Charlesfort and Fort Caroline

We recently visited St Augustine, Florida, the oldest continuously inhabited European city in North America. This Spanish town was founded by Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles in August of 1565. St Augustine was over 40 years old when the English colonies of Jamestown, Virginia (1607), Bermuda (1608) and Plymouth, Massachusetts (1620) were started.
But Spain was not the first European country to attempt colonization in North America. A French expedition of a few ships was organized by Admiral Gaspard de Coligny and led by navigator Jean Ribault. This small fleet landed on the Florida coast on a river they named River of May (now the St. Johns River) in February 1562. They erected a monument and claimed the territory for their king, Charles IX, then sailed on to present-day Parris Island, South Carolina.
Here, Ribault erected a second monument establishing a northern border of a land they called New France. Ribault’s men built a fort called Charlesfort. Twenty-eight Frenchmen where left to defend the fort. Ribault and the remainder of his men sailed back to Europe to gather more supplies and settlers for the new colony. However, Ribault was arrested and imprisoned in England due to complications arising from the French Wars of Religion. Here, he languished for a year.
As the months went by, the French manning Charlesfort were growing desperate. Their supplies were dwindling, forcing the French to rely on trade with the native populations to obtain corn and other food crops. The native populations did not grow large surpluses of food and were growing hostile when the French demanded the very food from their mouth.
After a year of no relief ships, the men of Charlesfort decided it was time to sail back to Europe. They built an open boat and shoved off. During their voyage, starvation and thirst reduced them to cannibalism before the survivors were finally rescued in English waters.
Meanwhile, René Goulaine de Laudonnière, Ribault's second-in-command on the 1562 expedition, commanded a fleet of ships carrying some 200 new settlers back to Florida, where they founded Fort de la Caroline atop St. Johns Bluff on June 22, 1564. For a year, the men and women of this new colony suffered from hunger, Indian attacks, and mutiny.
The colonist did not clear land, plant crops nor care for livestock. They were promised that France would provide all the settlers, craftsmen, tools, food, livestock, arms and munitions the colony needed. The colonists only task was to search for sources of gold, silver and other precious minerals. These precious minerals must exist in Florida as they did in the Spanish colonies of Peru and Mexico! Well they did not!
Unfortunately, while the French settlers were searching for Florida gold, the Spanish court learned of Fort de la Caroline, a foreign colony lying so close to the route of the annual Spanish treasure fleet. This threat must be eliminated!

French Florida?

Quebec, founded in 1608, was not the first French colony in North America.

The Florida coast was first sighted by Spanish explorer and treasure hunter Don Juan Ponce de Leon on Easter Sunday, 1513. He claimed the land for Spain and named it La Florida, which means "Land of Flowers".

The Spanish attempted to establish a colony in Florida several times between 1514 and 1564. Each attempt failed.
In 1564, about 200 French Huguenots founded Fort Caroline, on a bluff overlooking the St John’s river, on the east coast of Florida.
Perhaps many of these French men and women wished to escape the bloody religious wars raging in France. Others probably hoped that La Florida was as rich in gold and silver as Mexico and Peru.
For a little over a year, the French colonists suffered from over-work, hunger, sickness, heat, bugs, snakes, Indian attacks, and mutiny. They also caught the eye of the Spanish who considered the French colonists heretics, illegal squatters and a potential threat to Spanish treasure fleets which hugged the Florida shoreline on their return to Spain.
In August, 1565, a large French fleet arrived at Fort Caroline with much-needed supplies, munitions, and hundreds more soldiers and settlers. It seemed Fort Carolina would succeed!
At the same time, Don Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, Spains’s most-experienced admiral and newly-appointed Spanish Governor of Florida, arrived with orders to drive out any pirates and foreign colonists from Spanish lands.
After a brief skirmish with the French, the Spanish ships were forced to retreat down the Atlantic coast. They found a safe harbor 35 miles south of Fort Caroline and founded a settlement they named St. Augustine.
As an aside, St. Augustine, Florida, is still a vibrant community and considered the oldest permanent European city in North America.
The French ships, transporting most of their troops, were pursuing the Spanish fleet when they were hit by a hurricane. Most of the French fleet was sunk and many soldiers and sailors were drowned or marooned along the Florida coast.
While the French fleet battled the hurricane, the Spanish took the offensive. After trudging overland through driving rain, mud, and razor-sharp Palmetto plants, the Spanish attacked a surprised Fort Caroline garrison at dawn. Of the 200 to 250 French settlers and soldiers inside the fort, only 50 or so women and children were taken prisoner and a handful of soldiers managed to escape. The remaining settlers and soldiers were esscorted, a few at a time, to a nearby clearing where they were methodically “put to the sword.”
As for the marooned French sailors and soldiers, Menéndez and his Spanish troops found them unarmed, hungry, and disorganized. He ordered them to surrender. Assuming his men would be well treated, the French commander capitulated. Instead of mercy, Menéndez put all the French officers as well as several hundred soldiers and sailors to the sword at a place now known as Matanzas (massacres) Inlet.
The Spanish leveled Fort Caroline and built a new fort on the same site. In April 1568, Dominique de Gourgues led a French force which attacked, captured and burned this new Spanish fort. In revenge for the 1565 massacre, de Gourgues ordered all his Spanish prisoners slaughtered.
In a bloody era of religious wars, this New World atrocity shocked Europeans and ended French Huguenot hopes of establishing a Protestant colony in North America.
You see, until the British Conquest in 1759, only Roman Catholics were allowed to settle in New France (Quebec).

