Source: Amy Notes (ID702)
Author: Howard, Amy (ID633)
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Maybe Montiano asks Castillo if any of those six veterans are still alive, or anyone else who was; M
Maybe Montiano asks Castillo if any of those six veterans are still alive, or anyone else who was; Maybe he goes and visits all the old people, and maybe he finds some at the tavern.
Cross references
St. Augustine veterans testified their memory of the Spanish occupation of the Guale coast (Mont 14)
Date Created: 2023-10-12 20:56:17
Source: The Struggle for the Georgia Coast (ID 129)
Author: Worth, John (ID 94)
Content_id: 3077
(Worth SGC) DOCUMENT 14: INVESTIGATION OF THE LIMITS OF FLORIDA, 1726 This original auto comprises testimony from six elderly veterans in St. Augustine, all of whom were questioned regarding their own knowledge and experience relating to the Spanish occupation of the coastal strip to the north of St. Augustine. The six men, their ages ranging from 60 to 82, provided an abundance of information regarding the Guale coast during the late 17th century, some of it remarkably accurate. Nevertheless, inasmuch as the following text is based on the oral testimony of old soldiers remembering both hearsay and personal experiences, this document must be viewed more as oral history than as a contemporary historical account. Consequently, there is some confusion in the testimony, and outright errors in fact, but the material nonetheless serves as a fascinating retrospect of the struggle for the Guale coast. In this sense, the 1726 investigation also foreshadows the Montiano auto of which it ultimately formed a part, displaying yet another facet of Spain's attempt to hold back the English onslaught in the diplomatic and legal realm. AN165 Year of 1726, Number 14 Jesus, Mary, Joseph Original investigation made in order to ascertain the limits and ownership of these provinces of Florida.(1) NOTE 1. This cover sheet was drafted by notary Francisco de Castilla in 1739. Autos and declarations about the justification of where the jurisdiction of this presidio reaches to the north.(2) NOTE 2. This summary title was placed on the outside of the folded bundle of folios comprising the original 1726 document. [f.l1] Auto In the city of St. Augustine, Florida, on the seventeenth of the month of September, seventeen twenty-six, the senor Don Antonio de Benavides Vasan y Molina, colonel of cavalry in the armies of His Majesty, exemplar of the Royal Guard Corps, and His governor and captain general of this stated city and the provinces of its jurisdiction, said that inasmuch as in a royal cedula dated in Madrid on the second of June of the current year His Majesty (may God preserve him) is served to command His Lordship again to place in execution the contents of the [royal cedula] which accompanies it, with the date of the twenty-second of June of the past year of seventeen twenty-five, in which are cited those of the tenth of the said month of June and the eighteenth of August of seventeen twenty-four,(3) NOTE 3. This convoluted passage refers to four royal cedulas, all of which relate to the English fort of 1721. The most recent, and the direct cause of the present auto, is that of June 2, 1726, which evidently repeated instructions given in an earlier cedula dated June 22, 1725 (a copy of which accompanied the later order). This earlier cedula also made direct textual references to two other cedulas, dated June 10, 1725, and August 18, 1724. each issued about the demolition of the fort that the English of Carolina have constructed in the dominions of His Majesty, and the settlement of the limits which pertain to that and this jurisdiction, and because before proceeding to the said task it is important to justify the extension of dominions which are subject to this government so that the reprimands and defenses might be made with clearer right against the governor of that colony [Carolina] in case he resists the just posession of those [dominions] that pertain to His Majesty, His Lordship was ordering and ordered to me, the notary, that immediately, and in continuation of his auto, an investigation should be made with all those persons who individually can give reason or notice [f. 1, vto.] of the limits and jurisdiction of lands that His Majesty had and has to the north of this presidio, and those that in times past he previously occupied and posessed as his, with the rest that they might know in this matter; and having done as much as is sufficient, the steps will be taken by His Lordship which are indicated by His Majesty in the cited royal cedulas, and for this His Lordship thus provided, commanded, and signed, of which I, the notary, swear. Don Antonio de Benavides Before me, Juan Solana Public and Governmental Notary(4) NOTE 4. Juan Solana was the son of Alonso Solana, the late-17th-century notary who penned Documents 10 and 