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The '''Luna expedition''' was a [[1559]] Spanish venture led by [[Tristán de Luna y Arellano]] that established an ephemeral colony on [[Pensacola Bay]], near the [[barrancas]] on modern-day [[NAS Pensacola]]. With thirteen ships and 1,500 soldiers and settlers, de Luna established the '''Puerta de Santa María''' colony on [[August 15]]. Most of the encampment's supplies were still loaded on the ships a month later when a [[September 19]] [[Hurricane of 1559|hurricane]] wrecked most of the fleet. Without food, the expedition sent a group north to search for food. The survivors were evacuated in [[1561]] and the colony abandoned.
It was the first colonization attempt in what is now the continental United States, leading to the tourism slogan "[[America's First Settlement]]." However, [[Wikipedia:List of North American cities by year of foundation|other North American settlements]] in modern-day Mexico and Canada preceded the 1559 Luna expedition, as did the Spanish presence on Puerto Rico, now a U.S. territory. After the Pensacola colony was abandoned, the French established [[Wikipedia:Fort Caroline|Fort Caroline]] in [[1564]] on Florida's east coast, on the site of latter day [[Wikipedia:Jacksonville, Florida|Jacksonville]]. In [[1565]] the Spanish destroyed Fort Caroline and established [[Wikipedia:St. Augustine, Florida|St. Augustine]], which became the oldest continually inhabited city within the continental United States.
