Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Entertainment

A history mystery

A re-enactment will look at what happened to a Spanish outpost located in today's Safety Harbor.

By DONNA SELF
Published April 22, 2005

SAFETY HARBOR - Pedro Menendez got his orders in 1565 soon after being appointed Spanish governor of La Florida, which spanned what is now the entire eastern United States.

He was to protect Spain's interests in the New World, so he set up a chain of fortified outposts across the land. He signed on a group of Calusa Indians to accompany him to what is thought to have been present-day Safety Harbor to meet with Tocobaga, chief of the Tocobaga tribe about setting up a colony among their villages.

In 1567, Menendez left 29 soldiers, a captain and a few priests there to make a village out of a pile of lumber and some palm fronds. Later that year, a priest rode through to check on them and everything seemed to be in order.

But upon the priest's return the next year, he was met with the evidence of a mass murder. Not a living soul remained to tell the story, but unlike the doomed Roanoke Island, N.C., settlement, there were remains left behind, along with many still-unanswered questions.

"There is speculation that the Indians were treated badly, so they cut off the food supply to the outpost," said Lester Dailey, Pinellas County historical commissioner. "But there was evidence of murder."

Saturday in Safety Harbor, history buffs can gather at the water's edge in Philippe Park to see a re-enactment of Menendez's landing and meeting with Tocobaga, as well as scenes of Spanish and Florida history.

Dailey, who will portray Spanish ship's officer Luis Diaz, had long been intrigued by the story of the lost colony.

"I thought for a long time that this would be a good tourism draw to the area," said Dailey, who has also originated a local World War II living history program. The project has been put together with a budget of only about $350 in cash and donations. Luckily, history re-enactors will work for next to nothing but the glory.

"We basically get enough money to buy our gas to and from the event," Elizabeth Neily said. Neily, who is a member of local re-enactment group La Cruz, said the group operates under the Historic Florida Militia but focuses on Tampa Bay area history.

The re-enactment will feature the less violent aspects of the historic pairing of Tocobaga and Menendez. Costumed conquistadors and priests will land at the base of the park's Indian mound, disembark and portray the fateful meeting. The rest of the day will include Paso Fino horses, camp scenes and a weapons demonstration.

Sixteenth-century weapons would not only put a hole in a prissily dressed conquistador's best jacket, but they could also penetrate a suit of armor. One weapon to be demonstrated is the atlatl, a device which can throw a four-foot hunting spear hard and fast. Using an atlatl, someone with a gifted arm could throw the spear farther than the length of two football fields.

"They used the atlatl to hunt really big animals, so it could go right through a person," Neily said. "It could pierce the armor and splinter it into the victim, which would fester and cause a painful death."

Along with a crossbow demonstration, there also will be cannon and musket fire, but according to Neily, the big daddy of the weapons will be the pike, a 16- to 20-foot-long pole with a very sharp end which would be wielded by militia as they moved forward in a box formation.

"The description is meaningless until people see and can imagine a wall of these bristling towards them," says Hermann Trappmann, who plays Hermann the German, a pike-breaker. Trappmann will also give a talk about the pike and its history.

Even though there were no actual women on this particular expedition, they have been written in to show that there were women on some Spanish expeditions. Neily says that some may call them revisionists, but they're just trying to be inclusive.

"Our purpose is to try to educate the public about this period," Neily said. "We'll stress Menendez's landing and the lost colony, but we'll also talk about Spanish and Florida history."

Neily and Dailey hope to get the county on board for future events.

"I don't think we have pursued this marketplace as a cultural draw," Neily said. "We think our history is as marketable as St. Augustine's and Tallahassee's."

A re-enactment of Pedro Menendez's landing and meeting with Chief Tocobaga of the Tocobaga tribe, as well as scenes of Spanish and Florida history, will be Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Philippe Park, Safety Harbor. Costumed conquistadors and priests will land at the base of the park's Indian mound, disembark and portray the fateful meeting. There will also be Paso Fino horses, camp scenes and a weapons demonstration.

[Last modified April 22, 2005, 00:44:19]