10-23 (~lay l!Y.!9)

G- 7410

UNITED STATES

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

LAf.IDING OF PONCE DE LEON

72nd . CONGRESS

1st . SESSION

H. R . 7906

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l ast date on top

IMPORTANT This file consLituLc!! u vart of the oflicia l recortls of Lhe

National Park Service nnd should not be separated or pnper8 withd rawn without. express au thority of the official in charge.

' All Files should be returned promptly to the File Room. Officinls anti employees will be held responsible for failu re

to observe these rules, which arc necessary t.o protect the integrity of the officinl records .

AR NO B. CAMMEREH., . . .. ~ .... N ·~·"·· ... k L uu •- : <10 Director .

FILE NO.

PART 1

HIRAM W. JOHNSON, CALIF., CHAIRMAN

WESLEY L.JONES, WASH. DUNCAN U. FLETCHER, FLA. CHARLES L. MC NARY, OREG. JOSEPH E. RANSDELL, LA. PORTER H. DALE, VT'. MORRIS SHEPPARD, TEX. ARTHUR R.GOULD,ME. F.M.SIMMONS,N.C. GERALD P. NYE, N. DAK. HUBERT D. STEPHENS, MISS. ARTHUR H. VANDENBERG, MICH. WILUAM J. HARRIS, GA. CHARLES S. DENEEN, ILL. ROYAL S.COPELAND,N. Y. ROSCOE C. PATTERSON, MO. HARRY B. HAWES, MO. ROBERT D. HOWELL, NEBR. WILUAM E. BROCK, TENN.

COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE

HENRY J. ALLEN, KAl'IS.

M.A. CONNOR, CLERK ;2-.zv-v (~-•. · ·--$-1"'U_.~ f..·1A. f!: .-\~ • ...-v

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April 6, 1931. r12 I r\.A... .;(-...

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Honorable Horace JI. Albright, Director,

National Park Service,

Department of Interior.i -----.

/ }Q" dear Mr. Albright1 . ........._'}t-:-,,,,.,. llr r1~~ 1~· .. ~·-.i·on /. ·

L~ 1513 Don Juan Ponce de Leon landed at what

is now the Fountain of Youth Park in St. Augu.s tine, Florida, •. and there Pedro Menendez laid the foundation for the City

and said the first mass, thus maiki~ the place as the cradle

of American history .i

• !l!.he people of St. AUo.custine feel there should be

some special recogti.ition by the United States Government of this !)lace.I

I am wondering if there is not some p1·ovision of law

respecting National Parks or N<-, ti onal Monumen·ts or markd:ngs that

would ·be ap?licable he!"e, or what suggestions you might ma'l{:e in

this con..~ection. Very truly yours, ~~,r~

I N ANSWERING REF"ER TO

UNITED STATES

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

NA TIONAL PARK SERVICE

WASHINGTON

Hon. Duncan U. Fl e tcher.

United St ot es 8enato .

My dee.r Senator Fletcher:

, . 1

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Yfnile in Flor i da last y~ar in connection with the Ever&lades Park project , I took advantage of the opportuni ty also ~o vislt Fort ~arion National ~ohu.ment at St .. Auguoti~ , ~lerida., and to in.a»ect the site of the propos'.Sd I).ew ltloaument ,­the De Soto National :;ionument naar st. Pot~"C"sburg; ·- tbat he.a been oft'er ed as e. donati on to the ITn1ted States and the ?ark Service by interested citizens of tbat city . My interest in th6"se ol d Florida historic.al areas ls tb.erefore a v.ery real and live one , and your letter of .April 5th, conc-erni.ng the :possibility or the creation of one where ?onoe de Leon i s alleged to have landed in l5l3 in what 1a n-011 St. Angdstine, with its r i ch $Ubaiequent history, strikes a very sympathetic s:pot ~1th me~

n~tional cionuments arc eata.blished under authority of the s&-ealled .Anti­qultie£ Aot or 1905• which authorizes the ?resident by public p~oelamation to deolare such monuments for s cientific or hiator ! c reasc:me. They may be created m. thout expense to the Governmsnt by- b~i~g reserved from t ho public domain, or by being tender e d free or cost by other ageneil3s. Doubtless the h i storic e..o­oura.cy 01' the facts that would jutify establishment of this particular m.OI.lU­

ment you have . in mind coul d be 0stablished to the sat i s f action of t he Interior Dapertmant, so that in the.t event the only remaining problem would be the mat­faal' of its acquisi timi. "ihen once accepted, the .maintenance and development of the area would be assumad by ~s ~orviee , the amount or attenti-0n to the monum9'nt thon tlepoadins upon the needs . In any event, an inspection would be necessary by SOrtica o.fi"iciala to study the facts, nnd a report made to the Department, be fore f inal setion on all these mat ters would be take~.

As l sai a , I a.II). ·tremendously interested 1n t hese h1stoTio monument possi­bilities i n Florida, and believe that we aould tie them to greet advantage into our pl.ans. for the routing of tourist trave l to and fran the EVer gladea National Park when thnt. pr oJect is more definitely on its rray . For that r eason, too, I em hoping that the ol d Spanish relies of .F'ort.,, Llatanza.s and Fort Mari on , n ow under. tlw 'juri sdicti on of tho :.nr Depal."'tmen t, oan i n t imo be trruls:t'erred to t he Interior .nepe.rt:!lent under the j urisdiction of i;he Service . We ai:-e doing

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a great deal in the devolopm.ont of the old historio areas in 111rginia, cover­ing Wakefield, the birthplaoe of Washington, Jamestown, Will181Xlsburg, and Yorktown, whieh are now de~in1tely under our jurisdiction for development as national shrines. Perhaps you may feel that your own interest in this eubjeot will perm.it you to assist in endeavoring to secure the transfer ot these two Florida monuments as a first step in the larger plan I have outlined, as well as in the establishment of this new monument.

