(Worth SGC) DOCUMENT 15: PAST AND PRESENT PROVINCES OF FLORIDA, 1736 INTRODUCTION This final document in the Montiano package was drafted only a few years earlier, prior to Governor Montiano's term but following the 1733 foundation of Georgia. By order of then Governor Don Francisco del Moral Sanchez Villegas, Captain Don Luis Rodrigo de Ortega drew up a list of all the Indian provinces and towns, including Christians and pagans, that had once been within the Spanish domain. By 1736, the far-flung mission provinces of Spanish Rorida had been reduced to the immediate environs of St. Augustine, and increasing numbers of Indians in the northwestern interior were entering the English and French trading networks. Nevertheless, in an attempt to present the historical extent of Spanish rule in old Florida, Captain Rodrigo de Ortega outlined all the previous and present aboriginal provinces which had formerly rendered obedience to the Spanish crown (table 6). It is unclear where Captain Rodrigo de Ortega obtained his information, for some of it (particularly his lists of the mission towns) dates to the late 17th century, and is quite accurate and thorough. In addition to a retrospective look at the now-abandoned mission provinces of Spanish Florida, Captain Rodrigo de Ortega also listed the major provinces of unconverted Indians living in the deep interior in 1736, providing yet another overview of western Georgia and Alabama during the early 18th century. Although detail is largely lacking, the list is nevertheless of interest. AN481 Ultimately, the following document serves as a capstone to the rest of the Montiano packet, effectively summarizing the past and present (as of 1736) Indian societies which, in theory, made up Spanish Florida during the first Spanish period. What is perhaps most telling is the manner in which Captain Rodrigo de Ortega asserted the prior dominions of Spanish Florida, not using geographical features or lines of latitude, but rather former Spanish alliances with aboriginal groups living upon the landscape. In many ways, this illustrates the tenuous grip that the Spanish colonists actually held on the territory of Florida. To a large extent, the Spanish claim to Florida was fundamentally based not so much on actual Spanish control of the land, but more or less fragile relationships with the Indian societies who called it home. AN482 Year of 1736 Number 15 Certification given by Captain Don Luis Rodrigo de Ortega about the limits and ownership of these provinces of Florida… I left a copy of this certification written on three folios. Florida, August 7, 1739. Castilla(13)