Pedro Menendez de Aviles

   Pedro Menendez de Aviles was a Spanish explorer and commander of a naval squadron born on February 15, 1519 in Asturias, Spain. In 1565 with permission from King Philip II him and his Spanish Navy voyaged to Florida to begin a form a colony. Pedro is the founder of St. Agustine a city located in North East Florida which was known to be the capital of Spanish Florida for two hundred years. Pedro became the first governor of Spanish Florida. Spanish Florida refers to the territory  which was under Spanish rule in Florida. Pedro also was the designer of the treasure fleet system which was used in the Spanish treasure fleet to bring goods and luxury from the new world to Spain. Pedro in his final years became governor of Cuba shortly after his arrival in Cuba.
   Pedro was sent to Florida to kill the French who had settled there and set Spanish rule in florida.  Pedro was on a voyage to Florida to destroy the French's Fort Caroline which was previous territory of Spain. The Catholic Spanish considered the French to be dangerous heretics. When Pedro settle into the shore on August 28, 1565 the feast day of St. Agustine Hippo he named the colony St. Agustine. Pedro then later on went to have the first Catholic mass in the new world and continental United States. On September 20 ,1565 Pedro led an attack against the French at Fort Caroline they went to over throw and later on gained the fort and coast in Spanish hands. Fort Caroline was a French colony located in modern day Jacksonville, Florida. Pedro had nearly killed all the French when he took over and he imprisoned the captured French.
   Pedro wanted to be sure that Florida remained under Spanish rule. In order for this to happen Pedro explored up and down the coast of the Atlantic shores. In 1566 Pedro had watchtowers built to guard at Cape Canaveral and Bicayne Bay. Pedro then explored to what is now Paris Island, Carolina and that city became the capital of Spanish Florida named Santa Elena. Pedro was a man who encouraged his religion to the Native Americans. One of his goals was to convert Native Americans to Catholics, so he requested more priest and settlers. Pedro died in Santander, Spain on September 17, 1574 before coming to Florida to bring more settlers.