Dean, Thank you for reminding me of the Spanish settlements of Florida. I have visited St. Augustine though it was several years ago. I enjoying it greatly. Enjoy St. Paddy's Day, Jean -----Original Message----- From: Dean Debolt [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: Friday, March 17, 2006 10:10 AM To: Frantz, Jean M.; [log in to unmask] Subject: RE: Teaching History Along the lines of early settlements, whether you debate continuous or interrupted, we are planning the 450th anniversary of the settlement of Pensacola in 1559, which is ostensibly Spanish. In Florida, there are three settlements of such early vintage; one at Charlotte in 1558, Pensacola in 1559, and St. Augustine in 1565. Pensacola claims "first settlement;" historians point to Charlotte; and the tourists point to St. Augustine as the "first" continuous European settlement in North America. I might note that after the defeat of the Spanish Armada by England, the English government turned their attention to questioning whether Spain did indeed have sole right to America and all the gold, etc. it was plundering from the New World. North America had been granted to Spain by a Papal Bull in the late 1490s, but now that England under Henry had moved from Catholicism (and there was no resulting lightning strike from heaven), questions arose. Elizabeth's advisor, John Dee, drew up a "title abstract" to North America that claimed the Welsh were the first Europeans to arrive in the New World, using the legend of Madoc as told by Welsh bards, who sailed west around 900 A.D. to warm lands. Elizabeth, using this as her authority, commissioned Humphreys and later Raleigh to take expeditions and settlements to the New World. We have a local plaque put up by the D.A.R., though in storage now, that says Madoc sailed up Mobile Bay . . . and for several centuries there was widespread interest in locating the remains of the Welsh in America, though most agreed that they had disappeared and been assimilated into the Native American tribes. Lewis and Clark were charged, as one of their orders, to carefully look for traces of Welsh language and culture in their exploration of the Louisiana Territory. The closest they came was the Mandans on the Upper Missouri River; this tribe engaged in agriculture, built leather covered boats (like Welsh corbuckles), stayed in one place, and American painter George Catlin noted the striking difference that a number of the tribe had blue and green eyes. Perhaps I've strayed off the topic, so I'll just say, on this Irish Day: As you slide down the banisters of life, May the splinters always point the wrong way. Dean Dean DeBolt University Librarian, Special Collections John C. Pace Library, University of West Florida 11000 University Parkway Pensacola, FL 32514-5750 850-474-2213 [log in to unmask] A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List sponsored by the Society of American Archivists, www.archivists.org. For the terms of participation, please refer to http://www.archivists.org/listservs/arch_listserv_terms.asp. To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to [log in to unmask] In body of message: SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname *or*: UNSUB ARCHIVES To post a message, send e-mail to [log in to unmask] Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html Problems? Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <[log in to unmask]>