On April 15, 1528, Spanish explorer Pánfilo de Narváez and his expeditionary force made landfall at the Jungle Prada site, disrupting the stable Tocobaga culture with cruelty, violence and warfare. During the Spanish exploration of Florida, many natives were killed or enslaved for labor in distant lands. Even more devastating were the deadly diseases introduced to the New World during the European colonization period – smallpox, bubonic plague, influenza, measles, and malaria.
The expedition was also a disaster for the Spaniards, including Narváez. More than 300 men came ashore and ventured north in search of gold, but nearly all of them were dead within a year.
The landing site was at one time a subject of controversy, but historian James E. MacDougald and others have proven that landfall was here at the Jungle Prada site.
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| Spanish explorers. State Archives of Florida (Colorized) |
The landing, near 1700 Park Street, resulted in the first European inland exploration of North America, an incredible journey of eight years in which four of the original explorers ‒ Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, Alonso del Castillo Maldonado, Andrés Dorantes de Carranza, and enslaved Moor Estevanico ‒ traveled across the continent to the west coast.
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| Transcontinental route of the Narváez explorers 1528-1536. Source: Wikimedia commons |
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| Proposed monument on St. Petersburg's waterfront to four explorers ‒ Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, Alonso del Castillo Maldonado, Andrés Dorantes de Carranza, Estevanico. Source: The History Council |
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| Proposed monument on the Anderson/Narváez Jungle Prada archaological site honoring the Tocobaga Indian Tribe. Source: The History Council |
