Historical Sketches of Colonial Florida — John Shaqi
Historical Sketches of Colonial FloridaCampbell, Richard L.
History
Historical Sketches of Colonial Florida
Campbell, Richard L.
Florida -- History -- To 1821; Pensacola (Fla.) -- History
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Illustration:
A NORTH VIEW OF PENSACOLA ON THE ISLAND OF SANTA ROSA.—DRAWN BY DOM
SERRES.
1—The Fort. 2—The Church. 3—The Governor’s House. 4—The Commandant’s
House. 5—A Well. 6—A Bungo.
]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
He paid New Orleans a visit, and did some profitable trading there with
six thousand dollars which he had at his command. He also secured a
quantity of pitch and turpentine for his Company, as well as two pine
spars, each eighty-four feet long, which he sent to Havana in the
schooner. This was the beginning of the timber trade of Pensacola, its
first known business transaction with New Orleans, and the last
authenticated instance of one of its timber dealers engaging in the
elegant pastime of sketching.
In vain has information been sought of its progress during the period
between the time Don Serres made the sketch and 1754, which embraced the
last eleven years of its existence, for in that year it was destroyed,
together with many of its people, by a terrific hurricane. And thus it
was that, as the Pensacola of Arriola perished in the conflict of human
passions, its offspring was destroyed in a war of the elements.
The survivors, removing to the north shore of the Bay, settled upon a
crescent-shaped body of dry land, about the eighth of a mile wide in its
widest part, formed by the Bay and a titi swamp, which, extending from
the mouth of an estuary on the west, curved landward to a marsh just
below the outlet of another on the east. These estuaries, though
seemingly the outlets of two, were in fact those of one and the same
stream flowing through the swamp, and navigable by canoes for some
distance from the bay. The bay-shore also curved deeply, the indentation
being in fact the remnant of a cove, which, as old maps show, extended
to and beyond the northern edge of the swamp.
That settlement was but a removal of Pensacola to its present site, like
that by which it was removed to the island. Each settlement, in its
order of time, like d’ Arriola’s town, being a continuation of the
Pensacola founded by de Luna in 1559, four years before Menendez founded
St. Augustine.
Of the history of the present Pensacola, beyond its bare existence, from
1754 to 1763, we have no information further than that its
insignificance shielded it from the trials and sufferings of the seven
years war ended by the treaty of Paris, February 10, 1763.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account