THIRTY years ago the word Florida was synonymous with mosquitoes, alligators, snakes, and Indians. As a part of this Union, it was at that time considered financially a worthless sand-spit, which had cost our Government fifty million dollars and many lives in the almost fruitless effort to rescue it from the hands of the wily Creeks and Seminoles, who occupied the middle and southern portions of the State. From the date of Dade’s massacre by Osceola’s band near Brooksville, in December, 1835, which sent a thrill of horror throughout the length and breadth of our land, to the surrender of Billy Bowlegs in 1858, a period of nearly twenty-five years, war was waged by our Government under the leadership of Generals Worth, Scott, Harney, Taylor, and their subordinates, with the result above stated.

In order to fully understand and appreciate the present condition of Florida, some little knowledge of her history is indispensable; for without such knowledge, the sparseness of the present population of the State is inexplicable, when taken in connection with its genial climate, its natural fertility, and the immense scope of its possible agricultural production. “If Florida possesses so great a variety and power of vegetable growth, and such a desirable climate, why is it not more densely populated?” is a question answered only by a glance at her past history.

The honor due to the first discovery of the land which now constitutes the southern extremity of the United States is generally awarded to that famous and eccentric old Spanish adventurer, Juan Ponce de Leon. Nevertheless, the validity of his claim to that honor is liable to some dispute. Several authorities of very good credit maintain that Sebastian Cabot, in the year 1497, traced the whole line of the American coast as far southward as 36° 9´ north latitude; and Peter Martyr avers that he sailed to the west of the meridian of Cuba. From this account it does not appear that Cabot proceeded further southward than the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, the latitude of which corresponds nearly with that of the Straits of Gibraltar, and the longitude with that of the eastern extremity of Cuba. It can scarcely be doubted that Ponce de Leon was the first European who landed on any part of that ground which is now occupied by the Southern States of our Republic. The purpose for which he visited this country has exposed his memory to no little ridicule; but his childish delusion is entitled to more indulgence and respect than the sordid and hypocritical motives which induced so many of his countrymen to become explorers and crusaders in America. Juan Ponce, for the purpose of discovering the location of the “Fountain of Youth,” set sail from Porto Rico, on the 3d day of March, 1512. After a short voyage he came to a country covered with flowers and verdure, and as the day of his discovery happened to be Palm Sunday, called by the Spaniards Pasqua Florida, he bestowed the name of Florida on the country in commemoration of this circumstance. Thus the first European discovery of Florida took place on the second day of April, 1512.

The next visit to Florida by Europeans was made in the year 1520, by Lucas Vasquez de Ayllon, who kidnapped one hundred and thirty Indians and sailed for San Domingo, where he sold them as slaves. In the year 1524, Giovanni da Verazzano, a Florentine sea-captain in the service of the French Government, coasted from Florida as high as Cape Breton.

On the 17th day of June, 1527, Pamphilo de Narvaez left Spain with five ships and six hundred men, being authorized by the Spanish Government to explore and take possession of “all the lands between Rio de las Palmas and Cape Florida.” The fleet was much damaged by a hurricane, and was obliged to remain at Cuba for more than six months to be refitted. In February, 1528, Pamphilo again embarked; and after a short and prosperous voyage, landed his army at the bay of Santa Cruz, Florida. Having formally taken possession of the country, and proved that he was in earnest by pillaging some of the villages, Pamphilo began to interrogate the natives respecting the precise locality of that immense deposit of gold which he expected to find in Florida. In their answers to these inquiries, the Indians, wishing to hasten the departure of their unwelcome guests, directed the gold-hunters to a distant region called Apalacha, assuring them that the shining metal could there be obtained in the greatest abundance. After a wearisome march, the Spaniards reached the designated place on the 26th day of June. The ungrateful behavior of the Spaniards soon provoked the hostility of the natives, and before they had an opportunity to make any mineralogical researches Pamphilo was compelled to retreat. While endeavoring to make his escape to the seashore, he was closely pursued by the natives, who killed two hundred of his men—about one-third of the whole number.

