The Spanish Mission Era

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

The Beginning - After the Narváez and De Soto expeditions in the 16th century, the Spanish did not attempt further ventures into the Aucilla area until early in the next century. Nevertheless, due to chronic shortages of food for its 500 residents of the colony of St. Augustine, there was continuing interest in establishing missions in the Apalachee area with its rich agriculture as described by the chroniclers of both the Narváez and De Soto expeditions. Yet, logistical problems due to the lengthy distance from St. Augustine and the perceived need for troops to defend missionaries restricted ventures into the area.
That began to change with the arrival of Fray Martin Prieto in 1605. He began evangelizing to the Timucua Native Americans in Northeast Florida with increasing success. In his efforts, he saw the long-standing enmity between the Timucua and the Apalachee as an obstacle to his work. Therefore, in 1608, he released two Apalachee, who were being held as prisoners by the Timucua, with instructions to return home to let their people know that he was coming on a mission of peace. Prieto followed them to the Apalachee village of Ivitachuco, believed to have been located a few miles west of the Aucilla River. There, he found the entire Apalachee population, estimated at 36,000, gathered to greet him. At the meeting, the chiefs of the Apalachee agreed to pursue peace. Further, they appointed one of their number to visit the Governor at St. Augustine.
Following Fray Prieto’s visit, there were intermittent visits by missionaries to the region, but no permanent mission was established until 1633 when the Franciscans were authorized to expand their missions into the Apalachee area. At that time, Mission San Luis was established near what is now Tallahassee, in an attempt to relieve the chronic food shortage in St. Augustine. Shortly thereafter, other missions in that area were established and a troop of Spanish soldiers were sent to the Mission San Luis area for protection.

Governor Salazar’s Wheat Farm - After an especially severe food shortage at the St. Augustine Spanish colony in 1639, a Spanish fragata, loaded with corn and other produce from the new Apalachee missions, made the 800-mile trip around the Florida Straits to rescue the colony. Thereafter, St. Augustine began to depend on the Apalachee missions for much of its food supply. As a result of that dependency, during the first year of his tenure as Spanish Governor in 1645, Ruiz de Salazar Valecilla led an expedition to the Aucilla River region in search of suitable sites for expanded agriculture to solve the food shortage issue. Impressed with the suitability and richness of the soil in the region, Salazar established a farm along the Aucilla River for the large-scale production of wheat, maize (corn), cattle and hogs. According to an inventory of the farm conducted after the untimely death of Salazar, it included six leagues of land with up to 30 fanegas sown in wheat and 14 arrobas sown in maize. Interestingly, this represented the first growth of wheat in North America. The Salazar ranch was reported to have been located near the native village of Asile. Although some reports have placed the village and wheat ranch on the east side of the river, evidence of grain storage facilities have been found along the west side of the River on a tract of land currently known as El Trigal.

The Apalachee Revolt - The increasing labor required by the Native Americans associated with the production and transport of the food supplies, as well as the transport of the heavy tools for the new wheat farm and a labor draft that required several hundred of the Apalachee to work on construction projects in St. Augustine each year, led to a revolt by the Apalachee in 1648. During the revolution, seven churches around Mission San Luis were burned. In addition, a number of Spanish were killed, including three friars and the newly appointed Assistant Governor in charge of troops. The Spanish troops themselves were spared since they were working at the Governor’s wheat farm at the time of the revolution. Order was restored after additional troops were sent from St. Augustine resulting in a fierce battle between the Spanish troops and the Apalachee.

Missions Established near the Aucilla - The first mission established in the Aucilla River region itself is believed to have been San Lorenzo de Ivitachuco, established about 1665. A total of at least six are believed to have been constructed in the surrounding area. Those included San Miguel de Asile located on a hilltop along the west bank of the Aucilla; San Lorenzo de Ivitachuco located near Lake Iamonia about four and a half miles southeast of the current town of Lamont; La Concepcion de Ayubale located about two miles south of the present-day town of Waukeenah; San Francisco de Oconi located just north of the town of Wacissa; and San Juan de Aspalaga and San Joseph de Ocuya located along Old St. Augustine Road. Each of the missions had a significant population of resident Apalachee Native Americans as well as the Spanish missionaries.
As set forth earlier, an important role of these missions was to provide food for St. Augustine and the Spanish fleet. Thus, they were located near rich land and robust Aplachee populations, who had already been practicing very successful agriculture. With their expertise, the missions in this area rapidly began to produce a surplus of corn, beans and squash, dried turkey meat and hogs that were transported to St. Augustine. The produce from the missions in the Aucilla River area became the lifeblood of the colony for a number of years.