Sincerely yours,

Director.

72n CONGRESS _lST ~ES~-JO~-

IN ~rI-IE lfODSE OE UEPRESE~'l1ATIV1~S

Mrs. Ow1rn introdun•d tiic foJ!owi11~ hill; which was referred to the Com­mittee 011 1\Iilital'y . ..\ffa.irs nnd ordc>n1 c! to he printe<l

A BILL To provide for the commemoration of the landing of Ponce de

Leon in the State of Florida.

1 Be it enacted by. the Senate and House of Rep'resenta-

.. 2 tives of the United States of America in Congress' assembled,

3 That for the purpose of commemorating the milita'ry historic

4 events in connection with the landing of Ponce de Leon in

5 the State of Florida the Secretary of vVar is authorized

f, and directed to erect a tablet, either on ground owned 01

7 to be acquired by a municipality in the State of Florida 01

8 on approximately one acre of land to which the Secretarj

ft of War is authorized to accept title without cost to th(

10 United Stfltrs. He. is further authorized to do all matter:

i l·, ,. . \ 1,:-.~,,__ . . x~?.,:~) .·

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2

1 incident tq procurement a11d Prection provided for herein, hy

2 contract or otherwise, with or wit.hont advertising, including

3 n.lso the engngement by eon tract or otherwise, without.

4 rega.rcl f.o section 370H, Revised 81.a.tutes (U. S. C., title

5 41, sec. 5), arnl at such rates of compensation as he may

6 determine, of the services of architects, sculptors, artists,

7 and other technical and professional personnel as may be

8 necessa.ry, or of firms, partnerships, or corporations thereof.

9 SEC. 2. 'firnre is hereby authorized to be appropriated

10 the sum of $1,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary,

1 t to cany out the provisions of this Act.

12 SEC. 3. If land is acquired by the United States under

13 the provisions of this Act, it shall be under the jurisdiction

14 and control of the Secretary of vVar, and in such case he

15 shall provide for the care and maintenance of said tablet

16 and its site and for this purpose shall submit an estimate

17 with his annual estimates to Congress.

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HIRAM W. JOHNSON, CALIF,, CHAIRMAN WESLEY L. JONES, WASH. DUNCAN U. FLET'CHER, FL.'. :HARLE!; 1.- MC NARY, OREG. JOSEPH E. RANSDELL, LI<.

t \---·~~---------------' .. -· c~~~-~·\.. .. c.. \...t_: .. ~

PORTER H. DALE, VT. MORRIS SHEPPARD, TEX. ARTHUR R.GOtlLD, ME. F. M. SIMMONS, N. C.

~~ ~:~:o:-;;G, MICH. :=;.0;.~:.!~!~~ISS. CHARLES S. DENEEN. ILL. ROYALS. COPELAND, N. Y. ROSCOE C. P-'TTERSON, MO. HARRY D. HAWES, MO. ROBERT D. HOWELL. NEBR. WILLIAM E. DROCK, TENN. COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE HEMRY J. ALLEN, tu.NS.

M.A. CONNOR.Cl.ERK

April 11,1931.

Honorable Horace M. Albright, Director,

Hational Park Service,

Department of Interior.

My dear Mr. Albright:

Thank you very milch for yours of the 9th.

I will take the matter up further with the

people in St. Augustine and furnish additional data to you.\

Kr.: Herbert Felkel, Editor of The St. Augustine

Record, is Chairman1 ofthe Historical Fact Finding Committee of the

City of St. Augustine, and I will send your letter to him and suggest

that he furnish a statement of facts which will show justification for

the recognition of the Fountain of Youth Park, where Ponce deLeon landed

in 1513.1

Tliere is another place which I think should be

recoGnized, to wit, St. John 1s Bluff in Duval County, F~orid.a, near

the mouth of the St. John 1 s River, which was, to some extent, fortified

during the War Between the States and durinc; the Spanish-American War,

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and some troops were stationed there, and near that point was

old Fort Carolina, where the French landed and where the Spanish

came over from St • .Augustine, attacked and destroyed ~11 will

get you._up some details about that. 1

The paved highwa\r is nearly completed. It will extend

from Jacksonville down by Fort Caroline and St. John's :Bluff, and then

down the Coast to St. Augustine.i

I hope you will keep this site in. mi~!

As I recall, it was the first white Protestant settlement

in what is now the United States~1

Very truly yours,

~~·~·

I.oaation:

mstoey and

Bemarks:

HiOOOSED FOUNTAIN OF YOWJH NA.TL .. MONUMENT .. FLORIDA.·

At St. Augustine, Florida. Believed '60 be the spot $are Ponca de Leon landed, alth.ough this is based enta9"ly on aonjec-~e.

A p11elimina:~y report submitted. by Mr. Herbert Kahler, l.8 Cordo:va St.:; St. Augustin&• Fla •. , dated J"anuary 18,. 19~4> to 'Mr~ Cha.te.lai.l!L, staltes in part.: "The ·only source known tor Ponoe de :Leon's ~oyage is Herrera, whG makes n.o clear-o~t statement jus~ where Ponce de le.on landed. The ~u.estion. ot dete:rnnin.ing 'tb.e location. or the first ahap~l is ililighlly tnvol~ed and not conclusive. Th.a evidenoe a&tuced is not suf:t"ioient to warrant the. eonclusion$ drawne. ML-. Balioa wil.l make a aompl~;te report on tb.~s pira.bJ.em."

