PEDRO MENENDEZ DE AVILES 

Pedro Menendez de Aviles was a Spanish sailor born in 1523.  Aviles actually ran away from home when he was just 14 years old.  With an impressive life, Aviles provided quality service to two Emperors, Charles V, and Maximilian, fighting under Marque letters against French fleets and pirates off the coastline.  With such solid work, he was soon named Captain General of the route going to the West Indies.  With that, he conquered Florida, making him a civil and military governor.  Sadly, Aviles died in 1574 at just 51 years of age while preparing to join the armada sent by Philip II in opposition of England. 

It all began when Spain became angry when it learned that France was developing a number of colonies in Florida.  To drive the French away, Aviles was sent to take care of business.  Being given permission to go, Aviles soon set sail with 11 ships and more than 2,000 sailors, soldiers, and their family.  The original plan was to sail up the St. John’s River toward Fort Caroline, which was a known French settlement.  However, the French had used ships to block off the river’s mouth so Aviles withdrew, sailing into a smaller harbor south of the intended goal. 

Aviles and his men set up camp, which they called St. Augustine.  However, just 800 or the 2,000 men made it to the Florida short so with the assistance of Timucuan Indians, a fort was built.  Then in the late summer of 1565, the fort was officially named St. Augustine, which became the first permanent settlement in the entire country.  Aviles’ next move was to claim the entire state of Florida for Spain.  Soon, Fort Caroline was threatened by Aviles and his men. 

The French explorer, Jean Ribault, knew Aviles was building the St. Augustine fort.  Therefore, he took advantage of the situation, taking with him a large number of men and ships to attack.  However, the weather turned bad, with major storms hitting the coast.  With this, Ribault’s ships were all shipwrecked in the area we know today as Daytona Beach.  Now the table turned with Aviles taking advantage of the situation, taking 500 men with him to Fort Caroline for attack.  Since the French did not have enough men left behind to fight, most were killed while women and children were allowed to leave. 

After successfully conquering the French fort, Aviles renamed it San Mateo.  From there, Aviles and his men left to go back to the beaches where the remaining French soldiers who had survived the shipwreck were killed, which included Ribault.  The only survivors were those claiming to be Catholic so Aviles let them go back to their country of France.  The exact area where Aviles along with his men killed the soldiers on the beach was at that time, called Mantanzas, which translates in Spanish to “slaughters”. 

Then in 1569, there in the Mantanzas Inlet, Aviles constructed a fort and wooden watchtower.  With this, his men could watch for British ships.  Eventually, Aviles was named the first Spanish Colonial Governor of Florida.  His goal was to ensure the entire state would fall under Spanish control.  To accomplish this great feat, he started heavy exploration while establishing outposts all along the Atlantic coastline.  Not too long after, the watchtower at Biscayne Bay and Cape Canaveral were also built.  Aviles next move was to send two ships of settlers to today’s Paris Island in South Carolina.  Shortly after, additional settlers came.  With so many forts up and down the coast, Aviles was actually responsible for helping the Spanish maintain control over Florida for a number of years.