11 under the governorship of Don Juan Marquez Cabrera. His handwriting displays many features similar to the script of his father, although in many ways it is somewhat more sloppy. Juan probably inherited the office of public and governmental notary from his father Alonso. Declaration of Captain Don Juan Ruiz Mexia In the city of St. Augustine, Florida, on the sixteenth of the month of September of this year of seventeen twenty-six, His Lordship senor Don Antonio de Benavides Bazan y Molina, colonel of cavalry in the armies of His Majesty and exemplar of the Royal Guards, governor and captain general of this stated city and its provinces for the King Our Lord, before me, the notary, swore in Captain Don Juan Ruiz [f.2] Mexia, who is [captain] of infantry for His Majesty, and the stated did so before! God Our Lord and a sign of the cross, according to legal form, and aware of it, he promised to tell the truth, and being questioned by the auto which is at the head, made for the effect, he said that the witness, being an infantry soldier in one of the companies of this presidio, was named in an armada of ships and piraguas which was made in this presidio in order to exterminate the English from Carolina, by that territory being of the jurisdiction of this government, and being ready to place it in execution in the mouth of the bar of the said Carolina, a north wind happened upon them which obligated all the vessels to seek protection in the Bay of Santa Elena, fifty leagues distant from this presidio, a little more or less,(5) NOTE 5. The preceding passage refers to the abortive 1670 expedition by Governor Francisco de la Guerra y de la Vega to attack the newly founded English colony at Charles Town (San Jorge). Had an unexpected storm not interfered with the small Spanish fleet, composed of 3 ships and 14 piraguas under Juan Menendez Marquez, the fledgling colony might not have survived (Crane, 1956: 10; and Bushnell, 1994). In which Bay a presidio was established that existed for some time until it was demolished, passing the garrison to this [presidio] of Florida.(6) NOTE 6. Here Ruiz Mexia refers to the late 16th-century Spanish colonial town of Santa Elena, uprooted in 1587 after the burning of St. Augustine by Sir Francis Drake. He who is testifying likewise says that being a soldier, he was detailed with twelve men on the Island of Santa Cathalina, which was settled by [f.2, vto.] Christian Indians of the Yguaja nation,(7) NOTE 7. Yguaja was the 18th-century equivalent for Guale. Ruiz Mexia was apparently one of the Guale garrison on St. Catherines Island during the turbulent last years of that province's history. Which owed obedience to this government for many years, like also the Island of Sapola, that of Azago, that of Guadalquina, that of Peraban, that of San Phelipe, that of San Pedro, Tupiqui, San Felipe, Santa Maria, and the Island of San Juan,(8) NOTE 8. Here Ruiz Mexia cites from north to south the mission towns of the Guale and Mocama provinces post-dating roughly 1670 (although his declaration implies that all of these were islands, he actually cites individual missions on those islands). The towns of Santa Catalina, Sapala, Asajo, Guadalquini, San Phelipe, San Pedro, and San Juan reflect the pre-1684 distribution of Guale and Mocama, and the three towns of Tupiqui, San Felipe, and Santa Maria comprise the three aggregate towns on Amelia Island after that time (which, with San Juan, survived until 1702, as noted below). The identity of Peraban is problematic, but inasmuch as it is placed between Guadalquini on the southern tip of St. Simons Island and San Phelipe in the middle of Cumberland Island, Peraban may have been a native name for Jekyll Island, more commonly referred to by the Spaniards as the Island of Whales (see Appendix A). Nd that on all the islands referred to were settled Christian Indians with missionaries of San Francisco who administered them the sacred sacraments, and a garrison of soldiers on the island of Santa Cathalina, as the head of the rest, which is forty leagues to the north distant from this presidio, and which with the hostilities that the said towns of Indians received from the English of Carolina, they came retreating down to the Island of Santa Maria, where they maintained themselves divided into three towns until the year of seventeen two, when the aforementioned English of Carolina besieged this post, and they retreated to this presidio, where they are settled at present.