A Research Journal From The Southeast USA
The over 450 year history of the most beautiful bayou in Pensacola, in under 5 minutes.
Click on the historic ship illustration to view a documentary video produced by Michael O’Donovan concerning the Spanish Expeditions of Hernando de Soto and Tristan de Luna into the interior of S.W. Alabama and N.W. Florida during the 1500s.
There are two important historic archeological mysteries associated with the lower Alabama River. The first is the location of one of the largest battles ever fought between Europeans and Natives in North America at the Native town of Mabila (1540). The second is the first European settlement in the interior of North America named the Settlement of the Sacred Cross (1559). This book provides the reader with the latest archeological field research concerning the search for the two sites.
by: Contact Archeology Inc. (CAI) February 2024 Gulf of Mexico, Pensacola Bay Research Area Introduction Contact Archeology Inc. (CAI) presents this article regarding our research on Bayou Chico as an introduction to our historical and archeological research in the bayou area. The article is meant to acquaint the reader with the location of the bayou, the…
Perhaps the world renowned scientist Carl Sagan said it best concerning the scientific method:
“Remarkable Claims Require Remarkable Proof.”
The University of West Florida (UWF) made a “Remarkable Claim” in December of 2015 when they publicly announced that they had definitely found the 1559 Spanish Colony lead by Tristan de Luna
This article is intended as an overview of how to use topographic and groundwater conditions as a guide to predicting the location and outflow potential of springs in the Pensacola area. In short, high output springs require large upland areas that are needed to absorb the rainwater that eventually discharges as a spring. This data can also be used to define likely areas of historic camps and settlements. Humans and their animals were dependent upon available freshwater sources for their survival in historic settings.
In 2021 the University of West Alabama (UWA) publicly announced that:
We are now certain that we have the province of Mabila … While the exact site of the battle still hasn’t been located…it probably happened within a few miles of the territory … (Alabama Newscenter Nov. 14, 2021).
CAI is a federally recognized 501-C-3 group of researchers comprised of professional people bent on approaching the mysteries of history without the restraints of political organizations.
One of our research projects involves very early European contacts with Native groups in North
The East Pensacola Heights site (8Es1) on Pensacola Bay was reported as a Native village with two burial mounds by the Smithsonian Institution in 1882 and revisited in1947. The University of West Florida (UWF) stated that the 1559 Spanish Colony led by Tristan de Luna was located at the same site. UWF began excavations there in 2015.
Among the ranks in an army, many crimes are to be expected as soldiers are but human. Certain indiscretions or crimes would afford different punishments; but the one crime—that of desertion—was considered one of the most heinous crimes a soldier could commit, especially on an important expedition for the Crown. The punishment for desertion was death and was generally carried out very quickly. It kept discipline within an army.
