"Conquistador Fort San Juan (Joara) In North Carolina (1567)!" Topic

In the latest edition of Archaeology Magazine:

"This hamlet--considered a fort by its Spanish residents--witnessed swift and thorough destruction at the hands of once-friendly Native Americans, who one spring day in 1568 killed the Spaniards and set their homes ablaze. They covered the remains with dirt, burying Spanish dreams of a sprawling North American empire with them . . . Here archaeologists are uncovering what they believe is Fort San Juan, one of a series of settlements founded in the mid-16th century by Spanish captain Juan Pardo. It is also the site of Joara, the most important Native American town of the upper Catawba Valley region. With up to 500 residents and a powerful leader, known as Joara mico, it was a significant crossroads of the southern Appalachians."
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archaeology.org/0907

Check this out also:

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learnnc.org/lp/pages/1760
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Is this cool or what? Could be helpful if you game Conquistadores vs Appalachian Indians!

CC
PS. The Huguenots could not have been too happy to have Spaniards to the North and to the South of their interests:
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If the Huguenot Fort Caroline (in Florida) had not been wiped out by the Spanish in 1565, I wonder if the Spanish would have ventured so far north when they did – with "Protestant heretics" at their backs.

CC
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That is totally cool. So what tribes were in the area at that time?

I wonder if they will uncover evidence of a fight?

Because from what they published they don't have it yet. The Spanish could have easily left and burned the fort or the American Indians could have burned it after without a fight.

Cool site lost more digging to be done…

Soldat: "So what tribes were in the area at that time?"

I think this may answer your question:

"Joara is thought to have been settled some time after AD 1000. It was established on the west bank of Upper Creek and within sight of Table Rock, a dominant geographical feature of the area. The Joara natives comprised the eastern extent of Mississippian Mound Builder culture centered in the Mississippi and Ohio river valleys. By the time of the first European contact with the Native Americans in the foothills of the southern Appalachians, Joara had already grown to be the largest native settlement in present-day North Carolina. The town served as the political center of a chiefdom that controlled many of the surrounding native settlements. The Catawba Nation are likely descendants of the natives at Joara."
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More:

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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiska

CC

I have found three names for them, listed as Kashinampo, the Quizqui, or the Chisca. I guess generic woodland indians will suffice. hand weapons and bows.

Hi:

THANKS SO MUCH for this. I am a tour-guide in St. Augustine, and we are taught about Santa Elena (capital of Florida, at time), but had no idea about these. Wonderful information, I will now amend my tour and give credit where credit is due.

According to a book I have, "Menendez, Pedro Mendedez de Aviles, Captain General of the Ocean Sea", 1983, St. Augustine Historical Society, by Albert Manucy, the Natives were "Orista", along the coastal areas of N.and S. Carolina, the "Guale" in S. Carolina, the Santa Elena area (Parris Island) and Georgia, and the "Timaucuans" (part of the larger Saturiba tribe) were here. He also shows the "Axacan" in the Cheaspeake bay area, but labels the Natives where this fort is as "Jorda" so take that what it is worth. I am not that fond of this book, so I am not giving this as gospel.

Glad the information proved useful. I was too excited when I found the initial article and went crazy looking for other references.

CC