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Luna expedition

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==Landing & hurricane==
De Luna was given thirteen ships and more than 1,500 soldiers and settlers, under six captains of cavalry and six of infantry. They arrived in the bay on set sail from [[August 14Wikipedia:Veracruz, Veracruz|Vera Cruz]] and made landfall on [[August 15June 11]]. It is believed that their encampment was on or near the [[Barrancas de Santo Tomé]], the site of several later fortifications, on the grounds of modern-day [[Naval Air Station Pensacola1559]].
They arrived in [[Pensacola Bay]] (which they called "Ochuse" or "Bahía de Santa María") on [[August 14]] and made landfall on [[August 15]]. It is believed that their encampment was on or near the [[Barrancas de Santo Tomé]], the site of several later fortifications, on the grounds of modern-day [[Naval Air Station Pensacola]]. De Luna dispatched the factor Luis Daza with a galleon back to [[Wikipedia:Veracruz, Veracruz|Vera Cruz]] to announce his safe arrival. He fitted two other vessels to sail to Spain, awaiting the return of two exploring parties. With much of the colony's stores still on the ships, de Luna sent several exploring parties inland to scout the area; they returned after three weeks having found only one Indian town.
Before they could unload the vessels, on the night of [[September 19]], a [[Hurricane of 1559|hurricane]] (with [[storm surge]]) swept through and destroyed most of the ships and cargo: five ships, a galleon and a bark, pushing one caravel and its cargo into a grove inland.
==Aftermath==
With the colony in serious danger, most of de Luna sought to trade with local Indians for food, but found no native villages in the men area. He traveled up west and reached the [[Alabama River]] to on [[February 6]], [[1560]]. He sent a detachment of 150 men north up the river on [[April 15]], and they eventually found the deserted Indian village of [[NanipacanaNanipacna]] (Nanipacna or Ninicapua), which they had found abandoned; they renamed the town "Santa Cruz" and moved in for several months. Back in Mexico, the Viceroy sent two relief ships in November, promising additional aid in the spring. The relief got the colony through the winter, but the supplies expected in the spring had not arrived by September. De Luna ordered the remainder of his force to march to the large native town of Coca, but the men mutinied. Bloodshed was averted by the settlement's missionaries.
The relief got the colony through the winterMeanwhile, but the supplies expected in the spring Spanish officials had not arrived by September. De issued orders recalling de Luna ordered the remainder of his force to march to the large native town of Cocaon [[January 30]], but the men mutinied[[1561]]]. Bloodshed was averted by the settlement's missionaries, but soon Soon after, [[Wikipedia:Ángel de Villafañe|Ángel de Villafañe]] arrived in Pensacola Bay on [[March 9]] and offered to take all who wished to leave on an expedition to [[Wikipedia:Cuba|Cuba]] and Santa Elena. De Luna relented and agreed to leave, eventually moving back to Mexico, where he died in 1571. The Pensacola colony was inhabited for several more months by Captain Biedma and a detachment of fifty men who Villafañe had left there, in case further orders arrived from Viceroy Velasco.
When they sailed away, the area was not populated again by Europeans until [[1698]], when [[First Spanish period|Spanish ]] forces under [[Andrés de Arriola]] established the [[Presidio de Santa María de Galve]].
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