(9) NOTE 9. The 1702 assault by Governor Moore of Carolina resulted in the final retreat of the Indians of Guale and Mocama to the safety of the Castillo's guns just north of St. Augustine. Hann (1989) discusses the mission towns during this period. It is certain to the witness that since he had use of reason, he knows all these [f.3] dominions up to San Gorge and its territory [as those of] the King Our Master and Lord, and what he has said and declared is the truth and what he knows and has seen, aware of the oath which he has made, in which he affirms and ratifies, and he will say so each time that he is asked, and he is of the age of eighty-two years,(10) NOTE 10. Born in 1644, Captain Ruiz Mexia undoubtedly witnessed most or all of the southward retreat of Guale and Mocama after the 1660s. A little more or less, and he signed it and His Lordship made his paraph. [paraph] Juan Ruiz Mexia Before me, Juan Solana Public and Governmental Notary Declaration of Sergeant Major Don Juan de Ayala In the city of St. Augustine, Florida, on the seventeenth of the month of September of this year of seventeen twenty-six, His Lordship the senor Don Antonio de Benavides Bajan y Molina, colonel of cavalry in the armies of His Majesty and exemplar of the Royal Guards, governor and captain general of this stated city and its provinces for the King Our Lord, for the justification of the auto which is at the head, commanded to appear before him Sergeant Major Don Juan de Ayala, who before me, the notary, was [f.3,vto.] sworn in, and he did so before God Our Lord and a sign of the cross, in legal form, and having done so, aware of it, he promised to tell the truth, and being questioned by the auto which is at the head, he said that he came to this presidio forty-four years ago,(11) NOTE 11. Ayala's testimony fixes the date of his arrival in 1682, at about the age of 36. although he had news of it and its town much before, and that the lands that he has heard before and after he was here pertain and have pertained to the King Our Lord, may God preserve him, are from San Jorge, which is where the English are today, down to the head of Los Martires(12) NOTE 12. The Florida Keys, named Los Martires ("The Martyrs") by Juan Ponce de Leon in the early 16th century. To the south, and after he who is testifying was in this presidio, in the year of [sixteen] eighty-three, Sergeant Major Don Juan Marquez Cabrera governing [the presidio], the English nation began to move, and against reason and justice they cast out the Spaniards and settled on the Bay of Santa Elena,(13) NOTE 13. Here Ayala makes reference to the 1684 foundation of the Scottish colony of Stuarts Town on the Island of Santa Elena (see Document 11). Which had a presidio of Spaniards there, and so ancient, before it happened that the royal officials of this post, going to pay the presidio of Spaniards that was there, [f.4] were killed by the Indians, for which reason the said presidio was suspended.(14) NOTE 14. This reference is undoubtedly a product of local tradition, or myth, inasmuch as the described murder of the royal officials actually occurred in 1576, when three officials were murdered on Sapelo Island (Bushnell, 1981: 122-123). Although this act, and the associated uprising of the Indians around Santa Elena, resulted in the temporary abandonment of the fort, the final withdrawal a decade later had nothing to do with these earlier murders. Afterwards, Don Francisco de la Guerra y de la Vega governing these provinces, the witness heard that the English had settled in the said places, and heard it said again that they had sent [ships] from this post to dislodge them, and they brought some prisoners, and that this is what this witness knows of the ancient times by having heard it.(15) NOTE 15. The previous passages relating to the presidio at Santa Elena and the term of Governor Guerra y Vega were based on hearsay, inasmuch as Ayala arrived in Florida during the term of Governor Marquez Cabrera. The last section seems to be a mixed reference to the establishment of Charles Town during the term of Governor Guerra y Vega, and the establishment and destruction of Stuarts Town during the term of Governor Marquez Cabrera more than a decade later. And in the time of the referred Governor Don Juan Marquez Cabrera, he found out with evidence that they had settled where they found themselves in San Jorge, and he who is testifying knew with evidence what the said Don Juan Marquez Cabrera did as a result of this lamentable act to dislodge the English from Santa Elena, as he dislodged them and investigated all who came, and brought the prisoners and sent them to Havana,(16) NOTE 16. As yet this is the only mention, contemporary or otherwise, known regarding the fate of the young prisoners brought back by the Leon expedition from Stuarts Town and Carolina in 1686 (see Document 11). And afterwards, in the said time, occurred the sack ofVera Cruz, and the ships which escaped and came to exit [the Bahama Channel] ascended up to the said Santa Elena and entered in its bay, and from then on [the English colony] has continued always growing and gathering [f.4, vto.] forces, and today is numerous in people and very settled with haciendas of livestock and cornfields of quality, and finds itself with much commerce, and this