Montiano was discouraged over the king’s [5/14/1745] order and countered it with a dismal picture of earlier attempts to set up a trading post in Apalache. He pointed out that a store of sorts had existed in the province since 1738, sponsored by the governor of Cuba and operated by a certain Matias de Saldivia. From the time of its establishment the store had had a precarious existence and never carried more than a few items for trade with the Indians. At one time in 1738 Saldivia had only a few French muskets to offer in exchange for Indian furs. As time went on, the store became little more than a tavern where the Indians engaged in drunken brawls. As an effective means of winning friends among the Indians, it had no advantages. When war broke out in 1739, the Uchizes, regular tipplers at Saldivia’s tavern but now “excessively regaled by the English,” began making raids on Spanish settlements in Apalache. (Tepaske GSF)