Tristán de Luna y Arellano (1510 – September 16, 1573) was a Spanish explorer and

Conquistador Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (, ; meaning 'conquerors') were the explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadors sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, ...

of the 16th century.Herbert Ingram Priestley, Tristan de Luna: Conquistador of the Old South: A Study of Spanish Imperial Strategy (1936). http://palmm.digital.flvc.org/islandora/object/uwf%3A14851#page/191/mode/1up

Biography

Born in

Borobia Borobia is a municipality located in the province of Soria, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2004 census (INE), the municipality has a population of 347 inhabitants. It was the birthplace of conquistador Tristán de Luna y Arellano ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

, to a noble family, he came to

New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the A ...

, and was sent on an expedition to colonize

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...

in 1559. He was a cousin of the

viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning " ...

Antonio de Mendoza Antonio de Mendoza y Pacheco (, ; 1495 – 21 July 1552) was a Spanish colonial administrator who was the first Viceroy of New Spain, serving from 14 November 1535 to 25 November 1550, and the third Viceroy of Peru, from 23 September 1551 ...

, and of Juana de Zúñiga, wife of Hernán Cortés. In August of that year, he established an ephemeral colony at modern-day

Pensacola Pensacola () is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, and the county seat and only incorporated city of Escambia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 54,312. Pensacola is the principal ci ...

, the earliest multi-year

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an settlement in the continental

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. Pinson, Stev
"The Tristan de Luna Expedition"
From de-luna.com. Retrieved January 9, 2007. During his years in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

, Luna had served with

Francisco Vásquez de Coronado Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name '' Franciscus''. Nicknames In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed " Paco". San Francisco de Asís was known as ''Pater Comunitatis'' (father o ...

on his expedition to the Seven Cities of Cíbola and crushed an

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

rebellion in

Oaxaca Oaxaca ( , also , , from nci, Huāxyacac ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca), is one of the 32 states that compose the Federative Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 570 municipaliti ...

. Luna was chosen by Luís de Velasco,

Viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning " ...

of New Spain (Mexico), to establish a settlement on the

Gulf Coast The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South, is the coast, coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The list of U.S. states and territories by coastline, coastal states that have a shor ...

of what is now the United States, and clear an overland trade route to Santa Elena (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 = ...

), where another outpost would be founded. The bay known as "Filipina Bay" (modern

Mobile Bay Mobile Bay ( ) is a shallow inlet of the Gulf of Mexico, lying within the state of Alabama in the United States. Its mouth is formed by the Fort Morgan Peninsula on the eastern side and Dauphin Island, a barrier island on the western side. The ...

) had been recommended from the September 1558 voyage of Guido de Lavazaris, but Luna's fleet eventually chose "Ochuse Bay" (modern

Pensacola Bay Pensacola Bay is a bay located in the northwestern part of Florida, United States, known as the Florida Panhandle. The bay, an inlet of the Gulf of Mexico, is located in Escambia County and Santa Rosa County, adjacent to the city of Pensacola ...

) for their settlement. Luna's fleet included eleven crewed ships and more than 1,500 soldiers and settlers, under six captains of cavalry and six of infantry. Luna, however, proved to be an ineffective leader, and the expedition was plagued by multiple disasters, before he was deposed and the remaining survivors of the colony were evacuated.John R. Bratten and John E. Worth
"Shipwrecked History: Spanish Ships Found In Pensacola Harbor," ''American Heritage'', Summer 2009. The party anchored in

(known as "Ochuse" since the expeditions of Francisco Maldonado during the 1539-1543 expedition of

Hernando de Soto Hernando de Soto (; ; 1500 – 21 May, 1542) was a Spanish explorer and ''conquistador'' who was involved in expeditions in Nicaragua and the Yucatan Peninsula. He played an important role in Francisco Pizarro's conquest of the Inca Empire ...

