On April 2, 1513, Juan Ponce de León landed somewhere along the east coast of Florida.
More than 500 Native American nations inhabited the Americas at the time of first contact. The arrival of European and African peoples forever changed life on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean and initiated environmental and demographic changes that continue to the present day.
- Juan Ponce de León Sights Florida, Blog
- Spanish Cattle in Florida, Blog
- Early Florida Maps, Florida Photographic Collection
- Juan Ponce de León, Florida Photographic Collection
- An Act to Remove the Remains of Ponce de León to Florida, Significant Documents, Exhibits
State Library of Florida
Additional Resources at Other Institutions
- University of Florida, Spanish Borderlands Collections
- University of South Florida, Early Visions of Florida
Printed Primary Sources
- Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, The Narrative of Cabeza de Vaca (University of Nebraska, 2003).
- Bartolomé de Las Casas, A Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies (various editions).
- Lawrence Clayton, et al., The De Soto Chronicles (University of Alabama, 1995).
- Knight of Elvas, The Discovery and Conquest of Terra Florida… (various editions).–sometimes published under the “Gentleman of Elvas.”
- Garcilaso de la Vega, The Florida of the Inca (various editions).
Key Secondary Sources
- Alfred Crosby, The Columbian Exchange (Greenwood, 1973).
- Michael Gannon, The Cross in the Sand (University of Florida, 1965).
- Jerald T. Milanich, Florida Indians and the Invasion from Europe (University of Florida, 1998).
- David J. Weber, The Spanish Frontier in North America (Yale, 2009).