“A Fierce Tempest”: Disaster and Relief at the Luna Settlement, 1559–61

Authors

  • Christina L. Bolte

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25071/2561-5467.1407

Keywords:

disasters, relief expeditions, Florida, Spain, colonies, Luna y Arellano, 16th century

Abstract

Disaster relief efforts for early colonial North America demonstrate that remote locations and the delayed response time of communications and relief supplies directly affected the success or failure of early settlement efforts. This is particularly evident for the 1559 to 1561 Tristán de Luna y Arellano colonization attempt on Pensacola Bay. After just over a month, a hurricane struck the settlement in September 1559, destroying seven ships in Luna’s fleet and much of the colony’s food stores. This research presents an analysis of the disaster relief efforts undertaken in the hope of sustaining the colony.

Author Biography

Christina L. Bolte

Christina L. Bolte is the collections manager and a faculty research associate within the University of West Florida (UWF) Archaeology Institute. Born and raised in rural Connecticut, she received her bachelor’s degree in anthropology from East Tennessee State University and a master’s degree in anthropology/historical archaeology from UWF. Christina is a registered professional archaeologist and has participated in archaeological investigations in Northwest Florida, Tennessee, Jamestown, Virginia, as well as the Auvergne region of France. She has engaged in documentary research, materials analysis, and excavations of the 1559–61 Tristán de Luna settlement on Pensacola Bay since its discovery in 2015. Her research interests include the late pre-contact period in the southeastern United States, Spanish contact and colonialism in the Americas, maritime archaeology and history, as well as artifact conservation, curation, and collections management. This article won the Clark G. Reynolds Student Paper Award in 2017.

References

Abab, Pedro Gil. 1983. “Junta y Hermandad de la Cabaña Real de Carreteros – XI.” Historia de Covaleda. Accessed November 29, 2016. https://historiadecovaleda.wordpress.com/2015/10/07/junta-y-hermandad-de-la-cabana-real-de-carreteros-burgos-soria-pedro-gil-abad-xi/.

Gayón Petition and Service Record, 1567. Santo Domingo 11. Archivo General de Indias, Seville. PDF copy, translated by John E. Worth, 2017, Worth Collection, Department of Anthropology, University of West Florida, Pensacola.

Petition and Service Record of Alonso Velázquez, Mexico, 1562. Patronato 65, No. 1, Ramo 14, ff. 23r-24v, Archivo General de Indias, Seville. PDF copy, translated by John E. Worth, University Archives and West Florida History Center, University of West Florida, Pensacola.

Priestley, Herbert Ingram, trans. and ed. The Luna Papers, 1559–1561: Volumes I & 2. University of Alabama Press, 2010.

Worth, John E. “Florida’s Forgotten Colony: Historical Background.” In Florida’s Lost Galleon: The Emanuel Point Shipwreck, edited by Roger Smith. University Press of Florida, 2018. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5744/florida/9780813056760.003.0003

Ybarra, Hortuño de. “Audit of the 4 November 1559–31 August 1563 accounts of Pedro de Yebra, Deputy Treasurer of Veracruz,” 1564. Contaduria 877, Reel 2. Archivo General de Indias, Seville. Translation by R. Wayne Childers, 5 September 1999. Archaeology Institute, University of West Florida, Pensacola.

Map of Luna colony relief expeditions

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Published

2026-07-08

How to Cite

Bolte, C. L. (2026). “A Fierce Tempest”: Disaster and Relief at the Luna Settlement, 1559–61. The Northern Mariner Le Marin Du Nord, 35(3-4), 329–344. https://doi.org/10.25071/2561-5467.1407

Issue

Vol. 35 No. 3-4 (2025): The Northern Mariner

Section

Articles

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Copyright (c) 2026 Christina L. Bolte

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.