In the latter part of May, 1539, Hernando de Soto landed his troops on the eastern shore of Hillsborough Bay, above the mouth of the Little Manatee River, and commenced his toilsome overland march, which ended in his death and burial in the Mississippi River, on the 5th day of June, 1542, three years and one month afterward. In 1562 it is probable that a temporary settlement was formed near the mouth of the St. Johns River by Ribault, a Frenchman.
In 1564, under the protection of Admiral Coligny, a settlement of Huguenots was formed under the leadership of Lardonierre, on the south bank of the St. Johns, about six leagues from its mouth. This settlement was called Caroline, and was completely destroyed by the Spaniards under Menendez in 1565, who massacred all that escaped death in the fight, "not as Frenchmen, but as heretics." This murderous act was fully avenged by a Frenchman--De Gourges--who, in 1659, led an expedition especially against Fort Caroline, and massacred the Spanish garrison, "not as Spaniards, but as cut-throats and murderers." In 1565 the same Menendez founded a Spanish colony at St. Augustine, _thus establishing the first European town on the continent of America_.
In 1584, as the result of various expeditions, the area of Spanish occupation and conquest had become so extended that the authority of Spain was acknowledged by the natives, not only throughout Florida, but as far west as the Mississippi and as far north as the mountains of Georgia.
In 1586, St. Augustine was attacked and plundered by a party of English adventurers under Sir Francis Drake. In 1611, it was pillaged by the Indians, and in 1665 was sacked by another party of English pirates, led by the freebooter, Davis.
In 1689, Pensacola was settled by the Spanish.
In 1702, St. Augustine was unsuccessfully attacked by Governor Moore, of the English colony of South Carolina. In 1725, Colonel Palmer, of Georgia, also failed in an effort to capture the city, and in 1740, General Oglethorpe, of Georgia, was signally repulsed in a similar undertaking.
In 1763, the whole territory of Florida was ceded by Spain to Great Britain in exchange for Cuba; but the entire population of the territory at that time did not exceed six hundred.