Judging from Philip II's 1565 contract with Pedro Menendez, which tacitly allowed the commending of Indians by omitting any clause to the contrary, the king also meant to extend the defensive encomienda to Florida. That the institution did not take hold on the East Coast of North America was due mainly to the intensity and duration of the conquest. Florida Indians were powerful archers, reported Alvar Nuftez Cabeza de Vaca, and astute in self defense (Cabeza de Vaca, 1542: 42). When Guale, Timucuan, and Apalache caciques consented to ally themselves with Spaniards and accept regular gifts from the Crown, they assumed the role of defenders of the frontier, with the tributaries, weapons, and mounts to go with their privileged status. They were encomenderos in all but name. (Bushnell SS)