After Drake's departure, the residents of Santa Elena moved to St. Augustine, assured that this would not void their rights and privileges as conquerors and primeros pobladores. Why the floridanos would choose St. Augustine, in its forlorn state, over Santa Elena has always begged for explanation. The official reason, offered 140 years after the fact, was that the southern settlement was closer to the Bahama Channel (Auto, 1726). In any case, from 1587 on, St. Augustine was the presidio. (Bushnell SS)