(Jones) In March, 1743, or three years after Oglethorpe's invasion of Florida, Mr. Edward Kimber traveled into Northeast Florida and tells of passing the site of Fort Diego: "At three we arrived at the place, where formerly the house of Don Diego Espinsoa stood, which was garrisoned by the Spaniards, and is commonly known by the name Fort Diego. . There are still some ruins of it left, as a great cross, trench, and slaughter-house for cattle . . it was quite deserted."(Edward Kimber, A Late Expedition to the Gates of St. Augustine On Florida, (London: 1744) Judging from Kimber's comments above, one can conclude that Diego Espinosa abandoned his cattle ranch after Oglethorpe's invasion. THE SITE OF FORT DIEGO: Documentary Evidence Diego Espinosa, a citizen of St. Augustine, was married to Josefa Torres. Diego and Josefa had two known children, a son, Sabastian, and a daughter, Josefa. In 1797, Josefa, the daughter, wrote her Will at which time she was identified as "Josefa de la Encarnacion Espinosa." In this Will she assigns her nephews, Jose Sanchez and Francisco Xavier Miranda, as her Administrators of her estate. At that time her estate consisted of the "San Ramon Plantation," and the plantation called "Fuerte de San Diego" (Fort Diego). She had received these properties as grants from the Spanish Government in 1793. In her Will Josefa bequeathed half of her estate to her brother, Sabastian, and the remainder to her several nephews (Spanish Land Grants in Florida, (Confirmed Grants, Vol. IV K-R, Tallahassee, Florida: 1941). In 1819, these heirs sold the Fort Diego tract to Philip Solano, who in turn sold to Anna Pons (Figure 1: Map by Jones). Andres Papy now enters the picture when he acquired this tract, although it is not quite clear as to how he managed this acquisition. In 1824, however, he is asking the U. S. Land Office to confirm to him the 126 acres at the place known by the name of the Fort of San Diego, North of St. Augustine (Figure 4: Papy petition for land).(Spanish Land Grants in Florida, (Confirmed Grants, Vol. IV K-R, Tallahassee, Florida: 1941) The next person known to have acquired the Fort Diego tract was Antonio G. Mier. Again, how or when Mr. Mier fell heir to the Fort Diego Plantation is not known. The time element is not really important to this report since it is known that Mier controlled this tract from sometime in the 19th century until 1949, when it was sold to Flavian Mickler, the present owner.(Personal Communication with Mr. Robert J. Mier, Orangedale, Florida.) THE SITE OF FORT DIEGO: Material Evidence During the early 1950's, this writer recovered, immediately North of the tract, an object that appeared to be a hollow explosive round shot. Later a similar fragment was found at the site of San Francisco de Pupa, which was also attacked by Oglethorpe in 1740. At first, this fragment was thought to also be the remains of an explosive round shot. They were later, however, identified as the remains of hand grenades. Complete grenades of this type may be seen on display at "Fort Frederica National Park," St. Simons Island, Georgia (Figure 3: A Two-Pounder Falconete found in Palm Valley, thought to be from Fort Diego, Grenades exhibited at Fort Frederica. Fragments of this type found at the sites of Fort Diego and San Francisco de Pupa.). General Oglethorpe launched his attack on Spanish Florida from this place. As he stated earlier in this report, the Mier family controlled at least part of Section 42 from the 1900's until 1949, when it was acquired by Mr. Flavian Mickler. Mr. Robert J. Mier, now of Orangedale, Florida, said that his father was born on Section 42 in 1889, and often told him that he had found several round cannon shot while ploughing his field, immediately West of the Palm Valley Road. Mr. Robert Henson, Jr., another old resident of the Palm Valley Section, said that as a young boy in 1918, he found a half buried cast iron cannon (Figure 3: A Two-Pounder Falconete found in Palm Valley, thought to be from Fort Diego, Grenades exhibited at Fort Frederica. Fragments of this type found at the sites of Fort Diego and San Francisco de Pupa.) in the woods East of their place, this being around 1200 feet from the Palm Valley Road (Figure 1: Map by Jones). The cannon, which was rather small, was later moved to the Henson Place, and at yet a later date was placed on exhibit in a store window on Bay Street in Jacksonville. Mr. Henson still has on hand a copy of an article which appeared in a Jacksonville newspaper relative to the cannon. Mr. Henson was kind enough to point out to this writer, the spot where the gun had been found. This writer, in the company of Mr. Charles Potter, searched the area thoroughly, but found no evidence that would relate to a complex such as Diego Espinosa's Cattle Ranch and Fort. A short distance from the place where the cannon was found, however, the site of a late 19th century dwelling was detected. Henson said it was the former home of the "Isaac Silcox" family who occupied this place around 1900. Assuming the cannon originally came from the site of Fort Diego, a mile and a quarter to the South on the Mier place, how and when did it manage to reach the Silcox property. In a later conversation with Mr. Robert J. Mier, the mystery was solved somewhat. Mier stated that his mother was the daughter of Isaac Silcox and Isaac was his grandfather. It seems only too obvious that the cannon was given to Silcox by the Miers, as a gift to a family member. Mr. Henson also told this writer that as a small boy, he and friends often played with several small round shot that were found on the place. Quite likely these are the same cannon shot that Mr. Mier had found in his field. These shot were probably given to Isaac Silcox along with the cannon. A photograph of the cannon appears in (Figure 3: A Two-Pounder Falconete found in Palm Valley, thought to be from Fort Diego, Grenades exhibited at Fort Frederica. Fragments of this type found at the sites of Fort Diego and San Francisco de Pupa.) in this report. It is a type of small cast iron cannon, 30 inches in length, and around 150 pounds in weight. It is identified as a Two-Pounder "Falconete" carriage mounted. Since this Falconete was found in the area near to the site of Fort Diego, there can be no doubt but it is one of the two carriage mounted guns mentioned in Oglethorpe's report (The St. Augustine Expedition of 1740, The Colonial Records of South Carolina, (Columbia, South Carolina: 1954)