) and set up the settlement called ''Santa Maria de Ochuse'' during late August and September 1559. Luna dispatched the factor Luis Daza with a

galleon Galleons were large, multi-decked sailing ships first used as armed cargo carriers by European states from the 16th to 18th centuries during the age of sail and were the principal vessels drafted for use as warships until the Anglo-Dutch ...

back to Vera Cruz to announce his safe arrival, and plan for resupplying the site. He fitted two other vessels to sail to Spain, awaiting the return of two exploring parties. With much of the colony's stores waiting on the ships, Luna sent several exploring parties inland to scout the area; they returned after three weeks having found only one Indian town. Before they could unload the vessels, on the night of September 19, 1559, a

hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Dep ...

(with

storm surge A storm surge, storm flood, tidal surge, or storm tide is a coastal flood or tsunami-like phenomenon of rising water commonly associated with low-pressure weather systems, such as cyclones. It is measured as the rise in water level above the ...

) swept through and destroyed most of the ships and cargo: five ships, a galleon and a bark, pushing one caravel and its cargo into a grove inland. With the colony in serious danger, most of the men traveled inland to the

Alabama River The Alabama River, in the U.S. state of Alabama, is formed by the Tallapoosa and Coosa rivers, which unite about north of Montgomery, near the town of Wetumpka. The river flows west to Selma, then southwest until, about from Mobile, it ...

to the village of Nanipacana (also rendered as Nanipacna, Ypacana, and Nypacana), which they had found abandoned; they named the town ''Santa Cruz de Nanipacana'' and settled in until the rest of the colony arrived. Back in Mexico, the Viceroy sent two relief ships in November, promising additional aid in the spring. The relief got the colony through the winter, but the supplies expected in the spring had not arrived by September. In mid-February, Luna ordered most of the colonists to move inland to Nanipacana, where they remained through the end of June, 1560. Lack of food at Nanipacana ultimately spurred Luna to send a 200-man detachment upriver to the

Coosa chiefdom The Coosa chiefdom was a powerful Native American paramount chiefdom in what are now Gordon and Murray counties in Georgia, in the United States.Ángel de Villafañe Ángel de Villafañe (b. c. 1504) was a Spanish conquistador of Florida, Mexico, and Guatemala, and was an explorer, expedition leader, and ship captain (with Hernán Cortés), who worked with many 16th-century settlements and shipwrecks along t ...

, who arrived in Pensacola Bay in April 1561 and offered to take all who wished to leave on an expedition to

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribb ...

and Santa Elena. Luna was granted permission to leave, taking a ship to Havana and ultimately Spain, though he ultimately spent the rest of his life in Mexico, where he died in 1573. The Luna settlement was occupied through August, 1561 by a detachment of fifty men under Captain Biedma, left there by Villafañe in case further orders arrived from Viceroy Velasco; after Villafañe picked them up and finally returned to Veracruz, the Pensacola area was not populated again by Europeans until 1698, when the Spanish founded

Presidio Santa Maria de Galve The Presidio Santa María de Galve, founded in 1698 by Spanish colonists, was the first European settlement of Pensacola, Florida after that of Tristan de Luna in 1559–1561. It was in the area of Fort Barrancas at modern-day Naval Air Station ...

on the modern

Naval Air Station Pensacola Naval Air Station Pensacola or NAS Pensacola (formerly NAS/KNAS until changed circa 1970 to allow Nassau International Airport, now Lynden Pindling International Airport, to have IATA code NAS), "The Cradle of Naval Aviation", is a United State ...

. The site of Luna's colony was re-discovered by local historian Tom Garner in October 2015, and is being investigated by th
University of West Florida archaeology program
under archaeologist and principal investigato
John Worth

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Luna, Tristan de 1510 births 1573 deaths Florida settlers Pensacola, Florida Spanish colonization of the Americas Spanish conquistadors 16th-century Spanish people People from the Province of Soria Spanish explorers of North America Explorers of the colonial Southwest of the present United States Colonial United States (Spanish) Explorers of the United States Explorers of Spanish Florida Pre-statehood history of Alabama Pre-statehood history of Georgia (U.S. state) Pre-statehood history of Tennessee