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Discovering St Augustine
St Augustine is the oldest continuously occupied
city in the United States. The First person to
discover St Augustine was Spanish explorer Juan
Ponce de Leon. He claimed the area for the
Spanish throne in 1513. When St Augustine was
discovered there were already people living
there. The Natives were called the Timucua. The
Timucua were believed to have lived in the St
Augustine area for 2000 years before the
Spanish discovered it. The Timucua had
survived
in this area of Florida by hunting and by
planting some of their food. They also ate fish
clams and oysters. They built permanent houses
and villages. The men of the village were
responsible for the hunting and the women did
the cooking and caring for the children. The
Tribes of the Timucua welcomed the European
explorers and many believe that the first
thanksgiving took place with the Spanish and
the Timucua on the shores of St Augustine.
When Ponce de Leon first encountered the
Timucua he was in search of the magical island
of Biminis. instead he found Florida he believed
that the Natives had a Fountain of Youth that
they drank from. The average age for a Spanish
was between 40 and 50 years old however the
Native Timucua were living to an average age of
80. Today the Fountain of Youth Archeological
Site is located on what was believed to be the
original location that Ponce De Leon landed.
Timucua Huts
The Fountain of youth is now a popular tourist
attraction that helps to educate people about
the Timucua and the settlement of St Augustine
by the Spanish. Unfortunately for the Timucua
they did not have any resistance to European
diseases and their numbers were wiped out by
smallpox and wars.