhile, the Seminoles on the south and the Cherokees on the west still menaced the Carolina frontier; while French and Spanish traders continued to dwell among them, enjoying the profits of an extensive barter.
There were great advantages to be gained from cultivating more inti- mate trade relations with the Indian tribes. Consequently, England, in 1730, dispatched Sir Alexander Cuming, a Scotchman, on a secret mis- sion to accomplish this object. Successful beyond his most sanguine expectations, especially in his visit to the Cherokees, he negotiated a treaty with these Indians, who agreed to submit themselves to the sovereignty of King George. Several of the chiefs accompanied him to England where they were received with great popular enthusiasm. It was the first visit of an American Indian to the mother country; but these savages were no less objects of interest to the English people than were the sights of London to these children of the forest. Portraits were painted of the Indians, attired in English garments, standing amid the tall trees of the park in London .*
Dating from this visit of Sir Alexander Cuming, England's trade relations not only with the Cherokees but also with the Creeks became extensive and there followed an influx of Scotch traders, some of whom intermarried with chiefs, producing the noted leaders of mixed blood
*"History of Georgia," Charles C. Jones, Jr., Vol. I, p. 78.
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who largely shaped the future history of these tribes. But, having brought the narrative down to this point, we will now revert somewhat more in detail to the explorations of the two renowned Spaniards, Juan Ponce de Leon and Hernando de Soto.
FORT MOUNTAIN-Six miles and a half to the northeast of Spring Place looms a peak of the Cohntta Mountains, near the summit of which can still be seen the ruins of an old fort, the origin of which is shronded in a thick veil of traditions. This ancient landmark of a region famed for its great natural beauty is known as Fort Mountain, so called from the remnants of this old fort, some of the legends connected with which reach back over a stretch of four centuries to the romantic days of De Soto. But no one who thoughtfully examines what is left of the old fort can accept readily the account which credits its erection to De Soto. There were originally not less than twelve walls in this defensive stronghold. Its erection required time; and, according to the Spanish narratives, less than two weeks were spent in this region, after which the gold seekers proceeded to what is now the City of Rome. Two stopping-places of De Soto have been identified as towns included within the original limits of Murray County, viz., Gauxule and Conasauga; but since in both of these towns he was accorded friendly receptions there existed no occasion for hostile maneuvers, such as the building of a fort would lead ns to infer. The rules of historical criticism forbid an assumption that the ruins on Fort Mountain date back to De Soto, but a former occupancy of this region by Europeans is strongly intimated, if not unmistakably proven, by these remains. We are indebted to Prof. S. W. MeCallie, State Geologist, for a table of measurements, showing how each of the twelve walls of the old fort ran. This table is given below, as follows:
SE. 40 feet to pit; 160 to gate at spring.
N.
60
E.
70 66 N. 20 S. 80° E. 60 66 NE. 100 66 66 S. 80° E. 70
(2 towers)
E. 20 N. 120 66 NE. 90 N. 10° E. 30 80 66
NE.
Says Professor MeCallie: "The old fort is located just a short distance from the highest point of the mountain. Some 250 yards from the main gateway to the fort is a spring. The walls are nowhere more than two feet high, bnt have a base of more than twelve feet. The masonry about the gateway is somewhat massive. All the stones in the wall can be removed by two men, except for a few boulders in a section over which the wall passes. There are many loose fragments on top of the mountain, from which the fort was no doubt constructed."
