| |
| d. The Gulf Coast, Florida, and the Carolinas |
| 1521 |
| |
| Juan Ponce de León, under royal patent, failed to colonize Florida. | 1 |
| |
| 1526 |
| |
| Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón established the colony San Miguel de Guadalupe in the Carolinas, but it was abandoned on his death. | 2 |
| |
| 1528 |
| |
| Pánfilo de Narváez landed in Florida with colonists from Spain. After exploration he tried to reach the Pánuco River, but his expedition was shipwrecked on the coast of Texas. Most of the colonists died of hunger, disease, or at the hands of the Indians. | 3 |
| |
| 1536 |
| |
| Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca and three companions, after six years of captivity, escaped and traversed Texas and northern Mexico, reaching Culiacán. | 4 |
| |
| 1539–43 |
| |
| Hernando de Soto (1499–1542) obtained a patent for the colonization of the Gulf coast. His expedition landed in Florida, traversed Arkansas and Oklahoma, and discovered the Mississippi River (1541). De Soto died (1542) and his companions continued to the area of the Pánuco. | 5 |
| |
| 1559–61 |
| |
| Viceroy Velasco dispatched an expedition under Tristán de Luna to colonize the region of the Carolinas (Santa Elena). Luna established a garrison at Pensacola, moved inland, and founded a settlement, whose inhabitants later moved to Pensacola. Ángel Villafañe replaced Luna as governor and tried to colonize the Carolinas but failed. The garrison at Pensacola was abandoned. | 6 |
| |
| 1562 |
| |
| Jean Ribaut failed to establish a French Huguenot settlement at Port Royal in South Carolina. Laudonnière founded Fort Caroline, on the St. John River (1564). As a result of these activities, Philip II ordered the expulsion of the French from Florida. | 7 |
| |
| 1565 |
| |
| Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, as adelantado of Florida, founded St. Augustine, captured Fort Caroline, and slew the garrison, securing Spanish control of the peninsula of Florida. | 8 |
| |
| 1565–74 |
| |
| Menéndez de Avilés built presidios and posts across a wide area. He supported the establishment of missions by Jesuits and later by Franciscans, as far north as Virginia. | 9 |
| |
| |