Mr. Ke;hler a:lso made reference to P1eolata, a aign :U~ieant

his.'hoPJLcaJI. spot Mi east :iiorida. 'llh.e 01.rd fort built it.here 'by 'the Spanish was later used a.a headquarters :ror the Amel!iae.n. troops in the Seminole Indian War. The graveyard there is of' great interest. Dr. ~e,rli!ta Corse- alt Eke en Cove Sprmgs gave Mr. Ballou, Mr. Yotlllg and Mr~ Ira.h1er who "llil.sited her; eonsidera.ble bthliographieal aid and has a number o~ maps; bu.t Mir~ ~ler statss that, ~s. Ql>rae doean''t imow $panish and her con~lusions are open to q:ue.st.io,n.

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~ Mr. Ve~e Ohatele.S,n, Hieto»ioel D1v1•lon1 ot:tloe ol Jlat. Pke. , Bld.g11. • and Reaervat:i.on.1 Depariiment of the Inte~1or Waahl~~, D. c. ,,-

. { )-(/I· Prelimlnal'7 Baport on J'ountain of Touth ( c-

Wedneadq evening Young, Ballou and. I had a 09nference with D.1L Oorae at Green Cove Spr1ng1. While enwut& to Girec Cov• Springs " ~1oolata1 a e1gn.1fioaiit h1•torioa spot. in eatit J'lorida. Tbe old fol there by the Spanieh dB lster v.aed a.a headqo.arl•r• fo'I' the Azn•ri.Oan in the Seminole Indian War. The graveyard there ii ot great intere1

Mrs. Ooree gave us considerable b1'bl1opaph1cal aid end ha• e. mapa. The oonolueions of Mrs. Corse Sl'e open to pttton. She doe.. ~ Spanish and ie dependent on othere tor trenelat1one.

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The only source known fQr Ponce de Leon t.a voyage 1• Herrera, 1{. () mi a no clear-out etatem.nt Just tlh•r• Ponc1t d.e Leon landed. -

That he landed at the J'ountatn of Youth 1• baaed entirely on 1..

IJ?he qu.eetion ot determining the location of the f irl\ chapel 5 involved and bf no means oonclueive. The evidence ad.dueed ia not . Btj to waniant the ooZlCluaion• drawn. It a.eema to be the 8$l'ID.&rlc of 1ma

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historian• to bul'at forth in generalizations upon tba first spark o1/ • ·

· Mr. Ballou. will ~ a complete report on this pr<>blem.

Conclusion of the preliminary Surv~y: Not IU.fftcient evidence .. rJ

warrant placing a fedtral t ablet on Mr. ll'ra•er•1 prop•Fty.

Sincerely roura,

/~/(tdd&u Hel'bert Kahler

RE!'RODUGED AT THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES

UNITED STATES .... 1;. i • .; , !·d .. ,. ,t~:·.tf\-),

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR OFFICE OF NATIONAL PARKS,

BUILDINGS, AND RESERVATIONS

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APR 1 9 1934

Mr Verne Chatelain, Ch~ef Historical Division National Park Service Department of the Interior Washington, D.C.

De~r Mr Chatelain:

18 Cordova ;St r..:~.Ar1 .:: 1 ;:.ND ~.1:1-rr ,,., St Augustine Florida April 17, 1934

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Enclosed you will find Mr Ballou•s report. At first gaance you will see it covers every aspect of this problem and will be a ready reference in the near future. Mr Fraser has strong poli­tical support in Senator Duncan Fletcher and GovernofDave Sholtz. The bill to erect a marker on his place has passed the Senate, ED Mr Fraser told me a · rew days ago, but he has small hope that it will pass the House, so he asked me to aesist him by making an investigation - ~e is unaware of this r eport. I in~ormed him that the extent of my activities was determined by my superiors and I was not at liberty to deal with any problem that came up except in an incidenta l fashion.

Mr Fraser's next plan is to build the marker at his own ex­pense but have the wording authorized by the National Park Service, so he will visit you in the near futur e .

Marcus Price, leader of the Catholic f action which seems to be getting the upper hand in the St Augustine Historical Society, is bringing suit against Fraser to remove the name of the St Augus­tine Historical Society from the t ablets at the Fountain of Youth. From the librarian he found out we. were using Herrera and he wanted to know what we found. We told him we could divulge. none of the findings, and any information he desired would have to come from Washington. You may hear from him shortly.

~;:a:d7QJJ.J Herbert Kahler

HK:am

~t. ~ugusttne f!)tstortcal ~ocietp ~t. ~ugustine

jflotiba

May ·7, 1934.

Mr . Verne E. Chattelain, Chief Historian , Office of National Parks, Buildings and Reservations, Department of t he Interior, Washington, D. c.

My dear Mr . Chattelain:

I understand that Professor Ba l lou has fi'led 1 µis report on the Fountain of Youth property, and claims with respect thereto, in Washington.

I shou.ld like very much to obtain a copy of this report for the use of the Historica l Society . Will you l e t the Society have one?

With kind regar ds , I am

Ve~C·w·~ MWP-s Marcus W. Price

, Mr. Uarcue w. Prioe 1 .

satrit l\tteu•~tne Hietor1oal 8QC1et7. Setnt Auguatine. ?lor:t~. '

R.tenllCle le •de to 10ur l•ter ot Mt'J >f rega~qg Mr. BaUoir• a report on the lrountaiJl ot Youth property a~ Saint .Augustine As 1ou bate f!Qgg~stod this stucly has 'be.en reaei ved~ but ab yet there heA beea lit~le oppo:rtu.n11)- 'to an:a.l1•• 1t · oa:refully. · ·

I allal1 be 'f'ery glad to keep in ,lllin~ your ?-ft­quest t<itr a eopy 1jG be plao•d 1n the files ·ot· t:~e Saint Ailgust1ne .Historioal Soolety whoneTer 1"a f1n4 l .t poasiblct to Jlllt the iJtudy in till,8.l. ronn.

