Spanish authority was further undermined by direct commercial penetration from the north. Part of the Guale Indians deserted, declared the chronicler Barcia, because the English had 'persuaded them to give them obedience.' The Carolina traders were invading the coast region as well as the back-country. The Indian exodus from Guale was accomplished in three or four distinct migrations between 1684 and 1703. Most of the frightened or disaffected Indians fled first into the interior, to the Creek towns of Kasihta and Coweta.