witness is certain of having seen all the province [of Florida] with his eyes, by having traveled across it by land and by sea, and now he has certain notice that the English of Carolina have newly constructed a fort in the dominions of the King Our Lord, and that it is very certain that from this presidio to the north all the islands and mainland were populated by Christian Indians with their ministers of the Order of San Francisco up to the said Santa Elena, which is fifty leagues distant from this presidio, a little more or less, and this is the truth and what he knows, aware of the oath that he has made, in which he affirms and ratifies, and he will say so each time he is questioned, and he is of the age of eighty years, a little more or less, and he signed it, and His Lordship made his paraph. [paraph] [Juan de Ayala](17) NOTE 17. Ayala's signature is completely illegible. Before me, Juan Solana Public and Governmental Notary [f.5] Declaration of Juan de Sandobal In the said city on the said day, month, and year, the aforementioned His Lordship, the stated senior governor and captain general, for the justification of the auto which is at the beginning, commanded to appear before him Juan de Sandobal, a soldier of this presidio, who before me, the notary, was sworn in, and he did so before God Our Lord and a sign of the cross, according to legal form, and having done so, aware of it, he promised to tell the truth, and being questioned by the said auto, he said that the witness has been in this presidio fifty-six years serving His Majesty with the post of infantry soldier, and that on different occasions they named him to go in garrison to the Island of Santa Cathalina, forty leagues distant from this presidio, a little more or less, where he was six years in garrison, and that the said Island was populated by Christian Indians, and that there were another seven villages also populated by Christian Indians, with their missionaries, and that the witness recognizes and holds as the dominion of His Majesty the place where they say that the English of Carolina have made a fort, because the year that he who declares came to this presidio to serve His Majesty, Don Francisco de la Guerra y de la Vega governing it,(18) NOTE 18. Sandobal's testimony places the date of his arrival in St. Augustine between 1664 and 1671, when Governor Guerra y Vega was governor of Florida. The pagan Indians allied to the English had depopulated the village of [f.5,vto.] Talaje, which is the same territory where the fort finds itself today,(19) NOTE 19. Sandobal makes it clear here that Fort King George was indeed built on the site of the former mission of Santo Domingo de Talaje, a fact confirmed by the testimony of all subsequent witnesses (see below). This passage also makes reference to the 1661 Chichimeco assault on Talaje, which resulted in its destruction and abandonment (prior to Sandobal's arrival in 1670, and during the term of Guerra y Vega's predecessor). And that due to the damages which they received from the opposing Indians, the witness is certain that thus the aforementioned Island of Santa Cathalina, and the rest which were populated, retreated to that of Santa Maria, where they were until, with the motive of the siege that the said English placed against this presidio, all the Indians retreated to it, and this is the truth and what he knows and has seen, aware of the oath that he has made, in which he affirms and ratifies, and he will say so each time he is questioned, and he is of the age of seventy-two years, and he signed it, and His Lordship made his paraph. [paraph] Juan de Sandobal Before me, Juan Solana Public and Governmental Notary Declaration of Adjutant Joseph Rodriguez Melendez In the stated city on the said day, month, and year, the aforementioned His Lordship, the stated senior governor and captain general, for the justification of the auto that is at the beginning, commanded to appear before him Adjutant Joseph Rodriguez Melendez, reformado of this presidio, who before me, the [f.6] notary, was sworn in, and he did so before God Our Lord and a sign of the cross, according to legal form, and having done so, aware of it, he promised to tell the truth, and being questioned by the auto which is at the beginning, he said that the witness has been in garrison in the province of Guale in the village of Santa Cathalina, a population of Christian Indians, where the lieutenant of the said provinces was always maintained, and he was one of those named to go and depopulate the English who were in Carolina at that time, in a small armada [armadilla] which left from this presidio in order to eject them from that place, it being in the dominions of this government, and that being at the point of executing it, a severe storm struck the vessels, with which they ascended to the Bay of Santa Elena, where he who is testifying saw the formation