METIS HISTORY 1600-1639

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IN THE BEGINNING - THE SPANISH PERIOD

The following chronology is to assist you in understanding your ancestor's evolving beliefs and values and to assist in you in your quest for your genealogy.  

You will find trying to trace your ancestors very challenging if they are Voyagers, Coureurs des Bois or Metis.  The English on Hudson Bay called them wood runners; the Anglo-Dutch of Albany (New York) called them 'bush lopers'.  The Coureurs des Bois were considered French traitors, and often changed their names each time they worked as Voyagers or visited the parishes for marriage or baptism.  The Metis were ignored and left off of most records as they were considered to have abandoned their French culture for that of the Savage culture; a different form of traitor.  If Indians (or Metis) married Europeans a pseudo European name is very often used  to hide this heritage, but sometimes the word savage is used to identify them. The use of the word interpreter, guide or even captain, often refers to a Metis.   If this were not enough, it was the French habit to use nicknames in New France, and the Metis also adopted this cultural quirk.  Many added dit (alias) names to distinguish themselves from others with the same name.  They used town, district, region or province names, often as their dit name.  Others assumed the name of famous ancestors on the male or female side of the family, and sometimes from another family.  These dit (alias) names, a.k.a. (also known as) names often became the assumed sir names the decedents used.  To add to the confusion to this, once they departed from Quebec, just about any spelling of the name goes; there was no standard.   Some men also maintained a town wife and a country wife, and deliberately chose different names.   May you have an exciting read, happy hunting- and enjoy! 

1500 

About this time the Spaniards introduced the burro to America.

1502 

May:   Fernado Columbus, d-1506, son Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), set sail for America with four ships.  In Honduras and Panama he had a mutiny, along with desertions, and conflicts with the natives.  He lost the ship Gallela as a result of being attacked by the Indians.  He had to abandon the ship Nizcaina, as his 150 man expedition was brought low by fevers and rancid food.  None of his four ships made it back to Spain.  He obtained ships in Jamaica and return a broken man.  No mention is made of the fate of the deserting men. Were they killed or adopted into the native population to create the first southern Metis? 

1507 

Amerigo Vespucci (1494-1512) an Italian is believed to have named America after himself.  He is believed to be the first one to realize America was not part of Asia, as believed by most folks.

1510  

'Know that, on the right hand of the Indies, there is an island called California, very close to the side of the terrestrial paradise, and it is peopled by black women- without men among them, for they live in the manner of Amazons.'  The Spanish Sergas.

1512  

February 12:  Ponce de Leon, authorizing his voyage of discovery and colonization, provided that the Indians on the islands he might discover should be distributed among the members of the expedition, that the discoverers should be well provided for in the first allotment of slaves, and that they should “derive whatever advantage might be secured thereby.”  The high authority of the Church sanctioned the institution of slavery to the extent that the leading theologians had declared all barbarous and infidel nations who shut their ears to the truths of Christianity, are fair objects of rapine, captivity and slavery.

1513 

Juan Ponce de Leon (1460-1521) charted the coast of Florida and discovered the Gulf Stream.

September:   Vasco Nunez de Balboa (1475-1519) of Spain, crossed Panama to see the Pacific ocean, having been told of its existence by the Indians.  Pedro Arias Davila, a very jealous Spaniard, falsely accused Balboa of treason and had him beheaded in January 1519.

1515 

Francisco Pizarro (1476?-1541), a Spanish explorer and conqueror of Peru, was noted for his audacity, courage, cruelty, and unscrupulousness, and for his abilities as a military and civil leader.

1517

Francisco Fernandez (Hernandee) de Corboda, d-1524 a Spanish slave trader explored Mexico and Nicaragua in 1524.

1519 

Hernando Cortez, with Spanish troops, landed Vara Cruz with 16-17 horses and fought their way to the City of Mexico.  Mexico City, known as Tenochtitlan, was flower-covered, whitewashed city, five times as large as the dirty sordid town of London.  Its waterways and  zoo's were delightful to the eyes.  It was bigger in size than Paris.  The Spaniards marveled at the wide streets, ornately carved buildings, markets with goods from hundreds of miles away.  They were awe struck by the botanical gardens, as such splendor did not exist in Europe. 

