^
Update this timeline entry
Yamassee moved to Hilton Head Island, probably to ally with the English
Source: The Struggle for the Georgia Coast #129
Project ID
Chapter
No chapter
Timeline title
Start date
End date
Filename received
Filename assigned
Content
Enable editor
Use plain text
Code entry
(Worth SGC) What was missing in Barbosa's 1683 census, however, was the Yamassee population of Guale and Mocama, which had been placed at some 322 adults in Fuentes's census of 1681... As a part of Governor Marquez Cabrera's overview of the current state of the colony, which was sent to Spain that June along with Barbosa's census, a map of all of Spanish Florida was drawn up at this time by Ensign Alonso Solana, and his rendition of the northern coastal provinces reveals much regarding the results of the Grammont raid (figure 3). As reflected in the Barbosa census, only five mission towns with Christian Indians remained in the Guale and Mocama provinces. However, Solana did locate one pagan Indian village on St. Simons Island between Asajo and Guadalquini, undoubtedly the Colon village of San Simon, which would later merge with Guadalquini (see below). Perhaps the most important piece of evidence provided by Solana, however, was his placement of a "town of pagans" in the middle of present-day Hilton Head Island. This town was located precisely in the noman's land between Charles Town to the north and the Guale mission province to the south, and was probably a recent development. Based on later evidence, it seems reasonable to conclude that this was a new town formed by fugitive Yamassee. Whether or not all 300 or so fugitives from Guale and Mocama had settled together on this island is unclear, but there seems little doubt that following the Grammont raid of 1683 a substantial number of Yamassees took up a position between English Carolina and Spanish Florida. The intent of this move seems to have been an attempt to shift allegiances from the Spanish to the English colonists, for the following year these same Yamassee would welcome the new Scotch colony of Stuart's Town into their midst. The Yamassee's confidence in the ability of the Spanish infantry to provide protection was severely shaken by the Grammont raid, and the decision appears to have been made to relocate closer to the English in order to fall within their sphere of protection. Although this might seem illogical considering the fact that English Carolina was a safe harbor for pirates during this period (see below), it must be remembered that many or most of the pirates who raided Mocama in 1683 were French like their leader Grammont, and their connection to Carolina was a closely guarded secret.
Replace existing data with this data