ofa Castillo of wood which the Spaniards made in early times when the said province was discovered,(20) NOTE 20. Here Adjutant Rodriguez describes in greater detail the events of Governor Guerra y Vega's aborted 1670 expedition against Charles Town. Intriguingly, Rodriguez also makes note of having seen the ruins of a wooden fort at Santa Elena, undoubtedly the late 16th-century fort San Marcos, noted as la formazion de un castillo de madera que en lo primitibo yzieron los espanoles quando se descubrio dha provinzia. William Hilton's 1663 expedition to the Carolina coast had earlier discovered at Santa Elena "the Ruines of an old Fort, compassing more than half an acre of land within the Trenches," almost certainly describing the same structure (Hilton, 1664). When recently excavated by archaeologists, some of the cedar posts were still intact below the ground (South, 1991: 35-38). And he who is declaring is certain from having heard it said that the royal officials of this presidio went to pay the infantry of the garrison of the said Castillo of Santa Elena, and on [f.6, vto.] one occasion, the said royal officials going to pay the infantry, they killed them on the road, and that the money that they were carrying for the said payment did not appear.(21) NOTE 21. Rodriguez also makes reference to the 1576 murder of the royal officials. And [also] the fort that the English have today in Talaje, thirty-three leagues distant from this presidio, is constructed in the dominion of this government, because he who is testifying saw that land [terreno] populated by Christian Indians and missionaries of San Francisco who administered them the sacred sacraments, and he knew and saw the same in all the province of Guale, which was comprised of different villages, and that which was farthest from this presidio was at fifty leagues, until with the occasion of hostilities and the siege which the English of Carolina placed against this post all the Indians of the aforementioned province retreated, and this is the truth and what he knows and has seen, aware of the oath that he has made, which he affirms and ratifies, and he will say so each time he is questioned, and he is of the age of eighty years, and did not sign due to the impossibility of his sight, and His Lordship signed it. Benavides Before me, Juan Solana Public and Governmental Notary [f.7] Declaration of Adjutant Don Alonso de Avila In the city of St. Augustine, Florida, on the eighteenth of the month of September of this year of seventeen twenty-six, His Lordship senor Don Antonio de Benavides Bazan y Molina, colonel of cavalry of the armies of His Majesty and exemplar of the Royal Guards, governor and captain general of this stated city and its provinces for the King Our Lord, for more justification of the auto which is at the head, commanded to appear before him Adjutant Don Alonso de Avila Saberda, reformado of this presidio, who before me, the notary, was sworn in, and he did so before God Our Lord and a sign of the cross, according to legal form, and having done so, aware of it, he promised to tell the truth, and being questioned by the said auto, he said that the witness has seen the villages of Christian Indians that there were in the province of Guale, and that all were with their missionaries, and he was on the Island of Santa Cathalina where the garrison of infantry was maintained with its lieutenant, and he is certain that in Santa Elena was [f.7, vto.] the first presidio of Spaniards until it was moved to this [presidio] of Florida,(22) NOTE 22. Although Santa Elena was one of the first two colonial towns established by Pedro Menendez de Aviles in Florida, its establishment in 1566 actually postdated that of St. Augustine in 1565. and the witness has seen that before the English settled in San Jorge, vessels went to look for corn up to Santa Elena,(23) NOTE 23. Here Avila makes reference to the frequent expeditions sent north from St. Augustine during the 17th century to barter corn and other provisions from the unconverted province of Escamacu. Fifty leagues distant from this presidio, a little more or less, and from there to San Jorje there are about ten or twelve leagues, and regarding the place where the English have made the fort the witness knows that there was a town of Christian Indians that was called Talaje, thirty-three leagues from this presidio, a little more or less, and that from this presidio up to the place of San Jorge to the north the witness has recognized and recognizes as dominions of the King Our Lord until the year of seventeen two, when the English from the said San Jorge placed a siege against this presidio, and the towns of Christian Indians retreated to make their villages in the immediate area, where they maintain themselves today, and that all that he has said and declared is the truth and what he knows and has seen, aware of the oath [f.8] that