(I)-Alonzo Alvarez de Pineda (1494–1519), of Spain, discovered the Mississippi River and charted the Gulf of Mexico in the north.  He claimed Texas for Spain..

1521 

Still other Spanish expeditions were nothing more than slave raids or kidnapping excursions. In 1520, Lucas Vasquez de Ayllon, a wealthy resident of Hispaniola, determined to send out a ship for the purpose of exploring the section north of that covered by Ponce de Leon in 1513. His caravel met among the Bahamas a second ship sent out by another resident of Hispaniola to obtain Indian slaves. The two vessels joined company, and proceeded toward the continent, which they reached June 25, 1521, in the neighborhood of the River Jordan (the present Santee or Combahee) and the cape afterward called Cabo de Santa Elena. By gifts and proffers of friendship, the Indians were lured on board, and the ships, having obtained a full cargo, set sail for Hispaniola.

1525 

It is believed that the first smallpox epidemic from the Spanish swept America.  It is believed to have been caused by a single sick Spaniard killing nearly half of the Incan population.

A Spanish ship sailing under Esteban Gomez, a Portuguese, in 1525, coasted along the shores of North America between Nova Scotia and Florida, seeking the northwest passage, and carried a few Indians back to Spain.

1526 

The Spanish crown ruled that every expedition must include two priests from this date forward.

Lucas Vazques de Ayllon (1475-1526) of Spain established a Carolina colony at the mouth of the Peedee River at Winyah Bay.  The colony was called San Migual de Guadalupe and included African slaves.  A leadership dispute split the colony, the slaves revolted and fled into the woods to join the Cofitachiqui People and without their slave labor and as a result of their divided leadership, the colony soon failed.

1527 

(I)-Jean Ortiz of Seville, Spain, is captured by the Indians. His life is saved by the daughter of Uceta,  whom he likely married, and spent the next 12 years living among them.

1528

Alvar Nunez Cabeza De Vaca (1490?-1557?), led by soldier Panfilo de Narvaez (1470-1528), with a large 300 man army, overran the country and, after disastrous wanderings, reached the Apalache Country without finding gold.  During the next two years, more than half the men had died, and Cabeza de Vaca emerged as the leader.  Most of his army were famished and lost at sea trying to return to Cuba in make shift rafts.  He led 5 rafts towards Mexico and two rafts with 80 survivors arrived to an island, possibly Galveston Island, off the southwestern coast of what is now Texas, Narvaez did not survive.  The band was captured by Indians. Early in 1535, Cabeza de Vaca, Estevanico (1500-1539) a Muslim slave, Alvar Nunez and Alonso Castillo Maldonado survivors of the expedition escaped, and began a trek through, what are now, the southwestern U.S. and northern Mexico. In 1536 the four men reached a Spanish settlement on the Sinalo River in Mexico.

Charles V granted to the Welser family, Augsburg merchants, rights to colonize most of North-Eastern, South America.

Wheat is first introduced into New Spain.

Hernando Cortes was recalled to Spain and brought with him haricot beans.

November 30:  A Spanish fleet sank in a Florida hurricane, 380 died.

1534

Fortun Ximenez explores Baja California in Santa Cruz Bay, where he is killed.

1535 

Herando Cortes founded a colony in Santa Cruz (La Paz) California, but it would be abandoned in 1537.

(I)-Francisco Vazquez de Coronado (1510-1554) arrived Mexico this year from Spain.

1539 

(I)-Hernando de Soto (1500-1542) of Spain, the slave trader and butcher of America, began a four year expedition into Florida, Georgia, Alabama and the Mississippi with 600 soldiers, 200 horses and 300 pigs.  It is believed the pigs brought disease that killed 96% of the population.  It is noteworthy that the Black Death in 1347 to 1351 only killed one third of the population.   De Soto would become a byword for cruelty and bloodlust.  His women slaves were used largely as cooks and as mistresses.; Soto apportioned women slaves among his men for sexual gratification.  The narrators relate the capture and distribution of such women in groups of one hundred to three hundred.  

