A School History of the United States | Page 7

coast. The first was that of John Ribault (ree-bo'). He led
a colony of Frenchmen, in 1562, to what is now South Carolina, built a
small fort on a spot which he called Port Royal, and left it in charge of
thirty men while he went back to France for more colonists. The men
were a shiftless set, depended on the Indians till the Indians would feed
them no longer, and when famine set in, they mutinied, slew their
commander, built a crazy ship and went to sea, where an English vessel
found them in a starving condition, and took them to London.
In 1564 a second party, under Laudonnière (lo-do-ne-ar'), landed at the
St. Johns River in Florida, and built a fort called Fort Caroline in honor
of Charles IX. of France. But the King of Spain, hearing that the French
were trespassing, sent an expedition under Menendez (ma-nen'-deth),
who founded St. Augustine in 1565. There Ribault, who had returned
and joined Laudonnière, attempted to attack the Spaniards. But a
hurricane scattered his ships, and while it was still raging, Menendez
fell suddenly on Fort Caroline and massacred men, women, and
children. A few days later, falling in with Ribault and his men, who had
been driven ashore south of St. Augustine, Menendez massacred 150
more.[1] For this foul deed a Frenchman named Gourgues (goorg)
exacted a fearful penalty. With three small ships and 200 men, he sailed
to the St. Johns River, took and destroyed the fort which the Spaniards
had built on the site of Fort Caroline, and put to death every human
being within it.
[Footnote 1: The story of the French in Florida is finely told in
Parkman's _Pioneers of France in the New World_; also J. Sparks's
_Life of Ribault_; Baird's Huguenot Emigration.]
[Illustration: Gateway at St. Augustine[2]]
[Footnote 2: Remaining from the Spanish occupation of Florida.]
SUMMARY
1. From 1492 to 1513 the Europeans who came to America explored

the coasts of North and South America, but did not go inland.
2. In 1513 exploration of the interior of the two continents began.
Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama, 1513, and Cortes conquered
Mexico, 1519-21.
3. In 1528 Narvaez made the first serious attempt to enter the
Mississippi valley. He died, and some of his followers, under Cabeza
de Vaca, crossed the continent.
4. When the Spanish governor of Mexico heard their story, he sent Fray
Marcos to find the "Seven Cities of Cibola"; and began the exploration
of the southwestern part of the United States.
5. In 1539-1541 De Soto and his band explored the southeastern part of
the United States from Florida to the Mississippi River.
6. By 1582 two Spanish settlements had been made in the United States
--St. Augustine, 1565, and Santa Fé, 1582.

EUROPE FINDS AMERICA.
DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATIONS, 1492-1600.
ATLANTIC COAST.
1492. Columbus. Islands off the coast. 1493. Columbus. Islands off the
coast. 1497. John Cabot. North America. Labrador. 1498. John and
Sebastian Cabot. Labrador to Cape Cod. Pinzon and Solis. Florida to
Chesapeake Bay. 1500. Cabral. Discovers Brazil. 1501. Vespucius.
Explores Brazilian coast. 1500-1502. Cortereals. Explore coast North
America. 1513. Ponce de Leon. Discovers and names Florida.
GULF COAST.
1498. Pinzon and Solis. Explore Gulf of Mexico and coast of Florida.
1519. Pineda. Sails from Florida to Mexico. 1528. Narvaez. Florida to
Texas. 1543. Followers of De Soto sail from Mississippi River to
Mexico.
THE INTERIOR.
1519-21. Cortes. Conquers Mexico. 1534-36. De Vaca. From the

Sabine River to the Gulf of California. 1539. Fray Marcos. Search for
the Seven Cities. Wanders over New Mexico. 1540-42. Coronado, Gila
River, Rio Grande, Colorado River. 1539-41. De Soto. Wanders over
Florida, Georgia, and Alabama, and reaches the Mississippi River.
1582-1600. Spaniards in the valleys of the Gila and Rio Grande.
PACIFIC COAST.
1513. Balboa. Discovers the Pacific Ocean. 1520. Magellan. Sails
around South America into the Pacific. 1578-1580. Drake. Sails around
South America and up the Pacific coast to Oregon. (See p. 26.)


CHAPTER III
ENGLISH, DUTCH, AND SWEDES ON THE SEABOARD
%15. The English Claim to the Seaboard.%--After the Spaniards had
thus explored the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, and what is now Arizona,
New Mexico, and Texas, the English attempted to take possession of
the Atlantic coast. The voyages of John and Sebastian Cabot in 1497
and 1498 were not followed up in the same way that Spain followed up
those of Columbus, and for nearly eighty years the flag of England was
not displayed in any of our waters.[1] At last, in 1576, Sir Martin
Frobisher set out to find a northwest passage to Asia. Of course he
failed; but in that and two later voyages he cruised about the shores of
our continent and gave his name to Frobisher's Bay.[2] Next came Sir