Moore’s Massacre - The Spanish mission era in the Aucilla River area ended abruptly in 1704 when Governor James Moore of Carolina led a force of soldiers, along with about 2000 Creek Native Americans, in an attack on the Spanish missions. That attack was the result of a continuing conflict, known as Queen Anne’s War, between European colonists for control of the American continent. This continuing struggle had led to friction between the British colony in Carolina and the Spanish.
Colony in Florida due to overlapping claims to what is now the State of Georgia and northern Florida. By 1702, most of the Spanish efforts north of St. Augustine had been concentrated at Amelia Island near present day Fernandina, Fla. Nevertheless, the dispute over the area continued.
As a result of a request by Carolina Governor, James Moore, the Carolina Assembly, in 1702, approved funding of 2000 pounds for an invasion to eliminate all Spanish interests in the area. With those funds, Moore gathered a force of 50 English colonists and 370 Native Americans, along with 14 small vessels, for the invasion. He began the effort with an attack on the Spanish missions on Amelia Island. There, he burned the missions and scattered the Native American inhabitants.
Following his assault on Amelia Island, Moore’s troops sailed on to the Spanish settlement at St. Augustine. When Moore’s forces attacked that colony, the Spanish Governor withdrew all of the civilians into the fort and sent for assistance from Spanish forces in Havana, Cuba. Fortunately for the Spanish, the English guns were able to do little damage to the coquina walls of the fort. But, during the siege, some of the English and Creek troops conducted a raid on a nearby Native American village. There, they plundered and burned the village, including the chapel, and took fifty villagers as slaves. The siege on the fort ended when reinforcements from Cuba arrived and landed nearby, resulting in Moore retreating to Charleston in disgrace.
Even after being replaced as Governor, Moore continued to have a great deal of influence in the British colony. As a result, he was able to persuade
the Carolina Assembly to authorize another raid on Spanish Florida. Moore’s proposal for that mission was that it would be self-funded through the acquisition of loot and slaves. The new plan would take advantage of the animosity that had developed between bands of Creek Native Americans from what is now Georgia and the Apalachee of Spanish Florida. After the plan was approved by the Assembly, Moore recruited a force for the attack. Although there are differing accounts of the size of the force, most sources report it at about fifty colonists and two thousand Creek warriors.
Moore led his troops down to the Aucilla River area, following the route occupied today by U.S. 19. His main force struck the Mission la Concepcion de Ayubale, located a few miles north of the headwaters of the Wacissa River. While the attack on the mission was proceeding, many of the Creek warriors in his force raided nearby villages and farms.
When the battle at the Ayubale mission began, Father Angel Miranda and a number of the Native American residents of the mission retreated into the church compound which was protected by a mud wall. There, they held the attackers at bay for nine hours until they ran out of arrows. Then Father Miranda was slain by the invaders and many of his parishioners brutally tortured and killed with more than 40 burned at the stake in retaliation for losses of the Creek warriors.
When word of the attack reached the Spanish Mission San Luis, located in the present day city of Tallahassee, Captain Juan Ruiz de Mexía led a force of 30 Spanish Cavalry and 400 Apalachee to Ayubale in an attempt to rescue the residents of the mission, but they were easily repulsed by Moore’s forces.
Moore continued his rampage through the area, destroying at least five of the missions and taking hundreds of slaves. During the attacks, some of the Apalachee, unhappy with the forced labor required by the Spanish, reportedly joined his forces voluntarily. Only the mission at Ivitachuco was spared, where the Cacique wanted to be rid of the Spanish and opened the village to the invaders and turned over the Churches gold and silver objects. The invasion reportedly killed more than 1100 men, women and children as well as burning crops and structures.
Hundreds of the Apalachee were slain in the raid and many more taken to Carolina as slaves. Moore stated that 325 men and 4000 women and children were among those enslaved. His report to the Carolina Lord Proprietors included the following statement:
All which I have done with the loss of 4 whites and 15 Indians, and without one penny charge to the publick. Before this Expedition, we were more afraid of Spaniards of Apalachee and their Indians in conjunction with the French of Mississippi, and their Indians doing us harm by land, than of any forces of the enemy by sea. This has wholly disabled them from attempting anything against us by land.

The End of the Era - After a subsequent raid later that year, the Spanish burned their last remaining mission in this area, the San Luis mission, and retreated to St. Augustine along with a number of the remaining Apalachee. The area around the Aucilla became almost completely depopulated.
Following the exodus, the territory surrounding the Aucilla and its tributaries became almost completely devoid of human life. When Lt. Diego Peña traveled from St. Augustine through the area in 1716, he encountered not a soul. As an indication of the now deserted populace, he also noted bison grazing in areas where there had previously been villages and missions. Spain attempted to repopulate the region by encouraging Creek Native Americans to move there and began construction on a stone fort at St. Marks for security. But the fort was never completed and there was no significant resettlement during their occupation.

The Apalachee Today - In addition to those who fled to St. Augustine, a small band of the remaining Apalachee fled west to French-controlled territory. Descendants of the tribe remain today, as a close-knit community, struggling for government recognition, in what is now the State of Louisiana. Recently, in an emotional homecoming, a group of the Apalachee from Louisiana visited the site of the village at Ivitachuco.