(I)-Hernando de Soto, (1500-1542), sent out sallies of soldiers to capture slaves for intelligence gathering and women for the sexual gratification of his men.  Only one soldier brought his Spanish wife with him.  1,000 men, during 4 years, likely produced a lot of Metis.  The Indian slaves and their Metis offspring could not be taken, for there was no way of transporting them, so it was decided to dismiss them

In one of the Sallies, the soldier under Baltasar de Gallegos, charged a small number of Indians.  At that moment a voice cried out "I am a Christian! I am a Christian! Slay me not"  Alvaro Nieto did not slay him, but made him a slave, to translate for them, on their expedition.

Father Marcos de Niza (1495-1558), an Italian Franciscan missionary, discovers Arizona.  He is alone except for Estevanico, (1500-1539) a Moorish slave, and four Indians.  Estevanico is killed by the Zuni for raping Zuni women.  Marcos makes a hasty retreat back to Mexico  He lied claiming he discovered the extraordinary rich fabled Seven Cities which were in fact simple Zuni pueblos.  His exploits however were enough to make him superior of the Franciscan Order.  

Francisco de Ulloa explores the western coast and proves California is not an Island, as had been believed since 1510.

May 30:   Tamba Bay, Flordia, (I)-Hernando de Soto (1500-1542), of Spain, the butcher who d-1542, landed a 1,000 man army to capture Indian slaves and to discover silver and gold.  He set the stage for infamy, showing the deception and brutality of the Spanish people in the Americas towards the native people of America.   

June:   (I)-Jean Ortiz of Seville, Spain, a captive of the Indians since 1527, joined the (I)-Hernando de Soto d-1541 expedition as interpreter.  Soto's 1,000 man army included:  213 horsemen, 12 priests, 8 clergymen of inferior rank, 4 monks, and packs of bloodhounds of prodigious ferocity which were used to run the savages to ground.  They brought their own swine for food, but expected to raid the Indian villages for food as they traveled.  They required about 500 slaves to porter their supplies and for bed partners.  The Indians defended themselves with tenacity, but lost battle after battle. 

October 27:   (I)-Hernando de Soto (1500-1542), reached Anaica Apalache (Tallahassee) and engaged the Indians who attacked day and night in the fiercest manner.

1540 

The Basques had established a whale fishery station on the Strait of Belle Isle that flourished into the 1590's.  The Basques employed about 2,000 men, per year, who lived Newfoundland-Labrador for six months of the year.  It is likely safe to assume some Metis resulted in the numerous trading sessions with the natives.

Hernando de Alarcon ascends the Colorado River for more than 100 miles.  Garcia Lopez de Cardenas, part of the expedition, discovers the Grand Canyon of Colorado.

The Spanish reported that an earthquake destroyed Santiago, Guatemala.

Francisco Vasquez de Coronado (1510-1554) led an expedition of 335 Spanish soldiers and 1,300 Tlaxcalan Indians, 4 Franciscan monks and several slaves both Indian and African to explored Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas, killing many native Americans. This expedition (1540-1542) claimed these lands for Spain.  He was the first recorded European to visit the Grand Canyon.   Upon his return he was branded a failure by the Spanish leaders for his failure to find gold or silver.  He was also censured for numerous atrocities against Indians under his authority. He was removed from office in 1544 in disgrace.  Spain was driven by greed.

March 3:   (I)-Hernando de Soto, (1500-1542), headed for the town of Cutifachiqui, Georgia.  He then headed west to the town of Guaxule which contained 300 houses and a 500 man army.

May:   (I)-Hernando de Soto, (1500-1542), journeyed to the town of Conasauga (Murry, Georgia).

June 5:   (I)-Hernando de Soto, (1500-1542), arrived the town of Chiaha (Rome, Georgia).  He demanded male slaves to carry the baggage and female slaves for bed partners.  When they refused, he ravaged the country until they complied.  (I)-Hernando de Soto, (1500-1542) continued to maintain 500 slaves by replacing them as they died or escaped.  They marched on to the town of Costa, Alabama.

