A. D. 1675.

A. D. 1675.

Sire:

I have repeatedly given you an account of the manner in which I assumed control of this Government, taking the oath of fidelity in the tower of the Old Castle, which is almost in ruins, the artillery dismounted and scattered as if on a beaten field of battle. The blind obedience my duty demands in any employment of your Majesty, forces me to again repeat the condition of things. The old wooden Fort is in ruins, the stone one incomplete and with no defense whatever. No income or means to finish it. In the commissary department only one hundred “arrobas” of corn, and no other produce of any description. The Garrison is in the greatest want, as no vessels with supplies have yet arrived from New Spain. Seeing that we could not hold out three weeks longer, I seized two small vessels carrying about two thousand arrobas of corn. As the Fort was in such a demolished condition, with no defense and exposed to losing what was done, I detained these vessels, intending to give them some amount of embargo, conceding to each his share, but having communicated it to the Royal Officers, they thought it too severe treatment and that I should pay freight and the conquered’s pay; that it would be better to pursue such a course. I let the matter stand for the present, retained the crew and the vessels I sent to bring peons to continue the building of the Castle, which is so absolutely important. This was done with the greatest care and promptness, as demonstrated on the maps I submit to you. Being entirely without means for carrying on this work, I implore you will send it. The Fort has neither walls nor moat, some of the ramparts only half finished, no means of closing it to make it secure. It would seem that they have been careless in the guarding of the Fort, sending only twenty-five men each day to do duty when it should have at least one hundred men constantly on the watch. I repaired things as well as I could for the lodging of the men and guards that they might stay in, as is done in Flanders and Milan and other places, but the Officers refuse to occupy them, stating they are in no condition nor have they sufficient conveniences for them to go in. As it will be profitable and advantageous to you, I implore you again not only to send the money but the order compelling them to enter at least one hundred to guard the Castle. May God guide thee in what is right.

Pablo Ita Salazar.

St. Augustine, Fla., Aug. 23rd, 1675.

Your Highness:

Not to fail in my duty, knowing as I do from twenty-two years’ service in your Majesty’s States of Flanders and other ports, the importance of fulfilling. It has seemed necessary for me to give you a full and detailed account of the fortification being built in this Garrison by your Royal Order. I have already informed you of the condition I found it in, on assuming control of this Government of Florida. Considering it one of your defenses and territory under whose banner it was conquered, I have taken the greatest pains to investigate matters thoroughly. At first I could not give as true a statement as I should have wished, seeing so many faults and errors; but the untiring efforts I have made to ascertain facts have brought to light certificates of the enormous cost of this building. Being a place for the defense of the Bar, or entrance to the Harbor, I find that by making this fortification in a pentagonal form the bulwarks will point directly towards the Bar serving to defend from and towards an attack, and by building a battery it covers us in a measure from the enemy. Wishing to discuss this matter I called a meeting of the Royal Officers showing them the great saving of cost to the Royal Exchequer; but they seem opposed to the plan and, having no orders from your Highness, I am obliged to leave the work as it is. My greatest desire is to finish it and have the opportunity of defending

it with my life. As on other occasions in other places, I have exposed that life. God grant you a long life.

Pablo Ita y Salazar.

St. Augustine, Fla., Nov. 23rd, 1675.

Sire:

Having done me the honor to appoint me Mayor of the new city of Vera Cruz and port of San Juan de Ulloa, you still further honored me by appointing me Governor of Florida.

