Menendez promised to rid the province of the French menace and to occupy Florida effectively for Spain. He accomplished both tasks. Early in the fall of 1565 this Spanish admiral and a large band of soldiers and colonists founded Saint Augsutine, destroyed Fort Caroline, and annihilated its defenders. Hoping to expand the area under Spanish control, Mendez established small garrisons at San Mateo (site of Fort Caroline), San Pedro (Cumberland Island), Guale (Santa Catalina Island), Santa Elena (coastal South Carolina), Tocobaga (Tampa Bay), San Antonio (Charlotte Harbor), Santa Lucia (halfway between what is now Fort Pierce and West Palm Beach, and Tequesta (Miami). From these beginnings he envisioned a flourishing new center of Empire with an economy based firmly on agriculture, mining, and pearl fishing, but these dreams of a new utopia in the Florida wilderness were soon shattered. (Tepaske GSF)