Verne :B. Chatelain Oh1et

H1$to~1cal Dtvtsion Bl'enob ot Resee.rch and Eduoatioa

CC-Mr. Herbert Kahler

v.BC:CT

!fr. ~QQl.tlmiO wi'\b Q¥ ~t_. iilH ;te.1!-a.el 1-Sdd" be &!•• ·~ ... ~"- ~ ~u. 1"'9-1 • •• •••., t)1) ~u•l• tu1 'i WG\d4 :tie ~ru"u• lt-.u•• ot '"- ~•11'taiaiJ a.a ~ tbe &0~ X•~ W:.e• '-r ·~· o IAo~ \lRG'A t:'b.8 1;i.-'• ~~ •. tf4.,. ~• ~W ~ ~ttot.allJ ~ ~~ 'll• ~·:t.f.~ r4 ~• • ~~ In Wti G'Qnol.U"11• ;r -~lt.

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<Scd) k\AROLO L ICKES

.tc:CT

(

. The Director,

UNITED STATES

TMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

National Park Service, Washington, D. o.

515 Custom House, Denver, Colorado, April 8 1 l 9.3 3.

Dear Mr. Director:

On J"anua.ry l, 1935, I visited the Fountain of Youth·, a pri­vately-owned park or tourist resort in the city of st. Augustine, Florida• on Which property it bas been proposed that.the federal government erect a monument to Ponce de Leon.

Since the National Park Serviee has already considered the pro j act and has .been in touch w1 th some of the interested persons, I simply made the trip as the average visitor doeso

Ponce de Leon discovered Florida in 1513. The only authori• tative source ot information regarding. his expedition is the ac• count ot He'rrera, which indicates that the expedition, while sail• ing in a west..;northwest course on Saturday, April 21 1513, reached the mainland (th.en supposed to be an 1sl8Ild) at latitude 30 degrees and 8 minutes and ran along the ooast until night and then anchol'49 ed. Ponce de Leon "went on land to take information and posses­sion." On Friday, the 8th, "they ran in tlie same direction (presum­abl7 toward the north), "and Saturday they sailed to the south a quarter by southeast.•

Presmnabl7, Ponce de Leon's first landing .was north ot st-. Augustine and soutli of J'ackaonville. The exact spot of the land• ing will probably never be known. The claim that the actual site of.the landing has been definitely established at the Fountain.of Youth Park seems unsupported by ~ satisfactory evidence.

The Fountain of Youth seems to be a well, not a spring, and to be Without authenticated historical importance.

One gets the impression that an ei'tort is ma.de to give the tourists their money's 'M>:rth and· to popularize history w1 th such revisions as·will best serve the gate receipts, and that in so do• ing historical. accuracy has suffered.

It any mamorial to Ponce de Leon were to be erected by the federal government at st. Augustine, it should be in connection with the Fort Marion National. Monument and not on an acre of' land surrounded 'bJ' private property that is used as a tourist resort.

It is recommended that this project be disapproved and dropped from ·the list of' proposed national monuments.

Very trul~. o s, -r--_ /P. I~

Enclosures Roger W. Toll

' •REPRODUCEDir ltlE NATIONAL ARCHivES

E I 0

Portion of R~creational' Map of the United ·States

~at±onal Park frervice Mey 1, 19:34

_, scale: l" = 75 miles

.,

of

HABANA

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WEST PALM BEACH

History .et, Project. Attached is a copy of s . 3014, pnssed by tho senate on April ll, 1932, and i ntroduced in the Lfouse of Repre­eentntives April lB, 1932, "To provide for the conmemoration of the l anding of Ponce de Loon in the St e.ta of 1~lorida." This bill pro­poses that the Secretary Of 'rlar be authorized to eraot a tablet neither on ground owned or to be acquired by a municipality in the State of l<"'lorlcle. or on approxirnntely one aore of land t o lfhich too Secretu:ry of ?fer is authorized to accept title 711 thout oost to the United s tates . " The bill proposes sn appropriation of $1,000 for this purpose.

It seems probable that the o\'lllera of the Fountain or Youth Pa.rk would be willing to donate an ao:re of their proporty in order to have a memorial to Ponce <le LeonA">:fficially constructed by tho federal ~vornment on the tract.

It is understood that ~other plan is for the Fountain of Youth proprietors to oonetruat the memorial at their oun expense, but to request that tho woroing ot the inscription be author ized b~ the National Park Service.

The only ioeason that a memorial t o Ponce de Leon might be erected by tho tad0ral govol"lUllent in st. ~ugustine ~ould be be­oauae the exaet looation of the lending is unknomi end, while lt was presumably north ot st. AUgustine, it might be 111ffioult to :tincl any f'ully satisf'aotory loce ti on for snoh a memorial within the um.ts of the area lTithin t1h1oh the land1ll8 probably oecurred.

l)f.Cl.J\S:;U:JEQ _. • :.~J

""11101 111 ro-n::'Ji%f:l'1 ~ · n;t _0. ~l/~IA. -~~~~j.:JJL: i

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'12d CONGRESS let Session

s. 3014

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESJNTATIVF.S AprU 13, 1982

Referred to the Committee on Military Affairs

To provide :for the commemoration. ot the landing ot Pon.oe de Leon in the State et Florida.

l Be it enaoted by the Senate and House of Representa-

2 Uves of the UBited states ot .Anliel'rioa in Ooqress assembled,

3 That tor the purpose of oommemol'!lting the military historio

4 events ln CODDeotion with the lan41Dg ot Ponoe de Leon. 1a

5 the State ot llerida the Seoretary of War ls authorize4

6 8Jld directed ~ eraot a tablet, either on grouad owae4 or

9 to be aoqUl.ret by a mmdoipall ty in the state ot F.Lorlda or

8 on appnx:tma-tel.7 one ao:re ot land to whioh the secretary

9 ot WBJ' le.auth0nze4 to aoeept title Without cost to the

10 --~~- B~••• Be t.e to:rthar authorized to do all matters

ll :~14-t·~tt·;p"*-em8at aacl ereotioa p:rovi4e4 tor henb, bf • -: • • JI • • .5 • :· ' ~ - •

. 18 ••tnot. ~. otlie:ntiee, wt th or without advart1a1sag, including

lZ alao the eqasement bJ' oontn.ct or othentae, without

14 ~an 'to seotloa 3'109, Bevlaed statutes (U. s. a., title

18 · 41• aeo. 6) • aJtd at suoh rates of oom.pe.naation aa he 11181

16 detend.Jla, ot the servloee ot aroht. teots, so'Ul.ptora, artiste,

1' aa4 other teolmloal and proteaslonal personnel as mQ' be

18 neoess817, or of time, partnerships, or oorporationa thereof.

