Who Discovered Florida?
Who discovered Florida? That's the question we ask at the beginning of our new book on the Florida Keys. Who indeed? History tells us the story of Ponce de Leon, the search for the Fountain of Youth and his 1513 discovery of Florida. It's been an accepted story for generations. Really? Not so fast!
I collect antique maps as does my The Florida Keys: A History Through Maps co-author Brian Schmitt. We came to realize that Spanish explorer de Leon couldn't have discovered Florida since there were several maps that pre-dated 1513, they clearly show the Florida peninsula. When I asked a renowned map dealer why the world's experts hadn't tried to correct history, he said "good question, why don't you do it".
I'm not a map expert, just a collector who knows enough to be dangerous, but all of a sudden the burden of changing history was upon me. At the time Brian and I were using maps to write our history of the Florida Keys, why not simply use the maps that prove Ponce wasn't first.
In recent years an ever increasing number of antique maps have been digitized and displayed on line which made it easy to show a couple dated prior to 1513. A one-of-a-kind 1502 map in Italy clearly shows the Florida peninsula northwest of Cuba with a scattering of islands that could easily be the Florida Keys. Brian has a rare 1511 map that shows Florida north of Cuba and since that map is Spanish, Ponce likely knew about Florida before he got there. The 1511 map not only shows Florida and Cuba but also the coasts of south and central America marked with geographical names. The new world was already being accurately mapped by the Spanish, how could they have missed north America!
The world's most expensive map also proves the point. The 1507 Waldseemuller map was bought by the U.S. Library of Congress from a German man for $10 million in 2001. It's recognized as the first map to have the word "America" on it. It too shows the Florida peninsula northwest of the islands of Cuba and Hispaniola. That makes at least 3 maps showing Florida before Ponce arrived; 1502, 1511 and 1507.
World's most expensive map, located in the U.S. Library of Congress. 1507.
Great Inagua is the southernmost island in the Bahamas archipelago which stretches from there northwest to Walker’s Cay and Matanilla Shoal, almost 600 miles away. Inagua is actually closer to Cuba and Hispaniola (Haiti/Dominican Republic) than to the nearest Bahamian island, Acklins, over 80 miles to the north. Great Inagua is east of the Windward Passage and just fifty miles off the coast of Cuba, which puts it near the nexus of major shipping routes to the Americas and Caribbean. The island was once a major shipping center in the early 1900s where Bahamian seamen would join passing ships as crews were exchanged. In 1902 more than 220 ships, sail and steam, anchored off Inagua to exchange crews.
The island’s primary industry is the production of sea salt via solar evaporation. Large flat areas of land just above sea level in the interior of the island are prime for salt production. This led to the founding of the Henagua Salt Pond Company In 1848, the same year the Turks and Caicos (then a major salt producer) ceded from The Bahamas. In 1936 the Erickson brothers from New England revived the salt industry which endures today under the name of Morton Salt.
The island hosts the Southwest Point Lighthouse built near the main settlement of Matthew Town. The lighthouse was built by the British Imperial Lighthouse Service in 1870. The town is named after George Matthew, who was governor of The Bahamas from 1844–1848. Wrecks are common due to the island’s location adjacent to the Windward Passage, a shipping lane going back to the days of Spanish exploration. A number of shipwrecks reported here include the Spanish Santa Rosa in 1599 and the Infanta in 1788, the British HMS Statira and Lowestoffe in 1802 and the French ship Le Count De Paix lost in 1713.
If you’re looking for a remote place to have an island adventure amongst rich bird life and piles of salt on the horizon, Great Inagua may be the place for you. Few people, including most of the Bahamians I know, have ever seen the flamingos and the trip is worth it for that experience alone.
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Conception Island National Park is a wonderful place I’ve enjoyed on numerous trips. The island is deserted and the only access is by boat. I often anchor off Cape Santa Marina at the north end of Long Island which is less than 20 miles away, but for most it’s distant journey which keeps the little island group pristine and uncrowded. It’s over 150 miles to Nassau. Conception was designated a national park in 1964 and is managed by the Bahamas National Trust. There are several mooring buoys offshore but otherwise no modern conveniences whatsoever.
The island has lovely beaches and rocky hills surrounding a large interior lagoon with a labyrinth of waterways that connect mangrove-lined bays and flats that can go dry at low tide. The lagoon is filled with life including fish of many types, turtles, rays and sharks that can be seen in the shallow water on the flats. Wading birds are all over the lagoon including great blue herons, smaller heron species, various ducks, terns, stilts, oyster catchers, ospreys and sandpipers with frigates and lovely tropic birds overhead. Sometimes the white tropic birds with their long tails appear to be blue as the sun reflects off the white sand under the shallow blue sea (I once had to convince a stubborn friend on my boat that the birds weren’t actually blue!). Conception may be home to the largest concentration of this elegant bird in the entire Bahamas. It’s a truly a magical place and Booby Cay, to the east of the main island, is a significant nesting site for terns and other seabirds.
There’s beautiful reef on the north side of Conception with a proliferation of unique corals and the remains of two ships from the War of 1812, including cannons and anchors submerged in shallow water. The British frigate “Southampton” had days earlier captured the smaller American brig “Vixen” and both hit the reef together one November night. Three hundred men made it to shore in the ship’s boats which were soon dispatched to seek help from Cat Island to the north and from Nassau further west. There were few supplies salvaged from the wrecked ships and the men lived primarily on the abundant conch they found and what little fresh water was available. They were eventually taken to Jamaica by several British ships that came to the rescue. A written narrative about the event estimated the men ate nearly 1,100 Conch in the 10 days they were on the island, over 3 per man per day. It’s also interesting in just those few days several “wreckers” showed up, an indication of how common ship wrecks were throughout the islands at the time. Wreckers were men who sought fortune by salvaging cargos off of shipwrecks after first rescuing any anyone aboard.
There’s little human history written about the Conception, though some ruins can be seen from an early attempt at settlement. The lack of fresh water no doubt played a role in any desire to live or keep livestock there. This has had the great advantage of keeping Conception in a pristine condition resulting in a spectacular national park of the Bahamas, far enough from civilization that it’s likely to stay that way.
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