Site of the Mission of San Juan del Puerto

Beginning in the 1560s, the first Jesuit and Franciscan friars set out on a mission of religious conversion for Native Americans, creating over 150 missions from Miami to the Chesapeake Bay. By the 1580s, missions had popped up throughout Florida, intensified by Pedro Menendez’s 16th century victory over the French in the state, which led to the establishment of St. Augustine. The Spanish had the goal of creating a profitable and productive Catholic settlement in the new colony, focused largely in northern Florida, although their views on how to accomplish the task different. While some people were devoted to pure religious conversion, others believed Native Americans could be used as allies and laborers to build the colony. Because most Native Americans were semi-nomadic and dispersed throughout the northern countryside, their goal required them to be placed into permanent settlements for Catholic conversion and to learn teachings of European beliefs and customs.

In the 1570s, the Mission of San Juan del Puerto was established on Fort George Island by the Franciscan Order of friars, either on or near an existing Timucuan village. It became one of the largest missions in Florida, serving nine smaller villages with the purpose of education Timucuan Indians (Native Americans). There, as well as at other missions, life focused on farming and labor. Native Americans raised corn, wheat, and vegetables, with a portion of their crops taken as a tribute to the colonial government. Excavation of the sites revealed chicken and pig bones, peach pits, and wheat grains.

In 1600, a prominent Franciscan of the northern Florida missions, Father Francisco Pareja, developed a Timucuan dictionary, as well as a grammar book, three catechisms, one confession, and other religious documents to be used by the Native Americans, as well as copies in Spanish. In records, Pareja claimed Native American men and women learned to read in fewer than six months and wrote letters in their own language to one another. Because there are no present-day Timucua speakers, Pareja’s works are the only records for understanding of the language. Native Americans from the missions were also drafted for other jobs off the farm. They worked as transporters, couriers, cattle ranchers, or river pilots. Many repaired roads, built stream crossings, and manned canoes to ferry travelers across the St. Johns River. At San Juan del Puerto, they were taught to play the organ as well. While some Native Americans embraced the way of life, using the missions as protection from other tribes, while others pretended to conform while maintaining their own religious beliefs, others accepted Spanish religious authorities, but opposed political and military presence.

In the 1650s, many Timucuans, including those from San Juan del Puerto, were led by chiefs and nobles to rebel against the Spanish military to regain their power and land. The violent and unsuccessful mission, in conjunction with a declining Timucuan population from European diseases such as smallpox, caused the population at the missions to suffer. The missions endured hardships through the 17th century, staying afloat as Guale people from Georgia traveled south to settle in the depopulated areas. In 1702, British Colony of South Carolina Governor James Moore led a failed attempt to capture St. Augustine from the Spanish, but all northern missions were destroyed in the process, including San Juan del Puerto, which had its wooden buildings dismantled and burned in an attack. In the 1760s, the British began attacking Florida for territory and enslaving Native Americans, so many remaining missions, targeted for concentrations of people and Spanish power, relocated near St. Augustine for protection. By 1763 when the Spanish relinquished Florida to Great Britain, only two missions and fewer than 100 Native American Timucuans remained. In 1973, a historical marker was erected at the site of San Juan del Puerto by the Jacksonville Historical Society and the Department of State.

1. Szabo, Julie. Site of the Mission of San Juan del Puerto, Historical Marker Database. August 1st 2017. Accessed October 3rd 2020. https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=21654.
2. Missions in Northeast Florida, National Park Service. July 17th 2020. Accessed October 3rd 2020. https://www.nps.gov/timu/learn/historyculture/missions_fgi.htm.
3. Taylor, Jr., George Lansing. Mission of San Juan del Puerto Marker Fort George Island, FL, University of North Florida. July 24th 2010. Accessed October 3rd 2020. https://digitalcommons.unf.edu/historical_architecture_main/5083/.
4. Milanich, Jerald T.. Archaeologists uncover little-known chapter in US history, Florida Museum. October 1st 2005. Accessed October 3rd 2020. https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/science/archaeologists-uncover-little-known-chapter-in-us-history/.
5. Rolland, Vicki L.. Beneath the Bell: A Study of Mission Period Colonoware from Three Spanish Missions in Northeastern Florida, Univsersity of Northern Florida. Accessed October 3rd 2020. https://www.unf.edu/~kashley/Other%20Files/2000-Colono.pdf.