THE FIRST SETTLERS

George M. Cole and John E. Ladson III
Aucilla Research Institute

Although we usually think of the early settlers arriving immediately after Florida became a U.S. Territory as the first settlers in the Aucilla River area, that is definitely not the case. Thousands of years earlier, settlers began moving into the area. Although we do not have a written record of those early Floridians, recent findings are beginning to provide evidence of those settlers and how they evolved with time.

The Paleo and Early Archaic Cultures
During the last glacial maximum, some 22,000 years ago, the Aucilla River area was considerably different than today. The Gulf of Mexico shoreline was believed to have been as much as 125 miles offshore of its current location. As the glacial recession began about 21,000 years before present, the area along the Aucilla was much different than today. The terrain was considerably drier. Rather than a flowing river, the Aucilla was a series of small watering holes that drew wildlife. In addition to many of the animal species now seen in the area, there were mammoth, mastodons, sloth, tapir, horses, giant armadillos, wolves, saber tooth cats, giant land tortoises, camels, and many other now extinct species. A good example from that period is represented by a mammoth skeleton recovered from the river and now on display at the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville. While the glaciers continued to recede, there were extreme climate fluctuations which impacted the entire biological spectrum.
Although there may have been prior human presence, the earliest evidence of human occupation found to date is from about 14,500 years ago. Traces of those first settlers are sparse due to the passage of time. The best of such evidence now being recovered from now inundated settings such as the Page-Ladson site in the Aucilla, one of the earliest hallmarks of human settlement in the North America. Investigatory knowledge of that suggests that those nomadic people were basically hunter-gatherers, adapting to the frequent climate shifts. Their prey included large animals such as the mastodon as well as horses, bison and other congregate species. Many of their tools were derived from the bone and ivory of the colossal game they butchered. Among their implements were oval ground stone weights, roughly the size and shape of eggs, often referred to as bola stones. It is unlikely that they were used for that purpose with the true use a mystery for future research. Nevertheless, such tools obviously required a great deal of manufacturing effort.
During the late Paleo and Early Archaic Period (about 11,700 years ago), the climate had become somewhat similar to that of today. Some of the earlier species of herd animals became extinct. Deer, as well as smaller game, became the essential prey. Associated with the change in game and the lack of large animal bone and ivory, the tool kit used by the settlers also began changed. Larger stone points were replaced by smaller stemmed points. Evidence also indicates that hunting and foraging occurred over wider areas with more varied habitats, which resulted in regional adaptations.

The Late Archaic Period
In the Late Archaic Period, 7500-2000 years before present, more settled coastal and riverine associated populations appeared. Artifacts indicate that the residents of the Aucilla River area during that era made and used more sophisticated tools including throwing sticks, and drills for starting fires. In addition, fired pottery tempered with plant fibers was made and used. Also at this time, possibly the earliest American artwork appeared in the form of carved wood, bone and polished stone as well as ornamental pottery.

The Deptford Culture
For the post-archaic period, beginning about 500 BC, a sufficient number of artifacts have been found to allow distinguishing between regional cultures. Throughout the Aucilla River region, the Deptford culture appeared to prevail for the 500 BC – 200 AD epoch. Check-stamped pottery vessels, tempered with quartz sand as opposed to the fiber used in earlier periods, are one of the types of artifacts associated with this time frame. Many, if not most, of the mounds along the river in the lower floodplain are Deptford sites although there is evidence that they were also used by later cultures. Some Deptford village locations indicate substantial log structures along with considerable evidence of food collecting techniques such as the use of snares and nets. Diets during this period included fish and other seafood as well as woodland game such as deer, rabbit and turtles.

Continuing Evolution
Between about 300 and 1000 AD, the Deptford culture evolved into the Swift Creek and subsequently the Weeden Island cultures. Each such evolution was associated with more advanced structures, cooking utensils, tools and weapons. But starting about 1000 AD, a more substantial change took place when those cultures were replaced by the Fort Walton Mississippian culture with social and political systems far more advanced than any previously existing in Florida. There has been considerable debate as to whether this change was the result of migration from other areas or represented an evolution of the Weeden Island people.
With a territory ranging from the Aucilla River westerly through the Florida panhandle and throughout the southeast, the new Mississippian society built large ceremonial mounds, practiced intensive agriculture and had complex social systems. At least one large Mississippian mound was built in the Aucilla River area. Research has suggested that the higher-status elite members of the society lived on the mounds while most of the population was found on farms and small communities scattered around the area where there were good agricultural soils. The society cultivated maize, beans, squash and sunflowers among other crops. They apparently engaged in wide trade networks based on some of the materials found in burial sites including copper, lead, anthracite and other material not native to Florida. In studies of Mississippian mounds in other parts of the Southeast U.S., evidence has been found to suggest that the Mississippian culture also had an understanding of astronomy, possibly related to their agricultural practices. Sun circles have been found at least one such mound complex that were apparently established to determine the solstices, equinoxes and other important dates on the agriculture calendar.

The Apalachee
By the time that the first European explorers arrived in the area, the Fort Walton Mississippian society had evolved into the Apalachee people. Although descriptions of the De Soto expedition describe large Mississippian-type mounds, it was mentioned by Garcilaso de la Vega in one chronicle of the trek that the Apalachee encountered near the Aucilla no longer lived on these structures. The chief of the first village that they encountered after crossing the Aucilla reported that he had built his town and house on such a mound …“but he had abandoned them because to him the forest still appeared to be a stronger fortification.”
The Apalachee were a strong and prosperous culture, well respected by surrounding Native American tribes due to their fierceness and wealth. They had continued the agricultural traditions of the Mississippian era and chronicles of the De Soto expedition described huge corn fields stretching “as far as the eye could see”. They were reported to have a well-structured society with men preparing the fields and hunting for game and the women tending the crops and gathering nuts and berries. The culture is well-known for their tradition of inter-village ball games that rivaled and exceeded many of our current traditions for collegiate football games. For those games, villages would challenge each other with teams having as many as one hundred players each. The players, with their bodies painted with their team colors, used a hard clay ball, covered with buckskin about the size of a modern golf ball. Points were scored for getting the ball into an eagle nest mounted atop a tall pole. The game was quite physical and often resulted in broken bones. Some players were reported to have resorted to swallowing the ball in attempts to keep it away from rivals followed by rigorous efforts by the rival team to force regurgitation. Therefore, the Apalachee were both a formidable and productive people at the time of first European contact. The Navarez and De Soto expeditions were in awe of their success at agriculture and their fierceness in battle.
Thus, the Aucilla River area has seen a long cultural evolution starting at least 14,000 years ago when the first settlers arrived. That evolution saw the development from a very primitive culture to the advanced society of the Apalachee. The River then witnessed the collision of those early settlers with the forces of Western civilization and a 300 year struggle over the land lasting until the end of the Seminole Wars.