Logo image
Back
Recollections of the Juan Pardo Expeditions
Book chapter

Recollections of the Juan Pardo Expeditions

John E Worth
Fort San Juan and the Limits of Empire, pp.58-80
University Press of Florida
01/26/2016
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5744/florida/9780813061597.003.0003

Metrics

166 Record Views

Abstract

This chapter provides a newly discovered and translated account of the Pardo expedtions, written by interpreter Domingo Gonzales de León in 1584. León had arrived in La Florida with the adelantado Pedro Menéndez de Avilés in 1565, helping to found both the colonies of St. Augustine and Santa Elena. He was a member of Pardo’s second expedition, so that he actually took part in the events that he describes in his account. Given that there are only four other existing accounts of Pardo’s journey, the discovery of the León document provides an invaluable primary source that offers information on towns and polities in the interior, including Joara, not contained in other the sources. Particularly important—and alone among the primary accounts of the expeditions—León’s recollections situate the social geography of towns and villages along Pardo’s path with the physical geography of the region, leaving no room for doubt as to the path of Pardo and his men into the deep interior. This chapter will mark the first publication of León’s account.

Details

Logo image