July 26:   (I)-Hernando de Soto, d-1541 arrived the city of Cossa, which contained over 500 houses.  He demanded slaves, provisions and 30 female slaves.  The thirty female slaves suggest that this is replacement for deaths, desertions and pregnancy.

October 18:   The Indians had reached their limit of humiliation in trying to accommodate (I)-Hernando de Soto (1500-1542) and established Maubila, Alabama as the limit of the Spanish atrocities.   The Battle of Maubila lasted nine hours.  The young women fought side by side with their men and gave little ground.  The Spaniards were surprised, as the advantage of the battle changed from side to side.  This battle was disastrous to the De Soto expedition, as he lost 82 Spaniards, including Diego de Soto, nephew to (I)-Hernando de Soto (1500-1542).  The De Soto army contained the cream of the Spanish wealthy, who thought of this as a great venture for greater wealth.  Don Carlos Enriquez, & Men-Rodriquez of Portugal also died.  De Soto lost 45 horses, which he considered more serious, and also lost most of their supplies.  Nearly every Spaniard is wounded, some with multiple wounds, except for the holy fathers.  Estimates of Indian losses range from 2,000 to 10,000, but soldiers usually exaggerated.  The city of Maubila, however, was in ruins and deserted.   Many of De Soto's slaves had taken up arms against the Spaniards.

(I)-Hernando de Soto (1500-1542) sent his army into the country side to collect more slaves, especially young female slaves.  The soldiers were in the habit of gambling for the pleasures of the female slaves.

Many of De Soto's men  talked openly about quitting his army and heading for Spain or Peru.  The usual procedure was to arrest the leader and abandon him to a sure death.  It is noteworthy that the Spanish gentlemen had no problem killing hundreds of Indians, but when a few of their numbers are killed, things are entirely different.

November 18:   (I)-Hernando de Soto (1500-1542) became gloomy and morose.  He feared heading to Maldinaro and his waiting ships for fear his men would arrest and abandon him to a sure death.  He ordered his army to march northward, under the pain of death if they resisted.  (I)-Hernando de Soto d-1541 occupied the deserted town of Cabusto, but the natives attacked him every night.  De Soto's army wintered near the town of Chickasa.

1541 

March:   The battle of Chickasaws was one of resource destruction.  Horses and supplies were the primary targets.  The Indians attacked at night, burning the buildings and killing 50 horses and a number of swine.  The Spaniards didn't have time to dress in armor or mount their horses, resulting in the death of 40 Spaniards, including the only Spanish woman- the wife of one of the soldiers.  The soldiers are shivering in the cold, having lost their clothing in the fires.  They retreated to Chickasilla, but are attacked nearly every night.  It is noteworthy that (I)-Hernando de Soto d-1541 had lost 300 of his 1,000 man army at this point in time.  Many of his men are wounded and, likely, unable to fight.

When Tiguex was conquered and plundered, March, 1541, Coronado imprisoned and made servants of all the people, one hundred and fifty men, women and children who were in it.  Coronado’s men cared for those Indians who, in trying to escape, were overcome by wounds and cold.  Special cases of cruelty occurred. Strict vigilance and severe punishment were necessary to prevent treachery on the part of the slaves. The cruelty of the age was expressed by throwing a lying and treacherous Indian to the dogs, by cutting off the hands and noses of some, and by keeping others in chains

April 27:   Diego de Castro, Louis Bravo and Francisco de Figardo fell mortally wounded at the battle of Fort Alibamo, on the Yazoo River in Tallahatchie.  15 Spaniards died this day.  The Indians attacked night and day with small bands.

May:   (I)-Hernando de Soto, (1500-1542), reached the Mississippi River and commenced building boats to escape the continual harassment.  De Soto, however, succumbed to his wounds and died.

1542 

After a futile attempt to reach Mexico, the de Soto army returned to the Mississippi to build boats.   The once splendid Spanish army of 1,000 men now numbered 320 men, and their 500 slaves are released, as they needed the metal of their chains to make nails and fittings for their ship building.  They did retain a number of the young female slaves.  Even as they sailed down the Mississippi River, the Indians continued their attacks, reducing their numbers by 12 killed and 25 wounded.  

