Thornton, Richard. Sixteenth Century French Exploration of the Southeast. Web. See Further: People of One Fire. Georgia, © 2012.
Last Updated on August 20, 2012 by Dennis Scholars have long assumed that Cape François was either present day Cape Canaveral They have also assumed that the May River was the St. Johns River. However, the distances between these points and Beaufort, SC (Port Royal Sound) don’t seem to correlate with the time that French […]
Last Updated on August 20, 2012 by Dennis A very important historical fact should be considered with evaluating alternative locations for Fort Caroline. The cities of Darien, Brunswick and St. Marys on the Georgia coast were booming ports for many decades before Jacksonville, FL even existed. Their harbors were naturally deep enough to handle sea
Last Updated on October 1, 2013 by Dennis An incredible series of “things gone bad” turned the 16th century colonization efforts of the French government into a tragic disaster. French efforts were far better planned than their Spanish or English counterparts in the 16th century. At the start, France seem destined to be the dominant
Last Updated on September 29, 2016 by Dennis Late 16th and 17th century maps published in France, the Netherlands and Germany stated that Captain René Goulaine de Laudonniére journeyed up what appears to be the Savannah River to the Blue Ridge Mountains in 1562 and claimed the gold-bearing lands for the King of France. De
Last Updated on August 20, 2012 by Dennis Survivors of Jean Ribault’s fleet staggered onto the beach south of St. Augustine with nothing but their torn clothes. Eventually, the castaways clustered into two groups. One, numbering about a hundred were under the command of Ribault. A smaller group came together on a beach farther south.
Last Updated on October 14, 2012 by Dennis French combat teams went on expeditions several times to rival provinces, but only a few are specifically described by de Laudonniére. The relationships of the French with Native provinces upstream on the May River worsened when they became hungry. The French then resorted to kidnappings of a
Last Updated on August 20, 2012 by Dennis Most history books and online encyclopedia sources state unequivocally that Fort Caroline was built on the St. Johns River in present day Jacksonville. They state that the May River named by de Laudonniére, was the same as the San Juan (St. Johns) River named by the Spanish.
The Non-Search for Fort Caroline and a Great Lake Read More »
Last Updated on September 26, 2016 by Dennis South Carolina archaeologists currently believe that they have found the location of Charlesfort on Parris Island, SC, within the U.S. Marine Reservation. The location matches the description of Charlesfort’s landscape, provided by de Laudonniére. French-made artifacts were found in the lower levels of a fort constructed by
Last Updated on August 20, 2012 by Dennis In early 1562 the government of France dispatched Captain Jean Ribault with a small fleet to explore the South Atlantic Coast; claim it for the King of France; and identify potential locations for colonies. Ribault brought along with him three stone columns displaying the coat of arms
Second Voyage Commanded by René Goulaine de Laudonniére Read More »
Last Updated on August 20, 2012 by Dennis On August 28, 1565 the two ships at Fort Caroline’s dock prepared to hoist anchors and sail for France. Then sails were seen on the horizon. It was Jean Ribault’s large fleet of at least seven ships, carrying 800 colonists. Ribault had finally returned to France from
Last Updated on July 11, 2023 by Dennis René Goulaine de Laudonniére described Charlesfort as a simple, triangular earthen fort, reinforced with vertical timbers and bales of faggots (small limbs.) It contained a fairly large timber-framed warehouse in the center, plus a small house for the commander, a somewhat larger house for the officers and
Last Updated on December 10, 2012 by Dennis 1. 1550 – Dutch map of the Western Hemisphere This map shows the accurate description of the shape of the Florida Peninsula before the late 1600s. Later maps described its shape as being triangular. Even though the survivors of the de Soto Expedition returned to Mexico City
Last Updated on August 20, 2012 by Dennis In many sections of his book, René Goulaine de Laudonniére discussed being given or seeing gold chains, gold sheets, gold nuggets, slabs of silver and silver ore. The valuable metals were always in the possession of the provincial leaders or town chiefs. Both at Charlesfort and Fort
Last Updated on October 13, 2012 by Dennis To understand why Captain René de Laudonniére would be drawn to either the Satilla, St. Marys or Altamaha Rivers as the location of France’s first permanent colony in North America, one has to first look at the “ground level” geography, i.e. what the officers would have seen
Geography Around the Coastal Region of Fort Caroline Read More »
Last Updated on September 26, 2016 by Dennis Don Pedro Menéndez de Avilés simultaneously built fortifications in Saint Augustine Bay and at La Florida’s planned capital of St. Elena on Parris Island, SC. Next he repaired and strengthened Fort Caroline, renaming it Fort San Mateo. Efforts were made by the Spanish in 1566 to bribe
Last Updated on August 20, 2012 by Dennis The Kingdom of France continued to claim the region between the Santee River in present day South Carolina and the St. Marys River in present day Georgia until the Treaty of Paris in 1763, when ceded all its territory in North America to Great Britain. Most European
Last Updated on August 20, 2012 by Dennis On February 15, 1562 the government of France dispatched Captain Jean Ribault with a small fleet to explore the South Atlantic Coast, claim it for the King of France, and identify potential locations for colonies. Unlike colonial expeditions sponsored by Spain and England in that century, the
Last Updated on August 20, 2012 by Dennis In recent years, several anthropologists have criticized the paintings of French Huguenot artist Jacques le Moyne because “the Indians look like they are from Brazil.” That is exactly what the indigenous linguistics recorded by René de Laudonniére on the South Atlantic Coast suggest. Most of these ethnic
Ethnicity and Political Divisions of Coastal Tribes Read More »
Last Updated on August 20, 2012 by Dennis La Roche Ferriére is our primary candidate for making direct contact with the gold-mining Indians of northern Georgia. The native peoples on the coast specifically told de Laudonniére that the most valuable export products from the mountains (to them) were the polished stone wedges used for splitting
Last Updated on August 20, 2012 by Dennis One September 2, 1565, just after Ribault had sailed in three of his small ships to Fort Caroline, six large Spanish ships appeared at the entrance to the May River. It was the force commanded by Don Pedro Menéndez de Avilés that the king of Spain had
Don Pedro Menéndez de Avilés Arrives at Fort Caroline Read More »