19 SEO. a. There is hereb¥ authorized to be app:ropr1ate4

ao the sum ot $1 1000, or so muoh thereof as DL8.J" be neoessal'J',

21 to oerry out the provisions of this Aot.

BB SEO. 3. It land :ls acquired by the United States under

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23 the provisions of this Aot,. it shall be UJldttr the jurisdiction

24 and control of the Secretary of War, and in sueh case he

25 shall provide for the care and maintenance of said tablet

26 and ite site and for this purpose shall submit an estimate with

8'1 his annual estimates to Congress.

. • >:

·:·····r(· ,.. • ..• -~1-n;-r. , rr,

Passed the Senate April 11, 1932 •

Attest: ...

EDWD P. THAYER, seeret&rJ •

~Augustine. st. Augustine is a ohArming city with muoh to interest visitors. It has ~at historical importanoe. It was the first permanent Eu:ropean settlement 1n whet is now the United States, and it has been con'tinuously occupied. Its claim of "The oldest city in the United States" la well AUpported. The Fort Mar­ion National Monument in st. Augustine is h1etor1oally important an.d highly interesti ng to visitors.

st. Augu.atine has so meny el EmJ.ents o-r historical interest that it would eeem entirely unnecessary and undesirable for it to en­courage sny projects of doubtful autbent1o1ty.

The discovery of Florida by Po:ribe de Leon in 1513 was fUl event o:r great importanee. Memorials to Ponce de Leon might well be erected in many or the eitiee of Florida. st. A.U8'Uatine now has a Ponoe de Leon monumant. It additional memorials were desired, any place in the city would be ae appropriate. or more ~propriate, then '9t>uld the Fountein or Youth Park.

Fountain !!. Youth ~!!,~~tine. Thie park 1e widely adve~1sed by roade1de signs, neon lights, etc., and dnl•s a con-8iderable nUllber ot vis1tore,. The entrenoe tee is 25 cents per J>ermon. I have heard the gross receipts va.riously estimated at trom $20,000 to $50,ooo per year. There ls no .doubt but that they ere oonsiclorable.

The pr1no1pnl features or this resort are:

l. The Fountain ot Youth, a well, t:mm whioh Ponce de Leon might have drunk had he been in tho vioini t7 and 1f the well had boon dug at that time.

2. A orosa, formed of blocks or ooquino stone set in the ground, there being fitteen atones in the main ahatt and thirteen ato-nes ia the Ol'Ossbeam. Visitors aaAume that this cross was built by Ponoe de Leon in 151!3 end that the :fortunate discovery of the cross eetabl18hee the authenticity of the Fountain of Youth.

3. .A small chepol, recently built on what is seid to be the site t1t an eerly Spanish chapel. I understand that the Oatholic authorities .ot st. AUgUStine disagree with the claims -ror this site end have another site that they aocept as the eorrect one.

4. A tablet w1 th a bronze insoription relating to Ponce de Leon end otati:ng: "He landed heM.n

5. An Iudie.n burial ground thflt was opened in April, 1934, and which baa been partly oxenvatcd to a depth o:t three or rou.r teet, exposiDg some fifty or a hundred skeletons.

Of the above five featursa, the Indian burial ground is authentic.

The "Bisto17 Of St. A.ug\18t1ne," publishecl bJ J. 'II. Barris Com.peny, Ino., 1934, has a brief referonoe to the FountalD of Youth, but without mention of e:q historical im.port011ce 1 as fol· lows (p. 26)i "On the east of San Maroo A.venue, seven shon blocks north of the City Gates, is located the ~ta1n of Youth, which is visi tad annu,ally by thousands of tourists. Open daily."

The attached booklet, "The Landing or Ponce de Leon, A Jllstorioal. Review," by Oharlea B. Rep.olds, ls interesting rea4-iq u4 contains a photostat cop7 of the Herrera terl referr1DB to the landing of Ponce de Leon and a treaalatioa ot thla retv-

--~ The booklet tha4' Mr. Re111olcle d1aoueaes, naraely, '"1'ke FO'tm•

tabl of' Yeutlt," 'bJ' Qari4'a Dogeti Oei-ae. is also attaohe4. ·

A GOml'J'ehenelve aoeount of PGDoe 4e L89Jl' a vorasea to n... 14& and vteiDHJ' Will appear m the J'lozatda Pltsterieal SOolev ftUBr'Md.)' fer 1\11.y, ltai.

'fhe Director, National Park Service,

Yleehington, D. c.

Dear Mr. Dtrectori

515 Custom House, D8Jlver, Colorado, .April g, 1 9 3 5.

I ma 1'8tttl'n1Jtg. hel'eWlth, 70111" file OD the

proposel 1Dtmta1n of Yn'th National Mmmme:o.t.

Roger W. 'l'oll.

