The University of West Florida (UWF) claimed emphatically in 2015 that with the discovery of a handful of surface artifacts—not found in situ—that they had irrefutably found the Luna Colony in today’s East Pensacola Heights. They staked their claim on the same lands that in 1883 the Smithsonian Institute had archeologically recognized as a Native Village that they believed had once been there in conjunction with at least two prominent Native burial mounds that still existed. Other archeologists also excavated artifacts in the designated area in the 1940s, 1980s, as well as the 1990s, but did not come to the same conclusion as UWF.

Immediately, the “irrefutable claim” by UWF was questioned by other historians and archeologists that UWF had invited to visit the discovery site. They cautioned UWF that there needed to be more evidence uncovered to substantiate their conclusion before going public with their historic claim. Such evidence could include archeological features such as remnants of Spanish structures, fire hearths, refuse pits, and even burials.

Further, since the site had no record of ever having a water source to sustain a large settlement population of over 1,500 soldiers and colonists, as well as at least 150 horses caution seemed to be the prudent if not the responsible approach until “irrefutable” was truly irrefutable; for the discovery of the Luna Settlement would be a monumental find as it has been touted as the first European settlement within the boundaries of the United States. But the archeologists and university administration at UWF chose otherwise, and immediately made a public announcement with celebratory hoopla matched with big newspaper headlines.

Now, some six years later, and after archeologically investigating well over 1,000 excavation units (i.e. holes in the ground), UWF has found no conformational archeological features such as Spanish structures, fire hearths, refuse pits, or burials. While “feel good” papers have been given at historical conferences and more Native and some Spanish artifacts found, no technical report or scientific presentation has been forthcoming to present the solid evidence to support “irrefutable.”

There is no doubt something has been found over and over again at the site since 1883, but no one can conclusively say what it is. What archeological evidence that has been excavated is truly confounding. In my opinion, UWF’s continuous claim of having found the Luna Settlement site has become more of a local example of “fake news” at best. If you say something that is a mistake or wrong over and over,  people will believe it—even though anyone with access to the evidence would recognize UWF’s questionable if not faulty conclusions.

But thus far, UWF has purposely refused to share or present all their evidence in any technical report to interested outside archeologists/historians so an independent analysis called “peer review” can be made. UWF has even avoided fulfilling informational requests that should fall under Florida’s Sunshine Law, with State of Florida agencies reneging on their initial willingness to assist. Why? It seems all their subsequent or follow-up answers turn into the mantra of “it’s proprietary information.” One has to ask, “What is proprietary about publicly funded archeological excavations that are performed in a public setting?” Would my professional advice solicited by the UWF archeologists at previous archeological sites be “proprietary to me?” and likewise be owned solely by me? The absurdity is profound. The next step would be to file lawsuits challenging the actions of UWF and the responses of these agencies seeking judicial redress under the Florida Sunshine Laws.

When one covers up information in what appears to be in violation of Florida’s Sunshine Law, the question obviously begs, “what is UWF really hiding?”

And importantly, what if UWF’s claim of finding the Luna Settlement turns out to have been a big mistake? What if UWF had had some doubts within those subsequent six years and chose to just avoid addressing such concerns? What if the university had, instead, proceeded with caution in a more deliberate, professional, and responsible manner? What would be the issues today?

Of course, if claims of finding the Settlement site turn out to be false, one would suppose that there would be political and academic repercussions with a lot of blame thrown about and people trying to avoid any responsibility in the calamity. What about the effect upon the students that used their personal monies and even Federal Student Loans to participate in the excavations, and graduate students who might have been misled? Would their academic resumes now be tainted? Who would be held responsible? The UWF president, Dr. Martha Saunders, has been continuously warned about the possible problem years ago, as well as key faculty members of the UWF Archeological Institute, but such warnings have been ignored if not purposely suppressed by the university. The university has even used its influence to interfere and stymie fundraising by other archeologists searching out other possibilities for the “true Luna settlement site.”

Today, UWF solicits students at UWF to enroll in archeological courses that search for “traces and debris” of the Luna Colony. Again, if the settlement site has been “indisputably” found all the historical documentation and archeological experiences from previous excavations of other 16^th-century settlement sites “irrefutably” inform that much, much more evidence should have already been found. After six years of investigation, the archeologists should be concentrating on—not finding traces—but the systematic excavation of “irrefutable” features such as the remnants of structures, fire hearths, refuse pits, and burials. In fact, Native burials have previously been found at the subject site, so it is well known that the hundreds of years since the 1559 settlement that even skeletal remains would not have been “absorbed” into the soils of the site. Further, there is no evidence that the settlement site has eroded away into the waters of Pensacola Bay. (The latter is one of the “main excuses” archeologists ultimately employ when they fail or refuse to actually search for a site. The story of the search for the fort at Jamestown in Virginia is a case in point.)

Conclusion

In my opinion, the University of West Florida has approached finding the 1559 Luna settlement site in an unprofessional and irresponsible manner to the point that their own archeological endeavors expose the fact that they have not found the site of the settlement, that what the university has been propounding for almost six years is fiction, and that by their own actions, have perhaps perpetuated a fraud. Unfortunately, I now believe that only through an investigation by our legal system can the question of “irrefutably finding the Luna settlement” be properly investigated, since the university hides and shields itself from the truth despite Florida’s Sunshine Law. That is just flat out wrong!