May 21:  Natchez, Mississippi, (I)-Hernando de Soto (1500-1542) the butcher of America died and his body is thrown into the Mississippi River and the Natives who held him in dread are told he has gone back to the sun.  His soldiers killed thousands of natives, enslaved thousands more and raped the women and children.  European disease especially from their pigs, killed thousands more.  Spanish depredations sent the southeastern tribes into a long, steady decline from which they never fully recovered.  

June 27:   Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, who died January 3, 1543, a Portuguese in service of Spain, departed Navidad, Mexico to explore the west coast of North America

September 28:   Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, d-1543, anchored his ship at San Miguel aka San Diego, California, where he died.  The Spanish claimed California for Spain which was turned over to Mexico in 1821.

1543 

January 3:   San Diago, California death Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, a.k.a. Joao Rodrigues Cabrilho, d-1543,  while on expedition from Mexico.  His crew, under command of Bartolome Ferrer, pressed north, likely reaching the Oregon Territory coast.  They were forced back to Mexico by bad weather.  

May 30:   Having covered Florida, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi, the 300 survivors of the De Soto expedition reached Tampa Bay, Florida.   Some considered De Soto as one of the most distinguished captains of this or any age.  If distinguished means leading an expedition of blood, of forced slavery and sexual exploitation of young girls, of the exploitation of generosity of the Native peoples;  then it would have been better had he not been born.  It will never be known how many Metis were created by this 1,000 man army and their young slave girls.

1544 

Rats first showed up in North America this year.

The Spaniards in the Gulf of California reported seeing large Chinese junks at anchor.

1546 

It is believed that Typhus from the Spanish swept America.

1555 

A Portuguese sailor named Antonio Galvao visited China and reported stories of Chinese voyages to British Columbia.

1558 

It is believed that influenza and smallpox from the Spanish swept America.

1559 

It is believed that smallpox from the Spanish again swept America.

June 11:  Tristan de Luna y Arellano sailed from Veracruz, Mexico with 11 ships carrying some 1,500 people to establish a colony.  They first stopped at Cape San Blas (south of Panama City, Florida).  The fleet landed Mobile Bay before finally finding Pensacola Bay.  They selected a town site and sent an expedition north to explore the Escambia River.  Pensacola Bay, Florida is the first European settlement in the United States.  A Spanish ship wreck dating to this year was discovered in Pensacola Bay, Florida.

September 19:  A hurricane destroyed 7 of  Tristan de Luna y Arellano ships with most of the provisions aboard and killed many colonists.  A second expedition north found the deserted Indian village of Nanicapana (Monroe County, Alabama) and recommended it as a settlement site.

1560 

Mid-February:  Tristan de Luna y Arellano began to relocate most of his settlers inland by way of Mobile Bay to Santa Marie de Nanbicapana.   The starving and increasing mutinous colonists returned to Pensacola, then on to Mobile Bay.

August 10:  Tristan de Luna y Arellano, sent three ships to Punta Santa Elena by way of Havana but a hurricane aborted this mission.

November:  The Coosa expedition was back at Pensacola for a very difficult winter.  As a result Angel de Villafane replaced Tristan de Luna y Arellano, as governor of Florida.  He however would not fare any better in establishing a Carolina colony.

1562 

St. Augustine, Florida is established by Pedro Memendez de Aviles a Spanard, and is considered by some the first settlement in America. 

Charles IX of France gave his permission to allow Huguenots to settle Florida.

May:  Florida; The French Huguenots settled Florida departing France February 18 and arrived Florida in May.  John Ribault had been commanded by the Queen of France to kidnap two Indian slaves.  Ribault noted that in the reign of Emperor Charles V (1500-1558), the Spaniards, inhabitants of St. Domingo, raided the coast of Florida for Indian slaves to work their mines.  These slaves refused to eat and most died before reaching New Spain.  Only one survived and was named Charles of Chigula.  It was said of Emperor Charles V (1500-1558), that the sun never sets on his dominion.  The English would much later adopt this saying.   