PRESIDENT

ALSTON COCKRELL JACKSONVILLE

VICE-PRESIDENTS

JULIEN C. YONGE, PENSACOLA

ALFRED J, HANNA, WINTER PARK

SECRETARY

BATES M. STOVALL PENINSULAR LIFE BUILDING

JACKSONVILLE

Jlflnrioa ~istnri:cal ~n:ci£i~ ORGANIZED 1856

l'-lr' • T?OC:P"Y' ~-! • rnoll, NationaJ Park Service, ~en~rt~~nt of t~e Inte~ior, 515 8U ~ t 01'rl '-T QU Re ,

Denver-, ~oJ or Pd o.

INCORPORATED 1905

TREASURER

T. FREDERICK DAVIS JACKSONVILLE

EDITOR OF QUARTERLY

JULIEN C. YONGE 1924 EAST JACKSON STREET

PENSACOLA

l'i:r. C!=!rl Bohnenberp:er has ref P-r:reo to !'rte you:r letter FebruR.ry 9, rq05, i:n w11tch you rr:'0uest various conies of our quarterly.

C0pies of the July, 1932, is8ue of our QuRrterly ~re so scr-irce we have none for distrn:mtion.

H:owP-ver, I am for1·1arding to you under' sen~ra te cover, for officlA.l use, two coni.Ps of thA l\nri.1 lf:}00, is8ue ~nd one cony of thA Octoher 10~0, isRue.

Po~sibly you n~re intel"le~te(1 tn t)1P. ,Tu}v, 1902, j~sue and Anr:U, Hn~, is sue becqu~e of the Ponce de Le on fl -r>tt cl.es therein contain~ii. A ve-ry co..,,n-rehensive riccount. of Ponce fie Leon's voyaEtes to Flo:rirlr-:t. Pncl v·ic1.nitv i·.ril 1 RDP~-~r ~n the July issue 0f this year.

Very trul~r yours, ) .

R~~~tr=7d(

75he fisf(. Mr. Foster Travel Service

,.11:0. U, 9. PAT. Ol"P .

70 Offices in the United Stoles and Canada

,. ·-....

The Foster & Reynolds Co. General Offices

30 Rockefeller Plaza

New York

CAGLE A.ODRESS FOSTEnYN T£L.EPUONC C I RC LE 7 · 2738

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I n :.~er-.r-or:se t o :,'our rer:_ueft, I ,_-: sc!:.diq; J'Yl sc:ne copies o-:: t!'~e Por.ce de Leon pu::-.}'~:_1.:: L ·.r:!.:ici: : t:--~i.~ t

GBR:L'? .·t

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Yours

'llie

Landing of Ponce de Leon .... A Historical Review-

By Charles B. Reynolds

MOUNTAIN LAKES. N. ].

Published by the Author

1934

FOREWORD. .....

The visitor at the Fountain of Youth m St. Augustine is shown what he is told is the landing place of Ponce de Leon

on his voyage of discovery in 1513. A bronze tablet affirms that Ponce de Leon "landed here." The tablet is authorized

by a committee appointed by the city and consisting of the President of the St. Augustine Historical Society, the Editor

of the St. Augustine Record, the Mayor, a member of the D.A.R., a Historian and a Tourist.. Further assurance that the Discoverer landed at this spot is proffered in the booklet which is sold at the place and is a subject of consideration in the following pages.

Few who read the tablet or the booklet have opportunity to

determine the historical accuracy of its statements by comparing

these with the Herrera record. It is believed that the reproduc­tion here of the Herrera text relating to the event will be wel­comed by one who has not access to the original. Writers intent

on fixing the landing at St. Augustine have misquoted and misrepresented the historian, to the misleading of many. Here,

by the intervention of the photostat, Herrera may be read as he

wrote. C. B.R.

Mountain Lakes, N. J.

2

I

I I i

! I I !

i

Title: pa:;c- of th e- 1601 cdilio11 of ll c:rn:1~1.

3

Monograph Fixes Ponce s Landing Spot

Dr. Carita Doggett Corse Author of Interesting

Historical Work.

In her latest publlcatJon. which has Just appeared, a monograph entitled .. The Poun­tatn of Youth." Dr. Carita Dog­gett cone has defJned the lo­catlo~ of the landJng place of Ponce de Leon.

ThJI spot was a wooded point in the clays of tbe conqulata­don, and is now, due to time and Ude, a strip of aalt marab about a mile north of Port Marlon.

A little back of this on what la ,still a WOoded point, was the Ind.Ian vwase o( Seloy, where Men~ th~.~~~. of et.

Augustme, sa1a 111s nrst mass . and where the flrat fortlflcation I waa made by the Spanish. This

I fortUlcatlon made use of the chief house of the vWage. Later a blocthowie waa erected here and it might be said that the oldest city in the •thilted States had Sta beJlnnlng in this man. ner.

At the aame place the ancl· ent stone mission of Nombre 6le Dloa was built, and the wooden .fort that Sir Prancls Drake burned was nearby.

Tl)e point of location of these places baa long been a matter of oonjecture for historians and Dr. cone bas performed a not­able servtee In proving them.

The monograp11 which Is amazing as a narrative and au­thentic as a well documented piece of research, II beautlfully illustrated with numerous plates.

Dr. Corse, whoae collection of old maps ts one of the flnest and largest In the State, has made effective use of many of her most unuaual ones In l1-1ustratlng the monograph.

Among her many books! hls­torlans and the reading public have been enthuslaatlc in thelr reception or the recent "Key to the Golden Islands." ----

From the Jacksonville, Fla., Times·U11io1i, December 22, 19.H.

4

j

! r ·r ;~ ; •: I. j ·i

THE LOCATION OF THE LANDING.

The work to which the Times-Union refers is entitled: "The Fountain of Youth. By Carita Doggett Corse. A.B., M.A., Lit.D. Author of 'Dr. Andrew Turnbull,' 'Key to the Golden Islands.' 'Florida. Empire of the Sun,' and 'Supplementary History of Florida'."