L. L. Knight, in "Georgia's Landmarks, Memorials and Legends," Vol. II, pp. 896-7.
CHAPTER II
PONCE DE LEON'S QUEST FOR THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH-SOMETHING OF HIS LIFE IN SPAIN-ACCOMPANIES COLUMBUS ON HIS SECOND VOY- AGE TO AMERICA-BECOMES GOVERNOR OF PORTO RICO-HEARS OF AN ISLAND CALLED BIMINI CONTAINING A FOUNTAIN OF MAGICAL WATERS -SETS OUT TO DISCOVER THIS ISLAND FOR THE KING OF SPAIN- REACHES FLORIDA ON EASTER SUNDAY, 1513-THINKS HE HAS DIS- COVERED BIMINI-FROM THE CURVATURE OF THE SHORE ADJUDGES THE LAND TO BE AN ISLAND-HONORS AWAIT HIM IN SPAIN-HIS RETURN TO FLORIDA AND HIS TRAGIC DEATII-FAILS TO FIND HIS ILLUSIVE FOUNTAIN BUT MAKES HIS NAME IMMORTAL-HERNANDO DE SOTO'S SEARCH FOR GOLD-LANDS AT TAMPA IN 1539-AN ACCOUNT OF THE EXPEDITION-ADVENTUROUS YOUNG KNIGHTS ENLIST-PRIESTS AND HISTORIANS-WHAT LED TO THE UNDERTAKING FABULOUS TALES OF UNTOLD WEALTH IN GOLD, SILVER AND PEARLS-THESE FIRE THE SPANISH IMAGINATION-MEMORIALS OF DE SOTO'S MARCH THROUGH GEORGIA-CRUELTY OF THE SPANIARDS-WORKS EXTANT RELATING TO THE EXPEDITION-RECENT DISCOVERIES-VARIANT THEORIES ADVANCED BY ANTIQUARIANS-WAS DE SOTO'S LAST STOPPING PLACE IN GEORGIA ON THE SITE OF ROME OR COLUMBUS ?- ITINERARY OF HERNANDO DE SOTO.
One of the companions of Columbus on his second voyage to the new world was a Spanish nobleman, Juan Ponce de Leon. With the name of this renowned cavalier is associated a legend of fascinating interest which tells us how in his last years, when eager to mend his fortunes and to renew his strength, he sought to discover in the wilds of Florida a fabled Fountain of Youth. It is not unlikely that in his wanderings he penetrated northward into the Territory of Georgia; and for this reason the story of his hapless quest possesses for us an interest beyond its charm as a mere legend.
Having won his golden spurs in the military service of Spain, chiefly in the wars of Granada, we find him seized with a burning desire to try his fortunes in the new world beyond the west. To quote the historian Baneroft :* "America was the region of romanee, where the heated imagination eould indulge in the boldest delusions; where the simple natives ignorantly wore the most precious ornaments; and where, beside the clear runnels of water, the sands sparkled with gold. * * * Is it strange that these adventurers were often superstitions? Or that some- times they indulged the hope that even the laws of nature themselves would yield to men so fortunate and so brave?" Tales such as the re-
* "History of the United States," George Bancroft, Vol. I, p. 22.
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turned voyager brought back to Spain were well calculated to fire an ardent youth, of imaginative temperament, nurtured upon traditions of romance and reared amid the tropical perfumes of the warm Mediterranean.
Consequently when Columbus for the second time turned the prow of his vessel toward the new world we are not surprised to find Ponce de Leon accompanying him on this expedition. His object was to achieve wealth, fame, distinction, in a land of great opportunities; and then, flushed with success, to return to Spain. It was not until disap- pointment overtook him and grim realities, one by one, came to dispel his cherished illusions that he awoke to find himself an old man, with his life's ambition unattained, with his feverish thirst unsatisfied, with his elusive goal unreached. Then he bethought himself of the Fountain of Youth; but-alas, the pathetic irony of it all-only to be lured to his fate in a Land of Flowers.
But let us not leap too hastily over intermediate events. On arriving in the West Indies he at once became a leader; and as a reward for gal- lant soldiership was given the eastern province of Hispaniola for his command. Here, from the hill-tops, he could see the green fringes of Porto Rico and fascinated by the prospect he became eager to rule it; so, following a visit to the island, which only stimulated his cupidity, he sought and obtained in 1509 the governorship of Porto Rico; but, according to Bancroft, he used his power to oppress the natives and to augment his personal fortunes. When finally removed, after a clash with kinsmen of Columbus, he possessed a regal estate; converting which into a squadron of three vessels he continued his explorations. But he bore a stained escutcheon; and, what troubled him most, he was no longer young.