I immediately began an investigation of the state of the Old Castle and the new stone one being made by your order. In the first place I found it had the shape which will be clear to you in the report and letter of the same date as this. Secondly, they continued with many difficulties the building of the new one, as the Viceroy of New Spain has not assisted with the ten thousand dollars a year to which this Garrison is entitled by provision of your Majesty, and as you have no money or other effects in your Royal Chests to supply the wants, I have made it known to the Archbishop and Viceroy of New Spain by report and petition, showing them how urgent it was to send us a certain sum for the continuance of the building. I also notified the Judge of the Royal Audience of Mexico, as is evident through all that I place before you also what I have forwarded to the general finance office, who refused to send any sum whatever until I had from this Garrison given a report of the state of the building of the Castle, and the distribution made of the salary assigned since I took possession of this Government. I found the Port in a most dilapidated condition with no defense. I took the oath of fidelity as you ordered, and not to be wanting in my duty as a faithful vassal, as by being this, I have merited the great honors you have bestowed upon me in the field. Having taken the oath I received different Royal Cedules, among them one in which you command the Viceroy to send ten thousand dollars more for the building, and that the citizens and soldiers aid as far as they are able, as is done in other places, as the benefits redound to their good and security. I must tell you that they do, coming in person to assist in the building, with the accustomed punctuality which is all they can do, because this Garrison is composed of a few married soldiers who are extremely poor, their income not exceeding the salaries earned each year. This being a land of no commerce nor communication by entrances or departures of vessels, there being no produce or other necessaries with which to accumulate an income. And although you pay their salaries they never receive it in full, as they must first assist in the buying of accoutrements for the three vessels that bring the supplies. From their salaries they have also paid for the repairs of the Old Castle and the furtherance of the new building, warehouses, Royal Houses and all other necessary things which present themselves in a post, as you have not assigned to this Garrison any means for similar expenses, nor is there anything in the Royal Chests. There are no rents of any kind to supply them and it is in charge only of Royal Officers. The poor allowance divided among the infantry and the state of the Castle will be evident to you from the reports sent you, and I assure you that having served you for a period of forty-two years in the armies of Germany, Flanders and Badajos, in none of them have I been so well pleased as in this one, for the many difficulties and dangers. The lack of means for completing the fortification, the invasions and the lack of forces in which I find myself, as you will see by the lists I forward you of the subjects who are disabled and old and enjoy the privileges of false muster through your kindness. The soldiers and sailors, who at present run on these vessels and are absent most of the time, and those who are on guard as sentinels. So, when the boats are obliged to go out for supplies I am left with about eighty men who can serve. Besides this, we have no ammunition nor supplies, so much so that when I arrived the want was so great that families were obliged to go in the woods and hunt for roots to keep themselves from starvation. So exposed and in need were they that had a vessel landed and offered them food they would have miserably surrendered. And we are always thus exposed to this fatality, because we have no warehouses of food supplies as in every other port such as San Juan de Ulloa, Acapulco and Morro of Havana, in these parts. My experience in Flanders, Castillo de Amberes, Gante y Cambria, they have supply stores of vegetables, biscuit, cheese and hung beef, enough to last at least one year. I have sent them supplies for a long time, for in cases of accident, and here on account of the distance and slowness of communication there should be more care. Havana, the nearest point, is two hundred leagues, and New Spain is five hundred, so you see the vessels have to sail a long way exposed to the fatalities of storm, weather and pirates, which can at any time overtake them. I have thought proper to place all these statements before you, as being so important to your Royal Service you may consider them. And I beg you will aid in this building of the Fort, by sending the required means for its continuance. It would be a very great affliction for these Provinces to leave it in its present state. While I have seen many castles of importance and great renown, none surpass this one, nor have been built at so small a cost in the Indies, as will be demonstrated to you in the accompanying certificates given by the Royal Officer. It seems that the peons earn only one real a day and three pounds of corn, making the twenty-five pounds come to eight reals, which is the correct price. Their living in other places would be at least four reals. Two of the Captains who assist in the building and hewing of stone, earn only six reals a day, where in other places they would make at least three and four dollars per day. All the material and other things needed are in other places placed convenient for the workmen, so that had it been built elsewhere than in this Garrison it would have cost more than eighty thousand dollars. I find it very damaging for this Garrison to be without any fortification. We are obliged to tear down the old Castle just next to it, and the new one is not yet closed in, so that we fear the enemy who with a much larger force could easily capture us. They are only distant fifty leagues, two days’ sailing, and once that they were owners of this Port, they would be of the entire Province destroying all the conversions of the Indians who to the service of God are supported and protected by the King and a great trouble to your vassals who sail back and forth in the commerce with this America. Being owners, they would have all the ports, and with their pirates stationed everywhere that vessels should pass. I feel the Port a little more secure than when I came, for one of the bastions is about completed, and by closing the other side looking landward with a palisade of Spanish daggers and tuna, I can retire if it should become necessary. In the meantime your Majesty will kindly apply the means sufficient to finish the work as speedily as possible, as the petition states the danger and risk this Garrison is in. May God spare you many years of the work of Christianity.

Pablo Ita y Salazar.

St. Augustine, Fla., June 15th, 1675.