Sunner:  John Ribault and Captain Albert built Fort Charles on the River Cheronceau, South Carolina.

1564

June 22:  Renaud de Laudonnierre of France made his second voyage to Florida.  Jacque le Moyne was in this expedition.  He built Fort St. John's, on the river May, leaving some soldiers to establish a colony and secure friendly relationships with the natives. 

1565

July:  Pedro Menendez de Aviles (1519-1574) departed Spain with 11 ships and 2,000 soldiers to clear the Huguenots from the Carolines. 

August 28:  Pedro Menendez de Aviles (1519-1574) arrived Florida, at Bay of St. Augustine with five ships and 800 people.  Others suggest he had 11 ships and 2,000 soldiers.  He founded St. Augustine, while brutally killing, capturing and driving out the French as ordered by Philip II..  He seized the French Fort Caroline, 40 miles north of the St. John's River and renamed it San Mateo.  He went on to establish a chain of coastal forts and missions from Tampa Bay to South Carolina's Port Royal Sound.  He also searched Chesapeake Bay for a route to the Pacific Ocean.

September:  Pedro Menendez de Aviles (1519-1574) with 11 ships and 2,000 soldiers attacked Fort Caroline butchering every Huguenot (men, women and children) and hung some from the trees as an example to others.  History classified him as a brutal man although acting on orders from King Philip II of Spain.  

1566

April:  Pedro Menendez de Aviles (1519-1574) founded a colony on Parris Island called Santa Elena.  He ascended the St. John's River crossing Lake George and only turned back because the Natives were becoming hostile.

July:  Mid month Juan Pardo arrived with 250 men at Santa Elena off Port Royal Sound, South Carolina.  Pedro Menendez de Aviles (1519-1574)  instructed Pardo to explore the interior, pacify and evangelize the Indians, and find a route to the silver mines at Zacatecas in northern Mexico. 

August 14:  Pedro de Corones sailed from San Mateo to Chesapeake Bay, then on to Chincoteague Bay, Maryland.  Pedro Menendez de Aviles (1519-1574) ordered Pedro de Corones to explore inland in central South Carolina and southwestern North Carolina, and eastern Tennessee.

December 1:  Juan Pardo set out in a northeasterly direction along the Indian trail between Coosawatchie and Salkehatchie Rivers.  He entered North Carolina just west of Charlette and eventually reached the Marion area in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.   Here at the Indian town of Joara, he built Fort San Juan and left Hernando Moyano (Boyano) in charge.  Pardo followed the Catawba River to near Salisbury, North Carolina., before turning back to Santa Elena, which he reached March 7, 1567.

1567

Juan Pardo in 1567-1568 crossed from Southwestern North Carolina by way of the French Broad River into Tennessee.  It is noteworthy that in the early 1800's Northern Georgia settlers discovered old Spanish gold mine shafts in the Appalachian Mountains.

April:  Hernando Moyano (Boyano) departed Fort San Juan on a mission against the Chiaco People.  He followed a trail that led into northeastern Tennessee.  It is believed he went to the upper Nolichucky River near Embreeville and on to Olamico, the Chiaha main town on a Island (Douglas Lake) in the French Broad River near Dandridge, Tennessee.  He later traveled the Little Tennessee River to Satapo building five forts on the way back to Santa Elena where he arrived March 2, 1568.  His forts soon fell to Indian attacks.

October:  John Hawkins departed Plymouth, England and arrived Guinea in November to capture some Negro slaves.

1568

January 12:  John Hawkins, d-1595, captured 150 Negroes then attacked a Negro town of 8,000 people putting them to flight and capturing 400-500 men, women and children slaves.  Sir Francois Drake was part of this slave trade episode.  The English at this time didn't attach the slightest disgrace attached to stealing, selling or killing slaves.  Dean slaves was just considered a cost of doing business.  It is noteworthy that Hawkins was a member of parliament (1557-1583).

1570

A Jesuit mission was established at Chesapeake Bay and they were killed by the natives.  Pedro Menendez de Aviles (1519-1574) returned to Chesapeake Bay in 1572 to punish the Indian tribe responsible for the death of the Jesuit.