he has made, which he affirms and ratifies, and he will say so each time he is questioned, and he is of the age of seventy-five or seventy-six years, and he signed it, and His Lordship made his paraph. [paraph] Alonso de Avila y Sababedra Before me, Juan Solana Public and Governmental Notary Declaration of Captain of Cavalry Don Francisco Menendez Marquez In the said city on the said day, month, and year, the aforementioned His Lordship, the said senor governor and captain general, for more justification of the auto which is at the beginning, swore in the Captain of Cavalry Don Francisco Menendez Marquez, accountant for His Majesty, who before me, the notary, was sworn in, and he did so before God Our Lord and a sign of the cross, according to legal form, and having done so, aware of it, he promised to tell the truth, and being questioned by the said auto, he said that since he has had use of reason, he who is declaring knows and has seen that to the north of this [f.8, vto.] presidio from the Island of Santa Cathalina down to the Bar of San Juan del Puerto, there were towns of Christian Indians, each one with its missionary of the Order of San Francisco, on the islands as well as on the mainland,(24) NOTE 24. Francisco Menendez Marquez, born around 1666, was too young to have been witness to the two Guale missions farther north of Santa Catalina (San Phelipe de Alave and San Diego de Satuache). AN166 and the cause for the occasion of the village of the said Island of Santa Cathalina having retreated to that of Santa Maria, and all the rest of the villages that were on the mainland, was that the pagan Indians allied to the English made them great hostilities, (25) NOTE 25. In addition to raids from the mainland by English-backed Indians, the pirate raids of 1683-1684 provided the final impetus for the southward retreat of Guale and Mocama (see the Overview). And the witness knows that in Santa Elena, fifty leagues distant from this presidio, was the first presidio that the King Our Lord had, and the first conversions of the Indians,(26) NOTE 26. Here Menendez Marquez refers to the early conversion attempts around Santa Elena by Jesuit missionaries during the late 1560s and 1570s. And he has heard it said commonly that the cause of the garrison of infantry having retreated to this presidio of Florida was because the royal officials, having gone from this presidio to pay that of the said Santa Elena, they killed them on the road, and he is certain of having heard that where the fort of the English is found today, which is called the Bocas de Talaje, likewise thirty-three leagues distant from this presidio, the Yguaga Indians had their town with its missionary, and due to the hostilities that they received from the pagan Indians, they moved to the islands of the sea,(27) NOTE 27. The phrase "Bocas de Talaje" could literally be translated as the "Mouths of Talaje," undoubtedly referring to the many channels at the mouth of the Altamaha River, on one of which was situated Mission Santo Domingo de Talaje (and the later Fort King George). After the 1661 Chichimeco raid that destroyed Talaje, Mission Santo Domingo was relocated to the northern end of St. Simons Island (see Overview). And he who is testifying has seen that with the occasion of the siege that the English of San Jorge placed against this presidio, the aforementioned Indians of the province of Guale left their villages and came to settle in the vicinity of this presidio, where they maintain themselves, and all that he has said and declared is the truth and what he knows, aware of the oath that he has made, which he affirms and ratifies, and he will say so each time he is asked, and he is of the age of sixty years, a little more or less, and he signed it, and His Lordship made his paraph. [paraph] Francisco Menendez Marquez Before me, Juan Solana Public and Governmental Notary [f.9, vto.] Certification I, Ensign Juan Solana, Public and Governmental Notary of this city and presidio of St. Augustine, Florida, certify and swear in the form that best I can to those who read the present how it is on record to me, having heard it said by the old and ancient men of this presidio during my fifty-eight years in this place that the first town that His Majesty, God preserve him, had in these provinces was in Santa Elena, and the first conversions, fifty leagues from this presidio, more or less, and ten or twelve leagues to the north up to the place of San Jorgue, where the English find themselves settled, and that two causes motivated having passed the garrison and conversions to this [presidio] of Florida, one they say was due to the Bar of this port being next to the mouth of the [Bahama] Channel, because of worrying that enemies might impede the pass with great facility from the armadas of His Majesty which go to exit [the channel],(28) NOTE 28. In this passage Solana refers to a more