Having learned from natives of the West Indies of a great island lying to the north called Bimini, he made the discovery of this island the object of his new enterprise; and, accordingly, on March 3, 1513, he set sail from Porto Rico. Ponce de Leon's commission from the king of Spain gave him the right to settle this island and to annex it to the crown of Spain. Nor was his eagerness to behold this green country diminished by the report that somewhere in its verdant stretches bubbled a fountain whose waters possessed a marvelous power : the power of rejunevating the old and of giving renewed strength to the feeble. Ponce de Leon was now well beyond the meridian of his days and sensuous living had made him a wreck of the once puissant knight who had followed the path of the setting sun toward the west. But he was still filled with feverish dreams of conquest; and what might he not accomplish if he could only find this elusive spring and experi- ence the transforming spell of its wonderful waters.
On March 27, 1513, Easter Sunday, called by the Spaniards Pascua Florida, land was sighted. Supposing it to be the storied island of Bimini, he claimed the discoverer's privilege of changing its name and called it Florida, for the two-fold reason that it was first seen on Easter Sunday and because its blossoms, unwontedly brilliant at this season of the year, gave the name an added appropriateness. Delayed by violent storms in going ashore, he finally effected a landing some few miles to the north of the present City of St. Augustine; and claimed the
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country in the name of the King of Spain. Ponce de Leon remained for several weeks investigating the coast. He also made extensive rambles through the tide-water region ; but he did not find the spring. Turning southward, he passed through the Florida Straits, thence up the west coast to Tampa Bay, after which he returned to Porto Rico, leaving a trusty follower to continue the search as far north as the Bay of Appala- chee; but he returned to Porto Rico, as he had gone forth from its docks : an old man.
From the curvature of the coast, Ponce de Leon was convinced that he had discovered an island, which he believed to be the Island of Bimini. He little dreamed that his newly discovered land was the jutting peninsula of a vast continent; but there was a world of satisfaction in having discovered a great island, amid whose tropical evergreens was somewhere concealed a Fountain of Youth. Hailed as the discoverer of the Island of Bimini, he returned to Spain. There he was given a most enthusiastic reception by court and people alike; and for his great service to his sovereign, in having annexed this great territory to the Spanish dominions, he was rewarded with the command of Florida. But it proved to be an empty honor. He was expected to colonize the new country, a task which he was reluctant to assume, on account of its burdensome responsibilities. More than ever he craved a draught of the magic elixir; but time's only answer was to increase his deepening wrinkles and to multiply his whitening locks.
Ponce de Leon's return to America was delayed for some time, part of which was spent in needed preparations for the voyage and part in an expedition against the Caribbee Indians. Finally, in 1521, after a long interval, he proceeded with two boats to select a site for his colony ; but, attacked by savages, many of the Spaniards who accompanied him were killed. Ponce de Leon himself was among the wounded, pierced by an arrow in a vital part; and, soon after reaching Cuba, he closed his eyes in death, never once having pressed his lips to the fabled fountain whose elusive waters still taunted his dying vision. Feverish dreams of a murmuring spring still mocked him to the last. But, while its transparent crystals had eluded him, it was nevertheless his good fortune to have discovered the mainland of North America, to have added an imperial territory to the dominions of Spain, and to have linked his own name in a perennial immortality with the name of Florida-the Land of Flowers.
On March 30, 1539,-nearly two centuries before Georgia received her charter from the crown of England-there landed at Tampa Bay, on the west coast of Florida, a band of Spaniards. It numbered 600 strong and its commander-in-chief was the renowned adventurer, Hernando de Soto.
These cavaliers of Spain were clad in handsome armor and provided with horses splendidly caparisoned, and resembled rather a cavalcade of knights en route to tournament than a band of adventurous argo- nauts seeking for hidden treasure in an unsubdued wilderness. The avowed purpose of the expedition was to discover the fabulous wealth of the New World; and, after claiming the country in the name of Vol. 1-2
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Charles V and planting the flag of Spain in the white sands of Florida, De Soto pointed his jeweled sword toward the North.