1578 

September 2:   The first known Anglican service in America is performed by Robert Wolfall as part of the Martin Frobisher (1539-1594) the pirate expedition in Frobisher Bay (Iqaluit).

1579 

Francis Drake (1540?-1596) of England, a privateer and slave trader, visits the California coast (1578-79) encountering the Miwoks People.  He named the area Nova Albion (New England).  He spent 5 weeks in San Francisco Bay repairing his ship, some say.  Some suggest he visited the coasts of Oregon, Washington and British Columbia.  Others suggest he reached Alaska.  How far north he went is still obscure but he stated the north west passage is a myth leading to speculation he reached Alaska.  He sailed across the Pacific Ocean for home.  Most historians discount his reaching Oregon let alone Washington, no lands fit his description.

Some believe Francis Drake (1540?-1596) charted Vancouver Island, New Spain, including the Frazer River this year.  They suggest 20 maps verify this claim and can be traced back to Drake.  Others contend he lied and falsified his trip under pressure from the Queen.  The English consider Drake a great man but the Spanish consider him a rogue who along with his cousin John Hawkins terrorized Spanish ship and settlements in the Americas.  He caused a series of battles between England and Spain eventually leading to war.  He who causes intrigue and war should not be considered as great.

1580   

It is believed that fur trading to this time was a byproduct of the fishing industry.  Some ships about this time were solely in America for the fur trade.  Twenty vessels are at Tadoussac (Quebec) this year trading for furs.

1582   

It is believed that Spanish prospector Espejo discovered turquoise, gold and silver at Los Cerrillos, New Mexico.  The Indians killed or drove the Spanish from the region in 1680.  All locations of the mines was lost until rediscovered in 1879. 

1590   

August 17:  An English ship finally reached Roanoke Island but found the colony deserted.  There were no human remains to be found.  The fate of the colonists is a mystery to this day.  Some speculate they were all killed but a legend persists that they fled the coast and were eventually assimilated with an inland tribe, possibly the Lumbees.  

1595   

Sebastian Cermenho (Cermenon) a Portuguese who sailed for Spain set sail from the Philippines to California, running aground in San Fancisco Bay later renamed Drakes Bay.  They built a smaller boat and sailed to Mexico charting the coast as they went.

1598   

(II)-Juan de Onate (c. 1550–c. 1630), Spanish-American explorer and administrator, founder of New Mexico (1598), born in New Spain (now Mexico).  He was related by marriage to Hernán Cortés and to the Aztec ruler Montezuma II.  In 1598, with 400 settlers, he founded San Juan de los Caballeros, near present-day Santa Fe.  Juan executed many of his colony who threatened to return to Mexico and was incredibility brutal to the natives, killing, enslaving and mutilating many men, women and children.  When he ventured on into Kansas most of the colony deserted and returned to Mexico.  When he returned to Mexico he was convicted of cruelty, immorality, mismanagement, dereliction of duties and false reporting.  He was exiled from the colony.   

The Marquis de La Roche-Mesgouez, a Frenchman, established an outpost for trading on Sable Island but it failed and only eleven survivors are returned to France in 1603.

July 11: Juan De Onate Salazar (1552-1630) declared Espanola in the Espanola Valley as the first Capital City of New Mexico.

1599 

The first verifiable Canadian Metis likely originated from the survivors of the sixteen man settlement of Tadoussac, who, in 1599, went to live with the savages.  Some suggest only 5 of the 16 survived the winter.  Earlier Metis were absorbed totally into a native culture, whereas these men and their offspring would have an opportunity to observe, compare and select their own culture.  Many would be called Captains of Interpretation.   It is noteworthy that most marriages with the savages has the woman being the daughter of a Chief. The concept of Chief was unknown to the democratic Peoples of North America before European contact.  The Europeans considered the Aboriginal Peoples lesser beings, and the elevation of women to 'daughter of a chief' was an attempt to justify relations with these lesser women.

Hundreds of French free traders are annually visiting Tadoussac (Quebec) to trade for furs.

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