Log Cabin Kitchen

In the past, a log cabin home was a habitant’s first shelter. Trees were abundant and must be cut-down to open land for crops and fields. In time, as his family grew and prospered, a new, bigger home might be constructed. In this case, from the 1840s, the new home was a frame structure with wood siding. Our ancestors, being frugal, usually kept the old cabin and used it for other purposes. In this case, it is used as a cookhouse. The log chimney is interesting. You'd think a log chimney would be a fire hazard. But, the split wood shell you see serves only as support for a fire-hardened, mud-lined flue. This type of chimney construction is very old and was common in the English settlements of Jamestown and Plymouth. I assume, French settlements of the 18th century also used this construction where stone was not readily available . Cooking was a big job in the 17th and 18th centuries as families were usually large and additional hired hands might be fed at certain times of the year as they were needed to care for livestock, clear more land, tend fields and harvest crops. Nearly everything in the kitchen was made fresh daily.
Ummm, I can almost smell the 5 lbs. loaves of fresh bread baking in the outside oven!

New France Cooking

This is a modern 17th century log cabin kitchen. A microwave, stove, toaster or any other electric appliance is over 200 years in the future. Refrigeration and a freezer are only available in winter. A spring house can keep butter, cheese and other food products cool in summer. There is no inside running water, hot or cold. Lighting (other than that from the small window) is provided by the fireplace, a candle, or a whale oil lamp. If it is a warm day, you might prop open the door for more light. . . but that might let in the flies and bugs and critters. The fireplace serves as stove and a furnace too in the winter months. In the summer, mother might cook outside so her log cabin home isn't heated. What you eat depends on the season. This cabin was built close to the St Lawrence river. Much of the year, you could fish for your dinner. At certain times of the year, eels were so abundant they were called "Quebec Manna". At other times, the river was frozen. There was an abundance of wild game in the forest. You could hunt moose, bear, deer, rabbit or turkey. You might also raise farm animals like pigs, cattle, chickens and geese for food. Many Maple trees were tapped for syrup and sugar each spring. There were also farm crops like wheat, peas, cabbage and a number of herbs and vegetables. Wheat was ground into flour and made into large 5 lb loaves of bread which were baked in large outside ovens. Green peas were strung on strings and hung from the rafters to air dry. The French Canadians ate so much pea soup that they were nicknamed "Pea Souper".

Sailing to New France

300 years ago, wind power was the only way Europeans could reach the Americas. The French and many other nations had colonies in the New World. These colonies needed to be supplied with settlers, tradesmen, soldiers and mechanics, food, seeds, lifestock and manufactured products. The returning ships also needed to ship valuable New World products back to European investors.

While Spain received armadas of ships filled with Inca and Peruvian gold and silver, England received hogsheads of valuable tobacco and France received shiploads of timber and bundles valuable furs. And, of course, nearly every European nation carried home boat-loads of Cod fish from the Grand Banks.

Getting back and forth to the New World was not as simple as hoisting a sail or two and steering a merchant ship as it was pushed by wind power across 1200 leagues of cold Atlantic water.

Usually, prior to embarking on a New World voyage, everything was emptied from the ship and it was towed into shallow water. Using ropes and pulleys, the ship was tipped (careen)on its’ side. One side of the bottom of the ship was scraped, rotten wood replaced, joints filled with oakum and tar. When one side was done, the boat was rolled onto its’ other side and the laborious work repeated.

When refloated, the ballast, which consisted of many wooden barrels filled with stones, were carefully replaced in the bottom of the ship. It was important where the ballast was placed, as this heavy weight counterbalanced the wind-filled sails, preventing the ship from tipping over.

Next the ship was towed to a berth where its’ mast, spas, cables, rigging and sails where inspected, repaired or replaced where necessary, tarred, painted, etc.

Lastly, the ship’s crew loaded provisions, water, cargo and any passengers welcomed aboard. All these preparations could take a couple of months.

Once the sailors had hoisted the anchor and set the sails, a French merchant ship might anchor in Quebec City in about 70 days. The trip home was usually much faster (33 days on average) because of strong westerly winds.

Of course some French ships never reached home as storms, icebergs, pirates and enemy gun ships took their toll on shipping.

Indiana Trading Post

For almost two centuries, felt hats were the fashion in Europe. The felt was made from animal hair. . . with the best quality felt made from Beaver.

The Quebecois ranged far and wide in pursuit of animal skins. The French didn’t actually trap and prepare the skins, the American Indians did and traded the preserved skins for iron pots, metal hatchets, guns and gunpowder, blankets, knives, cloth, needles, spirits and many other items.

This log cabin was built by Joseph Bailly, a Frenchman, in northwest Indiana in the 1820’s. Potawatomi Indians brought furs to Bailly’s store each spring to trade for merchandise. Bailly would pack the furs he bought into 60 lb. bundles and ship them (by boat) to Mackinac. At Mackinac, Bailly’s furs, along with furs from many other traders, were shipped (again by boat) to Montreal and on to Quebec. In Quebec, the furs were loaded onto large sailing ships and carried to Europe. In Europe, the hair was removed from the skin, processed into felt and fashioned into men’s and women’s hats.

By 1830 the fur trading business had ended as over trapping had nearly depleted the Beaver and the felt hat had become old-fashioned.

This is a reproduction of a typical Huron home of the 17th century. It stands in St Ignace, at the top of Lake Michigan. Here, a Jesuit mission was built in the 1670s. Pere Marquette, the famous explorer and Jesuit priest,is buried here.

Several Huron families called this structure "home". It is built of logs and branches of various lengths and sizes. The skin is made of tree bark. Several holes in the roof allowed smoke to escape from small fires that were used to cook family meals and for warmth. A long wooden bench rings the entire length of the structure. Here, the people slept and stored their belongings.

There was very little privacy in this building. But, from what I have read, our sense of privacy is a rather modern invention. This home was quick to construct as there were plenty of hands helping gather the natural materials. The tools originally used were flint axes and knives.