It is a fact of history that the Franciscan missions in Spanish Florida—which preceded the many missions of the American Southwest—were nearly forgotten as the first plantings of Christianity in the United States.

Aside from the charming reconstruction of the Chapel of Our Lady of Le Leche at Mission Nombre de Dios in St. Augustine, where historians believe Ponce de Leon and the Spanish celebrated the first Mass on American soil overlooking the Intracoastal Waterway, there are scant reminders of the early missions. These extended in a territory from Key West north to present-day Georgia.

Under the authority of the bishop of Havana, Cuba, and staffed by adventurous young friars of the

Iberian Peninsula, the Florida missionaries came into contact with some 100,000 native peoples belonging to roughly six tribes, including the Apalachees near the present-day Tallahassee area.

Historians recall that, in 1539, Hernando de Soto was told by other native peoples that the Apalachees were, thanks to their wealth and might, superior to all other Florida tribes. But their eventual slaughter and dispersal by the English and their Creek Indian allies from 1702 to 1704 sealed their fate—along with the rest of Spanish Florida.

It was among the Apalachees that the Spanish established what had become the western capital of the mission system in Florida from 1656 to 1704. The colonial settlement at Mission San Luis included a fort, religious complex, a native council house and chief's house, and a Hispanic village that resembled a small Spanish city. It was home to more than 1,400 Apalachees who farmed the area as well as several hundred Spaniards.

But in 1670, the British established Charleston and became a threat to Spanish Florida by establishing a foothold in the Southeast. By 1702, war in Europe gave the British reason for open hostilities against the Spaniards and the Indian missions. Many of the Apalachees were killed and martyred by the English when they arrived that year under the direction of James Moore, ex-governor of Carolina. The English attacked the fort at St. Augustine and Mission San Luis was burned down.

The Apalachees who did survive were dispersed. Some joined the English, others retreated to St. Augustine with the Spaniards, and another group migrated to French Mobile (Alabama) and, eventually, on to Louisiana.

Above, the state-run mission is nestled among North Florida's looming oak and Spanish moss tr displayed include remnants of a sacred quartz cross the Apalachees constructed, along with fragments fr inal baptismal font (left).

Planning Your Visit

Mission San Luis is open to the public 4 p.m.

The mission is located at 2020 Mission Rd. in 10, take either Exit 28 or Exit 29 and follow the signs.

Getting There

Spanish Sanctity

Franciscan Florida

A few years ago, a friend who lives in Tallahassee asked if I would like to see San Luis during a trip to the Florida state capital that I used to make once a year. Her description of the site as quite tranquil proved true—the state-run mission is nestled among North Florida's looming oak and Spanish moss trees.

I soon learned that the State of Florida purchased the mission site in 1983; today it's co-managed by the state's Bureau of Archaeological Research and Museum of Florida History.

Archaeological and historical research at the site revealed the physical layout of the mission as well as details of daily life among San Luis's colonial residents. Excavations in the Franciscan church complex, the Apalachee council house and chief's house, the fort, and the Spanish residential area led to the reconstruction of several mission-era buildings and the development of a living history program. And plans over the next decade call for the 60-acre park-like setting to be transformed into the first re-created Franciscan mission settlement in Spanish Florida.

On Oct. 22, 2000, with more than 600 people in attendance, Pensacola-Tallahassee Bishop John Ricard celebrated the first formal Mass at Mission San Luis since 1704. However, Karin Stanford, curator of education and historic sites for the Museum of Florida History, says the state has discovered that the reconstructed church and two other reconstructions were built from untreated wood beams. For that reason, visitors are not allowed inside—public safety is the issue—until the state decides how to resolve the matter. Still, visitors can walk around those structures and see the rest of the site.

And that's plenty. Two new buildings—the convento/friary and the kitchen—are now open to the public, as is the Spanish House. There is also a small chapel in the convento.

The opportunity to see the artifacts here is especially exciting for Catholics.

The historic items displayed include remnants of a sacred quartz cross the Apalachees constructed, along with fragments from the original baptismal font.

Inside, the church is rather sparse, but it's elegant in its simplicity. There were no benches used in 17th-century mission churches.

A red dirt floor covers an area beneath which archaeologists believe some 700 and 900 individuals from the Apalachee tribe are buried. It has a timber frame construction with a roof thatched with 42,000 palm fronds.

According to Dr. Bonnie McEwan, director of archaeology, the nave of the church was divided into three sections and was separated from the sanctuary by a wooden railing.

The sanctuary contained an altar, sacristy and counter sacristy. More than 5,000 olive-jar fragments were recovered during excavations in the sanctuary and are the remains of vessels that were used to hold wine and water at Mass.

San Luis historian Dr. John Hann has translated two inventories of church furnishings from Spanish Florida that suggest the church at San Luis had at least six statues, 13 paintings, two engravings and six brass candlesticks and other religious items. It is also likely that since San Luis was the provincial capital, its church had one of the two gilded altar screens (reredos) imported to Spanish Florida.

Newly open for the public is the orientation exhibit hall with recreated archaeological excavations, interactive exhibits, bilingual audio tours and a large display of artifacts excavated from the site. Some of these are hands-on materials allowing visitors to actually touch 17th-century artifacts, including pieces of the baptismal font recovered from excavations in the church.

There is more. Prior to 1996, it was unknown if there were any living descendants of Florida's mission-era Indians. (All of the present-day native people of Florida were probably later, 18th-century immigrants into the state.)

But in March of that year, the research staff at Mission San Luis was contacted by the Apalachee Indians of Louisiana. They are still practicing Catholics and have been able to trace their lineage through parish records to Apalachees who left San Luis in 1704, according to Dr. McEwan. The Apalachees’ remarkable story is highlighted in the new Visitor Center exhibits, which include many ethnographic items and family photographs they have donated to the site.

According to Stanford, the group of 300 Indians living in Louisiana still keep in touch with the staff at San Luis; they recently sent a photo of a newly baptized member of the tribe. The Apalachee Indians of Louisiana are trying to gain recognition as a Native American tribe, she added.

“The friars had recommended them for martyrdom [at the time]; now we think the story continues,” Stanford said. “It has put a face on those people in Florida. They are still Catholic.”

Tom Tracy writes from West Palm Beach, Florida.