Five days ago, on the
27th of March, an anniversary unknown for many people took
place. That day, 500 years ago, on the 27th of March of
1513, the Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León arrived to the coast
of a peninsula which he would call Florida. The peninsula was
baptized with this name because of its lush forest and because, just
like yesterday, that day was Easter Sunday, which in Spanish
receives-among others- the name of Día de la Pascua Florida.
Juan Ponce de León went on an expedition to discover the mythical
fountain of youth in the misterious shallow pools of South Bimini,
instead finding the southeast coast of Florida, and thus beginning
the European history of the United States of America.
Fighting in his early
years agains the Moors during the “Reconquista”, he joined
Christopher Columbus on his second expedition to the New World
(1493). He was named the provincial governor of the Eastern part of
Hispaniola (modern-day Haiti and Dominican Republic) after suppresing
an indian revolt. In 1508 he went to explore Borinquen (modern-day
Puerto Rico) after the numerous reports of gold in the area. He would
later be named governor of Puerto Rico. Shortly after, he heard the
rumors of magical waters which could rejuvenate those who drank them.
They could be found in a mysterious island called Bimini. Thus, he
set on a journey to find those waters but instead landed on the coast
of Florida. Juan Ponce de León went to Spain where he was named
governor of Bimini and Florida and obtained permission to colonize
those lands. However, when he arrived to Florida again in 1521 he was
wounded with an indian arrow, and left for Cuba, where he soon died
of the wound.
Despite being the
official discoverer of Florida, there are reports that when they
landed in the peninsula they found at least an indian who could speak
a bit of Spanish, proving the existence of former expeditions
probably in search of slaves.
I believe most Americans
or British would answer Virginia to the question: ¿How did European
history begin in the territory of modern U.S? Unfortunately if they
were participating in a contest they would lose since Jamestown
-first settlement of the Virginia colony- was founded in 1607.
The Spanish flag was set
in Florida in 1513 and was lowered in 1821,a whopping period of 308
years! San Agustín, in Northeast Florida, is the oldest
countinuously occupied European-established settlement and port in
the continental U.S, and was founded by the Spanish admiral Pedro
Menéndez de Avilés in 1565. If you go to the castle of San Marcos,
you will still see the Cruz de Borgoña, a variant of the Cruz
de San Andrés – which represents the martyrdom of St. Andrew
the Apostle- and flag of the Spanish Empire in the XVI century.
According to the historian from University of Florida, professor
Michael Gannon, the first Thanksgiving Day took
place in this city on September 8, 1565, when the Spaniards
celebrated mass, communed and shared their food with the local
Timucuan tribe. This is 57 years before the Thanksgiving
Day of
the British in Plymouth in 1621.
San
Agustín was however, not the oldest settlement since there
were three older ones which did not flourish and succeed. They were
called: San miguel de Guadalupe (1526), Santa María de Filipino
(1559) and Santa Elena (1560).
But the story doesn't
stop in Florida. The Spaniards were the first Europeans encountering
the river Mississippi -called río Espíritu Santo at the time- and
Hernando del Soto claimed its basin to Spain in 1538. El Gran
Cañón del Colorado (Arizona)
was, once more, discovered by Spaniards.
What about Don Juan de
Oñate? A native American born in Nueva España -now Mexico- in 1550.
In 1595 Felipe II entrusted him with the mission to explore and
colonize all the norther frontier of Nueva España. He forded all Río
Grande – El paso is located there- in 1598 and claimed all this
territory to Spain as Nuevo México. He later would found the
province of Santa Fe. As many have put it, the history of the
American Southwest cannot be understood without him. While this man,
known as “the last of the conquistadors” is hardly remembered,
Daniel Boone is a legend. However, it will be surprising for many to
find out that this American pioneer adopted the Spanish nationality
and was named commander of a distric in Missouri – which was part
of an area at the time known as the Spanish Louisiana- by a Spanish
governor. By the way, the Spanish Louisiana included territories such
as the modern states of Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa,
Montana... And what about California? San Francisco, Los Ángeles o
San Diego are examples of the Spanish pesence. For instance, San
Diego and Monterey were founded by Gaspar de Portolá de Rovira, a
Spanish soldier from Catalonia who became governor of Baja and Alta
California.
In summary, to what was
called the Virreinato de Nueva España,
the following modern states belonged: California, Nevada, Colorado,
Utah, Nuevo México, Arizona, Texas, Oregón, Washington, and parts
of Idaho, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa,
Missouri, Montana, Oklahoma, Kansas and Louisiana.
The
original United States dollar was based on the Spanish
dollar, which remained as legal
tender in the U.S until 1857. According to Don J. M Prendes Pérez,
the currency has Mexican origin. When they occupied part of the
territory of New Spain, the Americans demanded these inhabitants a
peso -the Spanish name
for the coin used- as tribute. The locals called this tax dolor.
The Pillars of Hercules – a Spanish design- are still present in
the modern dollars. Even the American cowboy is just a copy of
el vaquero español. The
Spaniards took there pastoralism, transhumance, sheep, cows,
pigs...and that is why many words have Spanish origin: sombrero,
buckaroo (vaquero), Spanish saddle (silla de montar), chaps
(chaparreras), corral, siesta...
But
if there is something really unfare, is how the Spanish collaboration
in the American War of Independence has been generally forgotten.
While the role of France as an ally against Great Britan is
remembered all the time, very few know that the independence was
possible thanks to the financial and military help of Spain. At the
time Spain still held the territories which now correspond to the
states of Texas, Nuevo
México and California
plus Nueva Orleans. It
also held a big portion of Latin America. Spain supported financially
the colonies and had up to 20 000 soldiers fighting against Great
Britain and holding the southern flank, supporting general Washington
among others. Bernardo de Gálvez, governor of Louisiana, was famous
for a campaign in 1779 without which Washington would have run in
trouble. He cleared the port of Nueva Orleans
and took the largest English base in the south, Pensacola (in May,
1781). The city of Galveston, in Texas, has its name. As a final
curiosity, England offered Gibraltar back to Spain as long as Spain
kept neutral in the war. It didn't happen, the Spaniards fought and
Great Britain lost.
Once
more the Spanish influence is greatly forgotten. If the Americans
look back to their past, into their European origins, they will see that indeed their past is impregnated with Spanish presence. The
Spanish flag has been waving in Florida for 308 years, the American
flag has been waving for 237. And all began searching for a mythical
fountain of youth.