So far as authentic records go, these were the first Europeans to set foot upon the soil of Georgia. From time to time navigators had skirted the coast, entering perhaps for a short distance the mouths of rivers, but none had ventured to explore the interior, at least beyond the range of tide water. It was still an unknown land when De Soto stood upon its borders and peered into its vast solitudes in the spring of 1540. But before tracing the route which lay before these bold but deluded Spaniards, let us cross the water to the ancient Town of Seville and take a hasty survey of the events to which this strange spectacle on the shores of the New World was only the dramatic culmination .*
Hernando De Soto, at the time of this expedition to America, was perhaps the foremost man of his age at the Court of Spain. As a lieu- tenant-general under the renowned Pizarro, he bore a conspicuous part in the conquest of Peru and returned home enriched with the spoils of the Incas. But life at the Spanish Court grew tame to one whose breast was aglow with the spirit of adventure; and, envious of the greater fame of his old chieftain, he sought and obtained from the Spanish Crown permission to explore an indefinite region of the New World, then known by the name of Florida. It will doubtless be remembered that the ill- fated Ponce de Leon, in search of his fabled Fountain of Youth, some years before, had bestowed this name upon what he took to be an island of vast magnitude and of untold wealth.
Dazzled by the prospect of enlarging the boundaries of his empire,
* "Original Sources." Four original manuscripts deal with the history of De Soto's expedition :
(1) The brief report of Biedma, an officer of the expedition, presented to the King, in 1544, immediately after the return to Spain.
(2) Next, in point of time, but of first importance for detail and general appear- ance of reliability, is the narrative of an anonymous Portuguese cavalier of the expedition, commonly known as the Gentleman of Elvas, originally published in the Portuguese language, in 1557.
(3) Third, in order, comes the Spanish narrative of Garcilaso, written but not published in 1587, a document which deals in gross exaggerations.
(4) The last original account is an unfinished report in Spanish by Ranjel, secretary of the expedition, written soon after reaching Mexico, but not published, except in mutilated extracts, until 1851.
Secondary authorities :
(1) "Researches on America," by James H. McCulloh (1816).
(2) "The Conquest of Florida," by Theodore Irving (1845).
(3) "History of the Discovery and Settlement of the Mississippi Valley," by John M. Monette, M. D. (1848).
(4) "History of Georgia," by Bishop Wm. B. Stevens, M. D., Vol. I (1847).
(5) "Synopsis of the Indian Tribes within the United States, East of the Rocky Mountains," by Albert Gallatin (1836).
(6) "History of Alabama, and incidentally of Georgia and Mississippi," by Albert J. Pickett (1851).
(7) "History of Hernando De Soto and Florida," by Bernard Shipp (1881).
(8) "History of Georgia, " by Chas. C. Jones, Jr., Vol. I (1883).
(9) "Romantic Passages in Southwestern History," by A. B. Meek (1857), including "Pilgrimage of De Soto" (1839).
(10) "Myths of the Cherokee," by James Mooney (1900), House Document, Vol. 118.
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the king readily granted this coveted boon. It was agreed that certain royalties accruing from the treasures obtained on the expedition, whether taken from graves and temples or discovered in mines, were to revert to the crown; and, in order that he might the more readily command a convenient base of operations for the hazardous enterprise, De Soto was commissioned governor of the Island of Cuba. It was not a diffi- cult task to obtain followers. The age was one of romance. Tales of fabulous wealth had fired the imagination of the Spaniard. De Soto himself was sanguine of success; and though the conquest of Pern had netted him 180,000 crowns of gold, he expected to find still vaster treas- ures on this new voyage to the West.
Six hundred men, picked with discrimination from the chivalry of Spain, were obtained for the expedition. Says Jones: * "This little army was composed of men accustomed to wars, skilled in the use of weapons, and inured to hardships. Scarcely a gray head appeared amongst them." Twelve priests, eight clergymen of inferior rank, and four monks accompanied the army, showing that, in the feverish thirst for conquest, the conversion of the aborigines was not forgotten. More- over, men of letters, to perpetuate the events of the march and to acquaint posterity with the details of an affair so momentous, were found eager to accompany the adventurous knights.