The whole country being aroused, Pamphilo found it impossible to return to his ships, which were probably destroyed by the Indians. The Spaniards, therefore, took the shortest route to the coast, and came to the bay now known as St. Marks. The Apalachian Indians being satisfied with driving the intruders from their territory, abandoned the pursuit when that object was gained. They arrived at St. Marks in a starving condition, their only food being horse-flesh. All their ingenuity was now employed to effect some means of escape from the country. They erected a forge on the beach, and, with great toil and difficulty, converted their swords, lance-heads, stirrups, and bridle-bits into nails, saws, and hatchets. Having thus provided themselves with the proper instruments, they felled trees, shaped the timber, and finally constructed several very inelegant specimens of marine architecture. In the meanwhile all their horses were consumed for food; and when they embarked in their rude batteaux, their thin, ghastly, Tanner-like appearance might have reminded a spectator of that shadowy boat-load of “magnanimous heroes” so graphically described by Virgil in the Sixth Book of his celebrated Epic. All the boats were subsequently wrecked near the mouth of the Mississippi, and all on board perished, except Cabeca de Vaca, the treasurer of the expedition, and four common soldiers. The survivors, after enduring many toils and sufferings, finally reached Spain in August, 1537.

In the latter part of May, 1539, Hernando de Soto landed his troops on the eastern shore of Hillsborough Bay, above the mouth of the Little Manatee River, and commenced his toilsome overland march, which ended in his death and burial in the Mississippi River, on the 5th day of June, 1542, three years and one month afterward. In 1562 it is probable that a temporary settlement was formed near the mouth of the St. Johns River by Ribault, a Frenchman.

In 1564, under the protection of Admiral Coligny, a settlement of Huguenots was formed under the leadership of Lardonierre, on the south bank of the St. Johns, about six leagues from its mouth. This settlement was called Caroline, and was completely destroyed by the Spaniards under Menendez in 1565, who massacred all that escaped death in the fight, “not as Frenchmen, but as heretics.” This murderous act was fully avenged by a Frenchman—De Gourges—who, in 1659, led an expedition especially against Fort Caroline, and massacred the Spanish garrison, “not as Spaniards, but as cut-throats and murderers.” In 1565 the same Menendez founded a Spanish colony at St. Augustine, thus establishing the first European town on the continent of America.

In 1584, as the result of various expeditions, the area of Spanish occupation and conquest had become so extended that the authority of Spain was acknowledged by the natives, not only throughout Florida, but as far west as the Mississippi and as far north as the mountains of Georgia.

In 1586, St. Augustine was attacked and plundered by a party of English adventurers under Sir Francis Drake. In 1611, it was pillaged by the Indians, and in 1665 was sacked by another party of English pirates, led by the freebooter, Davis.

In 1689, Pensacola was settled by the Spanish.

In 1702, St. Augustine was unsuccessfully attacked by Governor Moore, of the English colony of South Carolina. In 1725, Colonel Palmer, of Georgia, also failed in an effort to capture the city, and in 1740, General Oglethorpe, of Georgia, was signally repulsed in a similar undertaking.

In 1763, the whole territory of Florida was ceded by Spain to Great Britain in exchange for Cuba; but the entire population of the territory at that time did not exceed six hundred.

In 1767, Dr. Trumbull, an English colonist, located at New Smyrna, “imported fifteen hundred Corsicans and Minorcans, having deluded them by unstinted promises of land and employment at high wages, and then subjected them to a system of oppression, similar and scarce less severe than slavery, till after a lapse of some ten years they escaped in a body from his servitude and betook themselves to St. Augustine, where they settled down, and ultimately became a prominent and valuable element of the population of that section.”

In 1781, the Spanish captured Pensacola, and the English again lost possession of Florida. In 1784, the territory was once more formally ceded to Spain. In 1812, Fernandina capitulated to the troops of the United States, but was, during the following year, re-delivered to the Spanish Government.

In 1814, the English forces, under the command of Colonel Nichols, entered and manned the forts of Pensacola, although the whole territory was nominally under the control of Spain; and in 1818, General Jackson attacked and captured Pensacola in behalf of the United States.

In 1819, Florida was purchased by the United States, and was formally ceded by Spain. In 1822, a territorial government was established; in 1845, Florida was admitted into the Union, and in January, 1861, she seceded.

In the language of the talented and lamented J. S. Adams: “What a picture does this brief abstract of the leading features in the history of Florida present! Discovered by Ponce de Leon in 1512; permanently settled in 1565; ceded to Great Britain in 1763, with a population of only six hundred, after a colonial existence of two hundred years; re-ceded to Spain in 1784; sold and ceded to the United States in 1819; receiving a territorial government in 1822; admitted to the Union in 1845; seceding in 1861; and reconstructed in 1868; sacked and pillaged repeatedly by Europeans; shifting its nationality from time to time, and losing almost its entire population by each change; harassed and plundered by repeated Indian wars from 1816 to 1858, and just as prosperity began to dawn, plunged unnecessarily into the useless slaughter of a hopeless rebellion, she has suffered every evil, political and social, that does not involve absolute extinction. Is it, then, a matter of surprise that Florida is so sparsely populated?”