San Miguel de Gualdape
San Miguel de Gualdape, founded in 1526 by Spanish colonizer Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón, was the first European settlement in what became the continental United States. Established on the coast of Georgia, the colony lasted less than four months before it was overwhelmed by disease, hunger, and an Indian population that responded in a hostile manner to the invading colonizers. Of the 600 persons who set out to establish the settlement, only about 150 returned home alive.
The enslaved Africans brought by the settlers became the first documented instance of Black slavery in North America and occasioned the first slave rebellion.
Discovery and exploration
was a wealthy sugar planter on Hispaniola and magistrate of a colonial royal appeals court, the Real Audiencia. In 1521 he dispatched Francisco Gordillo on an expedition to the Bahamas to kidnap people as slaves. Finding the islands completely depopulated, Gordillo and another slaving ship piloted by Pedro de Quejo sailed northwest in search of land rumored to be found in that direction. On June 24, 1521, they made landfall at Winyah Bay on the coast of present-day South Carolina. After some preliminary exploration of the region, they kidnapped seventy Indians and brought them back to Hispanola.When they returned to Hispanola, Gordillo and Quejo brought back glowing reports of the land they had found. They said it would not require military conquest and once settled the area would become a rich and prosperous colony. Ayllón was apparently inspired by these reports and soon wrote to the Spanish crown requesting permission to explore and settle the region. Later that same year he traveled to Spain on business for the audencia but also used the opportunity to personally press his case for the new land.
Ayllón took with him one of the captured Indians who had recently been baptized as Francisco de Chicora and later served as a translator for the Spanish. "Chicora" was the Spanish name for Francisco's homeland, one of several Siouan-speaking territories in the region subject to a chief Datha of Duahe. In Spain they met the court chronicler, Peter Martyr, with whom Francisco spoke at length about his people and homeland, and about neighboring provinces. Francisco described the people of Duahe as "white" and having "blond hair to the heels", and told of a gigantic Indian king called Datha, who ruled a race of giants. He also recounted the story of a former race of men who grew long tails and only ate a specific type of fish. Perhaps most interesting to the Spanish, he assured his audience that pearls and other valuable gems could be found in the region.
On June 12, 1523, Ayllón obtained a cédula, or royal patent, from Charles V and the Council of the Indies allowing him to establish a settlement on the eastern seaboard and conduct trade with the local natives. He would be governor for life and the title alguacil mayor would be held by him and his heirs forever. In return for these and numerous other privileges, Ayllón was required to perform a more detailed exploration of the region, establish missions, churches, and a Franciscan monastery to further conversion of the native population, and he was restrained from implementing an encomienda or other means of forcing Indian labor.
As required by his contract, Ayllón hired Quejo to lead an exploratory voyage consisting of two caravels and about sixty crewmen. They set sail in early April, 1525 with instructions to explore 200 leagues of coastline, record necessary bearings and soundings, erect stone markers bearing the name of Charles V, and obtain Indians who might serve as guides and interpreters for future voyages. They made their first landfall on May 3, 1525, likely at the Savannah River. From there they continued north until reaching Winyah Bay, the site of their original landing in 1521. It is not clear how much further north Quejo traveled, possibly as far as Chesapeake Bay, but he observed that the coast beyond Winyah Bay was mostly sand dunes and pine scrub. The expedition returned home in July, 1525.
Settlement and failure
Quejo's return marked the beginning of active preparation for a voyage of settlement led by Ayllón himself. He spent his own considerable fortune and even put himself into debt to outfit the expedition. A fleet consisting of six vessels carrying about 600-700 passengers and crew was assembled. Some women, children and enslaved Africans were included among the settlers. Two Dominican friars, Antonio de Montesinos and Antonio de Cervantes were brought along to minister to both the settlers and the natives. Montesinos was well known in Hispanola for his outspoken opposition to enslavement and mistreatment of the Indians. Supplies and livestock, including cows, sheep, pigs and a hundred horses, were loaded and the fleet departed in mid-July, 1526.The large colonizing group landed in Winyah Bay on August 9, 1526 and encountered their first significant setback when their flagship, the Capitana, struck a sandbar and sank. There was no loss of life but a large portion of their supplies was lost. In addition, Francisco de Chicora and the other Indians brought along as interpreters and guides, took advantage of the opportunity to desert the fleet and escape into the woods. Ayllón ordered a replacement vessel, La Gavarra, to be built, probably the earliest example of European-style boat building in what is now the United States.
