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A History of Columbia County Florida (1996) Edward F. Keuchel 5/340

The Early Beginnings: The Period Before United States Acquisition

By 1607, King Philip III of Spain concluded that the role the
outpost played in the defenses of the West Indies did not justify its
costs. The area around the settlement seemed too swampy and poor
to support an expanded population. The King advocated that all
but a small garrison be withdrawn from St. Augustine and the
mission settlement abandoned. Governor Ybarra and the Fran­
ciscan missionaries in Florida objected vigorously. The Fran­
ciscans noted that some 6,000 Christian Indians were living in the
mission settlements established along the Atlantic coast north of
St. Augustine. They begged the King to reconsider his position,
strengthen the presidio, and send more missionaries. Philip re­
lented and agreed to keep St. Augustine and the missions.3
With a more secure base, the friars expanded their missionary
activities away from the coastal areas and into the interior of
Timucua and into Apalachee, the province west of the Aucilla
River. In 1607 Father Martin Prieto made some exploratory
ventures into the region of Timucua west of St. Augustine and
returned with one of the caciques (chiefs) who desired instruction
in the Christian faith. The cacique and fifty followers were bap­
tized at St. Augustine in 1608. Father Prieto and the cacique
traveled throughout the villages of Timucua and crossed the
Aucilla River to establish relations with the Apalachee Indians
described by the friar “as naked as the day they were born.”4
Although fruitful, the missionaries’ tasks were not easy. The
Indians embraced the Christian religion, but the region was poor
and the friars often suffered for want of food and clothing. They
had no luxuries, and frequently corn was their only food. Often
they were forced to go barefoot or improvise as well as they could
during the cold winter months of northern Florida. But they were
dedicated men, and their work prospered.

’Michael V. Gannon, The Cross in the Sand: The Early Catholic Church in
Florida 1513-1870 (Gainesville, 1965), pp. 20-50.
4Gannon, Cross in the Sand, pp. 50-51.
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