In due time De Soto embarked for Cuba. Here, busy with prepara- tions for a protracted march over land, he remained until the spring of the year following. On Sunday, May 18, 1539, in a fleet of nine vessels, he sailed from Havana to Florida, arriving at Tampa Bay within twelve days thereafter, where he set up the royal standard of his sovereign. Thus began one of the most eventful marches in the history of time. But fate delights in strange ironies. Four years later, after wandering to the distant slopes of the Rocky Mountains, a remnant of this once buoyant band, haggard and exhausted, found themselves upon the borders of Mexico. But De Soto was not among them. The bold leader of the enterprise, who expected to eclipse the fame of Pizarro, slept beneath the turbid waters of the Mississippi.
Memorials of De Soto's march still abound. In the neighborhood of Tallahassee, where most of the historians locate the ancient town called by the Spaniards Anhayca, pieces of Spanish armor have been found. in addition to other European relics of a remote period. While the accounts furnished by the Spanish narrators are quite full it is difficult, in a study of ancient towns and villages, to make the descrip- tions in each case conform to modern landmarks; but there are monu- mental remains still extant which will serve as sign-boards to the antiquarian.
On Wednesday, March 3, 1540, after wintering at Anhayca, the army began once more to move northward. Its objective point at this time was Yupaha, a province governed by a woman, whose chief city was reported to be one of great size. Among some Indians captured by a roving party of Spaniards was a lad who spoke knowingly of this queen and of certain chiefs who paid tribute to her in gold; and so vividly did
* Jones: "History of Georgia," Vol. I, p. 38.
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he describe the process of taking the yellow metal from the earth, of melting it in crucibles, and of taking it therefrom refined and purified that the eyes of the Spaniards began to sparkle with triumph. At last, they were fringing the Land of Gold.
Four days later, beyond a doubt, the Spaniards stood upon Georgia soil, having crossed the Ocklockonee River. Within forty-eight hours they came to an Indian village called Capachiqui. Here, at sight of the Europeans, there was at first great consternation among the natives, who took flight as the Spaniards approached; but when five of the Spaniards visited some Indian cabins, encompassed by a thicket, they were attacked from ambush. As a result, one was killed and three were badly wounded. Says Jones: "Thus does the Gentleman of Elvas record the death of the first Spaniard who fell upon what is now the soil of Georgia."
Toalli, the next Indian village at which the Spaniards arrived, on the 21st of March, is located by Jones at some point south of Ocmulgee River, perhaps in the present County of Irwin ; and, after remaining here for three days, they made a short journey to Achese, a village located upon the above-named stream, in the neighborhood of what is now the Town of Abbeville. According to Gallatin, Aches or Ochis was the Musco- gee name for the Ocmulgee River. Here the inhabitants likewise fled before the Europeans; but the chief was found to be friendly and he informed De Soto that further on there reigned a powerful king whose country was called Ocute. To assist him in finding the place a guide was furnished. On the first of April, De Soto resumed his march, skirt- ing the edge of a river whose shores were found to be thickly inhabited. Within four days, he arrived at Altamaco, the locality of which is un- identified; but on the tenth day he reached Ocute, the principal town of which was probably somewhere in the neighborhood of the present City of Dublin. According to Colonel Jones, the banks of the Oconee River in this neighborhood give token that in former times the aboriginal population was somewhat dense. On approaching the town, he was met by 2.000 Indians, bearing as a present from the chief an abundance of wild game, including partridges and turkeys.
Here he remained until April the 12th. When ready to depart, he obtained from the chief 400 burden-bearers to accompany him on the march ; and, after passing through Cofaqui, he came to Patofa, the chief of which town received him with every mark of consideration. It is astonishing how kindly the Spaniards were treated by the natives when the rapacious character of the expedition is taken into account. They misused women; they employed men as beasts of burden; supplies of every kind were appropriated by them; and in quest of costly ornaments they even ransacked temples and burial places of the dead.
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