The purpose of the present paper is to examine the \\fork with a view to determine in what measure it is the "well documented piece of research" the Times-Union says it is, and what im­portance attaches to the pronouncement that Dr. Corse has per­formed a notable service in proving the location of the landing place of Ponce de Leon.

The original source authority for details of the expedition of Ponce de Leon in 1513 is Antonio de Herrera's "Historia General de los Hechos de los Castellanos en las Islas i Tierr~ Firme del Mar Oce~no." (I 601), Decada I. Libro IX, Cap. X.

Herrera is presumed to have had access to the log of Ponce de Leon. He records that the discoverer landed somewhere north of latitude 30° 8', which point is approximately eighteen"miles north of St. Augustine Inlet. In fixing the landing north of St. Augustine Herrera bas been followed .by the American his­torians: Washington Irving (Life of Columbus, V. 3. p. 235), George Bancroft (History of the United States, V. I. p. Z3), John Gilmary Shea (Winsor's Narrative and Critical History of America, V. · 2, p. 23 3), John Fiske (Discovery of America, V. 2,· p. 486)·, William Darby (History of Florida), A. J. Weise (Discovery of America, p. 223), E. McKay Avery (His­tory of the United States, V. l, p. 638), E. G. Bourne, (Amer­ican Nation, edited by A. B. Hart, V. 3, pp. 134-3 5), Caroline May Brevard (History of Florida, for schools, p. 19) , Herbert E. Bolton (Spanish Borderlands, p. 7).

George R. Fairbanks who long resided in St. Augustine so recorded the landing in his works on Florida and St. Augustine. ·(Early History of Florida p. 6. History and Antiquities of St. Augustine, p. 140, The Spaniards in Florida, p. 12, History of Florida, p. 16.)

Another Florida historian, T. Frederick Davis, bringing into his study of the Herrera account a knowledge of the coastal con-

5

ditions. tides and ocran currents and metco ro logic.11 influences affecting navigatio n. dcrivt'd from a long sen ·ice in rhe \\feather Bureau at Jackson ville. locates the probable landing p lace as being somew here on the s tretch of coast between eighteen miles north of St. /\ugustine I nlet and seven miles so ul11 of the mouth of the Sr . Johns River. (Quarterly of the F lo rida Historical Society, July, 1932.) .~ ·

Not until the fabled you th -restoring Fountain. so appealing to the credulity of the sixteenth century , had been given material semblance and had been adapted to commercial exploitation of the credulity of the twentieth century, did the identity of the landing place become a subject of comroversy. Prior to that time the record of Herrera. that the landing bad been at some point north of St. Augustine, had had common acceptance. as it has today.

I n Mr. Fairbanks' rime no o ne in St. Augustine believed that Ponce de L eon had landed there. Nor for a long tim e after­wards was any claim advanced for this until in 1909 a tree on the Williams place was blown down in a storm.

The Williams place was a tract north of the City Gates bor­dering on Hospital C reek, an affluent of the bay. From 1868 to 1890 it was used by H . H. Will iams. a fruit and flow er cul­turist, who gave it the n ame o f Paradise Grove and Rose Garden. Appur tenant to the dwelling house was a dug well dug in 1875 by Philip Gomez and Philip Capo of Sr. Augustine. The well was curbed with coquina, a shell- rock quarried on Anastasia Island across the bay opposite the town. and not d iscovered by the Spaniards until 1580, sixty-seven years after Ponce came to Florida. The well was simi lar to the dug wells commonly used in Sr. Augustine before the introduction of artesian water.

In 1900 the Williams property passed to Edward McConnel l and in 1902 came in to possession of Luella Day McConnell. (She is sty led Mrs. Day by the Sr. Augustine f.uening Record.)

ln 1909 when a tree near the well was uprooted by a storm. Mrs. McConnel l gave o ur the fantastic story that she had dis­covered in the hole left by the upturned roots what proved to be a cross formed o f chunks of coquina. disposed I 5 in t he upright and I 3 in the cross-beam. having been placed thus by Ponce de L eon to commemorate the year 1513 of his discovery. Further excavation disclosed beneath the cross a Spanish casquc. which

IJEC1.M;:;11:11:0 ·· • .-... ]

Aulho11ly m-ri./d~tc) \ ~ ~l/~IA . -~~~~)_'_!()_· i

6

The ll oax Ponce de Leon Cross at the Fountain of Youth in S t. A ugustine.

being exa mined revealed a pa rch ment deposited by Ponce record­ing tha t he had drunk of the "fountain" ( the Williams well ) and charting the point w here he had landed on H ospital C reek. She also identified the site o f a missio n chapel built by Ponce de L eon and some o f the coquina build ing blocks stil l remaining to mark the sire. It is pertinent co recall that wherever Ponce made his firs t landi ng he remained at the _p}ace only five days.

This story told b y Mrs. McQI-0-~he P o nce de L eon coqu ina cross and its discovery by her was the origin of the myth that Ponce de L eon landed at H ospira! Creek.

H er ingenio us invention found immediate acccpt;:rnce and endorsemen t in a quarter one m ight least suspect.

Of the d iscovery o f the cross, which it pronounced one o f " the p riceless heirlooms of the na tio n," the St. Augustine Euening Record said (March 13. 1928): "On the memo rable day rhar an old coqu ina cross was acc identall y unea rthed o n the Fountain of Y outh property under the regime of the late M rs. Day, the curator of the St. A ugustine Histo rica l Society and I nsriru te o f Science hurried to the site of the excavatio n and made photo­g raphs of the unusual relic. and these p ictu res are sold ro this good day b y the hundreds to to urists each summer and winter. " The photos labeled " Foun tain o ( Y outh . O ld Cross, 15 13, " were sold ar t he Historical Society's hoax "Oldest H ouse in the

7

United States" and la ter a t the Society's \Vebb Memorial. The validatio n thus g iven the cross b y t he Soc iecy and the Society's subsequent asse rtions that Pon ce de Leon landed o n H ospital Creek have ever since been s trong factors in promoting the Fo un­tain of Y o uth business of Mrs. McConnell and her successors.

