Andrés de Arriola

"Arriola" redirects here. For other uses, see Arriola (disambiguation).

Don Andrés de Arriola y Guzmán was the Spanish governor of the Presidio Santa María de Galve, the first European colony to be established in the Pensacola area after the failed Luna expedition.

Sergeant Major Arriola had visited Pensacola Bay in 1695 while scouring for pirates. When the area was selected as the site of a new settlement, at the recommendation of Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora, Arriola was chosen to lead the expedition. Arriola chafed at the assignment, insisting that the Mississippi River — which he correctly deduced was Hernando de Soto's "Río Grande" — would be a better prospect for occupation.

Arriola arrived in Pensacola Bay on November 21, 1698, and oversaw the construction of Fort San Carlos de Austria by engineer Jaime Franck. He led the colony until (date needed) and afterwards became a captain-general in the Spanish armada.