accurate reason for which Santa Elena was abandoned in favor of St. Augustine after the burning of St. Augustine by Drake in 1586, specifically noting the strategic importance of the southern location at the mouth of the crucial Bahama Channel, through which the Spanish treasure fleets sailed during the colonial era on their return journey to Spain. And the other [cause] was that the royal officials having gone from this presidio to pay the garrison of infantry of the presidio of Santa Elena, the Indians killed them on the road, and the place where the English today find themselves settled, which they call Carolina, was the province that we called [the province] of Escamacu, [f. 10] and [expeditions] went there from this presidio to look for fruits [of the land] in vessels by sea and by the rivers in piraguas, until the English settled it, governing these provinces Don Francisco de la Guerra y de la Vega, who, as soon as he found out about it, finding two vessels of His Majesty in this port, and one which had come to conduct the situado from New Spain, armed them for war.(29) NOTE 29. Here Solana provides a more thorough description of the failed 1670 Spanish assault on Charles Town. They left and went to enter through the Bar of Santa Cathalina, where they armed eight piraguas(30) NOTE 30. Other sources give 14 as the number of piraguas (Crane, 1956; Bushnell, 1994). With the Indians of the province of Guale and some Spaniards, and the said vessels and piraguas having come forth by the rivers, being ready to execute [the attack] upon the very port of the said San Jorgue, a severe storm struck them so that the vessels could not maintain themselves, and the said dislodgement [of the English] was frustrated. And it is on record to me by having seen it that all the islands to the north of this presidio, which they called the province of Guale, were populated by Christian Indians with their missionaries of the Order of San Francisco, and opposite the said islands on the mainland three villages of Yguaja Indians, one called Satuache, another Tubique, and Talaje, which is where they say the English [f. 10, vto.] have constructed a fort of wood.(31) NOTE 31. Solana leaves out only Mission San Phelipe de Alave in his listing of the principal mainland missions of the Guale province during the mid-17th century (see Overview). Although its Indian inhabitants were known as Yguajas during the 18th century, the province itself still retained the name of Guale. And it is on record to me by the devastation that they are experiencing in this presidio from the said English that since the town of San Jorge began to find itself with some favored forces of the Indians allied to them, they have ruined and destroyed all the province of Guale in order to take possession of it, as is being experienced, it being on record to me to be land of the King Our Lord up to the said Santa Elena. And so that it is on record according to that ordered by His Lordship in his auto(32) NOTE 32. The auto ordering notary Juan Solana to append his own certification to the preceding testimony follows. Of today, the date below, I give the present in Florida on the nineteenth of the month of September of this year of seventeen twenty-six, of which I swear. Juan Solana Public and Governmental Notary [f.l11] Auto(33) NOTE 33. This auto was drafted prior to Solana's preceding certification, but was copied here at the end. In the city of St. Augustine, Florida, on the nineteenth of the month of September, seventeen twenty-six, His Lordship senor Don Antonio de Benavides Varan y Moleno, colonel of cavalry in the armies of His Majesty and exemplar of the Royal Guard Corps, and His governor and captain general of this stated city and its provinces, said that not withstanding the superabundant justification that results from the investigation that has been made by virtue of the auto of the seventeenth of the current [month] about the districts that pertain to His Majesty and the jurisdiction of this government, His Lordship was commanding and commanded me, the notary, to certify what might be on record to me, and what I might know on the subject of the cited auto, and thus done, it should be gathered together and placed as a continuation of the principal [testimonies], and copies should be taken that are suitable to remit to His Majesty on the first occasion(34) NOTE 34. A copy of this original investigation was indeed sent to Spain, where it remains in AGI SD 844. and to base the remaining tasks which might have to be done about the definition of boundaries between this jurisdiction and that of Carolina, which His Lordship reserves for execution in his own time and in the form that His Majesty has ordered in the royal cedulas cited in the said auto, and for this His Lordship thus provided, commanded, and signed. Don Antonio de Benavides Before me, Juan Solana Public and Governmental Notary