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Lake City, Florida: A Sesquicentennial Tribute (2009) H. Morris Williams, Dr. Kevin M. McCarthy
Chapter Two: 16 and 17 Centuries
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The first Europeans in the
Lake City area were probably
Hernando de Soto and his
band of Spanish explorers. In
1539, de Soto and his Spanish
troops arrived in the Tampa
Bay area, began marching north
looking for gold and treasure,
and committed many atrocities
on the Native Americans they
met en route. They eventually
headed west, where de Soto
died near the Mississippi River
Hernando de Soto in 1542.
According to archaeologist
Jerald Milanich, de Soto’s expedition met a large Native American
group that scholars refer to as the northern Utina, part of a larger
western Timucuan group. The northern Utina, some of whom lived
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near Lake City, lived in separate villages led by powerful chiefs who
had alliances with one another.
In the first two decades of the 17 century, Spanish
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missionaries established a string of missions west of St. Augustine.
Archaeologist Jerald Milanich identifies one of them, the Indian Pond
site in Columbia County west of Lake City, as Santa Cruz de Tarihica. 4
The purpose of the missions was to convert the Indians to Christianity,
better control the area, and prevent incursions by other European
countries, especially England and France.
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