A little history
There was this explorer, Hernando de Soto. In 1539 he began marching his men some 4000 miles, all over the Southeast, and clear over into Louisiana, looking for either gold or power (in the form of a civilization to own, a la his mentor, Pizarro). Or maybe both.
The Indians he met, no fools, assured him that the golden cities he sought were just around the next bend. Not quite believing them, he enslaved a few men at each stop, forcing them to carry the equipment and show him the way. In this way, he spent the next four years, losing half his 700 men, spreading disease, killing native people, and generally making a terrible mess. He founded no colonies, made no maps, learned little. He didn't even try to convert the Indians. He died a couple of years in, of what was probably a poisoned arrow wound.
He probably first came ashore in Bradenton. The Park Service does a nice little film and there's a lovely trail that tells both sides of the story. When I visited, there was a re-enactment of the Spanish camp and weapons. No native people participated.
Native clubs and atlatls vs. Spanish steel, below. (The shield is on the wrong display.) The native weapons actually had the advantage over the European muskets, but the swords and crossbows were brutal.
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No doubt the cross-shaped thing was just to prop the spear and battle ax on, but the symbolism seemed ironic.
I went from there to a much more serene historic village, all about 19th-Century Bradenton. I'm a sucker for quaint, especially the simpler tools and mechanical stuff of an earlier day.
The church and court buildings were lovely, all of sawn local wood. And I liked the "Florida Cracker Vernacular" architecture of the house, with its dog-trot central hallway (for breezes). Mostly I just like to say "Florida Cracker" and "dog-trot."
The Indians he met, no fools, assured him that the golden cities he sought were just around the next bend. Not quite believing them, he enslaved a few men at each stop, forcing them to carry the equipment and show him the way. In this way, he spent the next four years, losing half his 700 men, spreading disease, killing native people, and generally making a terrible mess. He founded no colonies, made no maps, learned little. He didn't even try to convert the Indians. He died a couple of years in, of what was probably a poisoned arrow wound.He probably first came ashore in Bradenton. The Park Service does a nice little film and there's a lovely trail that tells both sides of the story. When I visited, there was a re-enactment of the Spanish camp and weapons. No native people participated.
Native clubs and atlatls vs. Spanish steel, below. (The shield is on the wrong display.) The native weapons actually had the advantage over the European muskets, but the swords and crossbows were brutal.
.
No doubt the cross-shaped thing was just to prop the spear and battle ax on, but the symbolism seemed ironic.
I went from there to a much more serene historic village, all about 19th-Century Bradenton. I'm a sucker for quaint, especially the simpler tools and mechanical stuff of an earlier day.
The church and court buildings were lovely, all of sawn local wood. And I liked the "Florida Cracker Vernacular" architecture of the house, with its dog-trot central hallway (for breezes). Mostly I just like to say "Florida Cracker" and "dog-trot."
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