Juan Pardo was a Spanish explorer who was active in the later half of the sixteenth century. He led a Spanish expedition from the Atlantic coast through what is now North and South Carolina and into eastern Tennessee on the orders of Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, in an attempt to find an inland route to a silver-producing town in Mexico. Menéndez had built Fort San Felipe (1566), and established Santa Elena, on present-day

Parris Island Parris is both a given name and surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name * Parris Afton Bonds, American novelist * Parris Campbell (born 1997), American football player * Parris Duffus (born 1970), retired American ice hockey go ...

; these were the first Spanish settlements in what is now

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

. While leading his expedition deeper into the interior, Pardo founded Fort San Juan at

Joara Joara was a large Native American settlement, a regional chiefdom of the Mississippian culture, located in what is now Burke County, North Carolina, about 300 miles from the Atlantic coast in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Joara is n ...

, the first European settlement (1567–1568) in the interior of

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

, and five additional forts in what are the modern

US states In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sov ...

of North Carolina,

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

, and

. These five forts were Fort San Pedro near

Chiaha Chiaha was a Native American chiefdom located in the lower French Broad River valley in modern East Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. They lived in raised structures within boundaries of several stable villages. These overlooked the ...

, Fort San Pablo on the

French Broad River The French Broad River is a river in the U.S. states of North Carolina and Tennessee. It flows from near the town of Rosman in Transylvania County, North Carolina, into Tennessee, where its confluence with the Holston River at Knoxville form ...

, Fort Santiago near modern

Salisbury, North Carolina Salisbury is a city in the Piedmont region of North Carolina, United States; it has been the county seat of Rowan County since 1753 when its territory extended to the Mississippi River. Located northeast of Charlotte and within its metropolita ...

, Fort Santo Tomás near

Cofitachequi Cofitachequi was a paramount chiefdom founded about 1300 AD and encountered by the Hernando de Soto expedition in South Carolina in April 1540. Cofitachequi was later visited by Juan Pardo during his two expeditions (1566–1568) and by Henry W ...

, and Fuerta de Nostra Señora north of Santa Elena.

New World exploration

Pardo led two expeditions from Santa Elena into the interior of the present-day southeastern United States. The first, from December 1, 1566, to March 7, 1567, numbered 125 men who went to seek food and to establish bases among the region's

indigenous people Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

. He established Fort San Juan at

, a

Mississippian culture The Mississippian culture was a Native Americans in the United States, Native American civilization that flourished in what is now the Midwestern United States, Midwestern, Eastern United States, Eastern, and Southeastern United States from appr ...

center (near present-day

Morganton, North Carolina Morganton is a city in and the county seat of Burke County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 16,918 at the 2010 census. Morganton is approximately northwest of Charlotte. Morganton is one of the principal cities in the Hick ...

) and left a garrison behind. Claiming the settlement for Spain, he renamed it Cuenca in honor of his Spanish city Cuenca. Pardo led a second expedition from September 1, 1567, to March 2, 1568, and explored the Piedmont interior and south along the Appalachian Mountains. He established an additional five forts to the west of Joara, intended to supply a land route to

Zacatecas , image_map = Zacatecas in Mexico (location map scheme).svg , map_caption = State of Zacatecas within Mexico , coordinates = , coor_pinpoint = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type ...

in present-day Mexico, where the Spanish had silver mines they wanted to protect. The Spanish mistakenly thought the Appalachians were connected to a central Mexican mountain range. Pardo returned to Santa Elena when he learned of a French raid there. Later in 1568, the Native Americans turned against Pardo's garrisons in the interior, killing all but one of the 120 Spaniards and burning down all six forts. The Spanish did not make another effort to colonize the interior of North Carolina. The Joara and Fort San Juan sites are being excavated through the Joara Foundation and a partnership with

Warren Wilson College Warren Wilson College (WWC) is a private liberal arts college in Swannanoa, North Carolina. It is known for its curriculum that combines academics, work, and service as every student must complete a requisite course of study, work an on-campu ...

. A stone speculated, but unsubstantiated, to have been inscribed by Pardo or one of his men is in the collection of the

Spartanburg Spartanburg is a city in and the seat of Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States. The city of Spartanburg has a municipal population of 38,732 as of the 2020 census, making it the 11th-largest city in the state. For a time, the Offi ...

Regional Museum of History. Considered a "portable

petroglyph A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...

", it is inscribed with a parallelogram, a

pictograph A pictogram, also called a pictogramme, pictograph, or simply picto, and in computer usage an icon, is a graphic symbol that conveys its meaning through its pictorial resemblance to a physical object. Pictographs are often used in writing and g ...

of the sun pointing away from it, and the date "1567". The stone was found in 1934 by a farmer near

Inman, South Carolina Inman is a city in Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 3,665 at the 2020 census, and 2,321 at the 2010 census. Greater Inman is close to the Spartanburg- Greenville-Anderson metroplex. Inman residents have acces ...

. In 1569, Pardo left the Florida colony to return to Spain; no further details about his life and death are known after that.

Archaeological evidence

Since 1986, archaeologists working at the Berry Site near Morganton have found evidence of mound culture, burned huts and 16th-century Spanish artifacts. There is strong scholarly consensus that this is the site of Joara and Fort San Juan. In 2007, the archaeologists fully excavated one of the burned huts. They found Spanish ceramic olive jar fragments, and iron plate from a 16th-century Brigadine type armor, typical of what the expedition would have used.

References

External links

"Juan Pardo Expeditions"
North Carolina History Project {{DEFAULTSORT:Pardo, Juan Spanish conquistadors Spanish explorers of North America Pre-statehood history of North Carolina Pre-statehood history of South Carolina Pre-statehood history of Georgia (U.S. state) Pre-statehood history of Tennessee Spanish colonization of the Americas 16th-century Spanish people Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown Explorers of the United States People of Spanish Florida Colonial United States (Spanish)

New World exploration

Archaeological evidence

See also

References

Further reading

External links