They looked for a suitable site to establish a settlement at nearby Pawleys Island but the soil was poor and a sparse Indian population offered little chance for profitable trade. Several reconnaissance parties were sent out in a wide search for better opportunities. Based on their reports, Ayllón decided to move about 200 miles south to a "powerful river", probably the Sapelo Sound in present-day Georgia. Early in September, the able-bodied men rode to the new site on horseback while the rest traveled by ship. When they reached Sapelo Sound they began immediately to construct houses and a church to form a rough settlement.
On September 29, 1526, the settlement was christened San Miguel de Gualdape in observance of the feast of St. Michael the Archangel. Gualdape was likely a reference to the local Guale tribe, a chiefdom that was part of the Mississippian culture. The colony's situation, already hampered by a late start and the loss of their flagship, quickly became worse. The settlers suffered from hunger, cold, disease and hostile natives. It was too late in the season to plant crops and game was scarce. The surrounding waters were teeming with fish but the settlers were too sick or otherwise unwilling to catch fish. The shallow water table and porous soil would have made it easy to contaminate their wells with human and animal waste. Disease was rampant, especially dysentery or other water-borne illnesses. Ayllón had hoped to supplement their food stores by trading with the Indians; however, the natives were unable or unwilling to provide assistance. On top of everything else, the weather turned unseasonably cold, increasing the settlers misery and discontent.
The death toll climbed quickly and on October 18, 1526 Ayllón himself died. Captain Francisco Gómez became leader of the colony; he and the other council members wanted to stay and wait for re-supply from Hispanola. Another faction, led by Gines Doncel and his lieutenant, Pedro de Bazan, pushed for withdrawal. Within a week of Ayllón's death, Doncel and a group of armed supporters arrested Gómez and the other leaders and locked them in Doncel's house. At the same time, another group of settlers forced themselves on a local Indian village demanding food and other assistance. The village resisted and the settlers were killed. This incident marked a turning point for the local Indians and incited further hostilities against the Spaniards.
Doncel was determined to eliminate those who still opposed him. One night he and Bazan set out to ambush and kill two of their most vocal opponents. For reasons that are unclear, some of the enslaved Africans set fire to Doncel's house that same night. In the ensuing confusion, Gómez and the other city leaders were freed, Bazan was fatally wounded and Doncel and the other mutineers were arrested. By then, the surviving colonists agreed it was time to evacuate the colony and return to Hispanola. By the end of October they were boarding their ships and by mid-November all the settlers had left San Miguel de Gualdape.
Bad weather and a shortage of food and water made the voyage home extremely difficult. The ships became separated and sailing time varied from weeks to months. Several passengers froze to death and one ship experienced an incident of cannibalism. Of the 600 persons who started the expedition in July, only about 150 returned home alive.
Scholars have disputed the location of this colony, since the expedition did not relate in which direction they traveled from the Jordan. Some historians have asserted that Ayllón went north, reaching the Chesapeake Bay. Francisco Fernández de Écija, chief pilot of Spaniards searching the Chesapeake Bay for English activities in 1609, claimed that Ayllón in 1526 had landed on the James River somewhere near where Jamestown was later developed. Écija also claimed the natives at the Santee had told him Daxe was a town 4 days to the north.
Since the early 21st century, contemporary American scholars concur that Ayllón probably developed the 1526 settlement at or near present-day Georgia's Sapelo Island. They believe that scholarly speculation suggesting that the San Miguel settlement was founded any farther to the north cannot be substantiated. Archaeological attempts to locate the site have so far been unsuccessful.