M rs. McCo nnell moved the house aw ay from the well a nd the cross, taught the s tory to the gli b- lipped guides. s tat ioned a man at the ga te to take the admission money, a'lttl opened the park as another o f S t. A ugustine's p laces of in terest for vis ito rs. The to urists ca me. looked, lis tened, ex ercised their muscles o f swa llowing and dispe rsed LO the four q uarcers of the continent to t ell the tale to the folks at ho me. The fame of the \Villiams wel l founrai n has spread as did that o f the foun tain of Bimini , until as the Record tells us: " It has been esti ma ted that. wirh o ne possible exception of O ld Fort M arion, more people come to St. A u gusti ne co see this fabled w ell than any o ther one of the numerous fascinating spots that make St. Aug ustine d ifferently interest ing and increasing! y attractive to travellers."

The pu rpose of this booklet, "Th e F ountain of Youth", is to demonstrate chat Herrera and the Jo ng line o f American his­to rians who accepted him were in erro r as to the landing place of Pon ce de L eon . a nd that Mrs. McCo nnel l was proc laimin g che truth o f history w hen she said that the discoverer had landed ar the site of St. A ugustine and o n the bank of H ospital C reek. The booklet submits chis not as co njecture or theory but as as­cercained fact. Presented thus as a ser iou s historica l wo rk the mo nograph merits the serious consideration here g iven ir. The Times-Union describes it as a product o f ca reful research : the references to o rig inal source-a utho rities will therefore be exam­in ed to t est the accuracy of the citat io ns and the reasonableness of the d eductio ns draw n from them .

The first citation in the booklet is erroneously ascr ibed to

P eter Marty r, known to the world for centuries as courti er. diplo ma t, scholar, and his to rian. but h ere desc ri bed by che autho r as a "Catholic Bishop." She writes:

" P eter Martyr definitely s tares cha r che fountain was his [Ponce's] main o bjective. 'Juan P once de Leon. being discha rged o f his o ffice ( in Pono Rico) and very rich . furn ished and sec forth two cara vels co seek the Is land of Boync.1 (a nother name for the main land ) in which the India ns affi r med to be a foun -

1Jt:c1J1:;:;11:11:0 .. ···~l

flulhoili;r m-acz.5%&.;s l n;.l:_a 11/JIA, Olla 1.::.LQ: ---. . - ~:···-··--

8

Et Adela-ntado lUAN PONC:f. DCf= ud.Jridor d~ la. Florida..

_J

From T orc1ucm:ub's ''2\(onarchia I ndiana, '' 16 15.

tain o r spring whose water is of such vir tue as to make o ld men young. Bu t whi le he traveled six mo n ths w ith great desire among ma n y is lands to find what he sought and co uld find no token o f an y such fountain . he en tered Bim ini and d isco vered rhe land o f F lo rida· ."

A footno te at the end of the cita t ion re fers to H errera. Dec. 3, Book I. C hap. 14. T his renders uncerta in w hat pare of t he

9

quotation she cred its to Peter Marryr and what parr ro H errera. 1 either of rhem is responsible fo r any pan of it. Nowhere in the ' ·Decades" or in the "Enchi r id io n" does Peter Marty r say definitely o r indefin itely that the founta in was Ponce de L eon's m ain objective; h e d ocs not any where even men tio n the fou n­tain in connectio n with Ponce de L eon . H errera gives the search for the fo untain secondary imporrance. ln the passage refer red to h e si mp ly says that Po nce discovered Florida and went look­ing for the foun ta in. In a p revious chap ter rcl!l'ting the exped i­tion h e says nothing about the fountain o r the se'1rch for it, until after Ponce. lnving left F lorida and be ing on the way h ome, sends O rtu bia, o ne of his captains, to sea rch for Bimini and the fountain ; whereupon Herrera explains: " It is certain that Juan Ponce de L eon , besides the main design (principal proposito) o f making new d iscoveries, as all the Spa niards then aspired to do, was intent upon find ing o u r the spri ng of Bimini and a river in Flo rida, the Indians of C uba and Hispaniola a f­firmin g that o ld people bathing themselves in them beca me young again . (Decade J, Book l , Chap. X II. ) The passage which the autho r attributes to P eter Marty r or to H errera was w ritten by Francisco Lopez d e Gomara. His statement is in several particu lars inaccurate. Ponce de Leon did not en ter Bimini: he never saw Bim ini.

" The o nly authori ty who offers de tails of Ponce de Leon·s voyage", writes the author very truly, " is H errera, whose di­rections and lan dfalls a re th erefore closely fo ll o wed in t his ac­cou n t. It was H errera who a lso supplied us w ith the name of t he fou ntain wh ich he said was ca lled San tatan. "

As will appear, Herrera's "di rections and landfalls '· are " closely followed" until. in order to maintain her thesis that the land ing was at St. Augusti ne. she fi nds it necessary to discard h im. The discovery tha t H errera gives Santatan as the name o f the fountain is a contri bu tion to t he history of the subject of dubious value.

N ot withstand ing her acceptance o f H errera as the onl y his­torian who o ITers details of the voyage, in her second paragraph she relates details not found in Herrera:

"To P o nce de Leon, conq ueror and governor of P o rco Rico , was brought a native woman ca lled Aleida. who had been mar­ried to a Carib warrior. She told the governor that she had o ften heard her husband's ki nsmen talk o f the wonderful fountain o f

10

Bimini . ... She felt sure she cou ld guide the go\le rno r there, so o ften had she heard rhc way descr ibed , and was wi lling to go since her husband had deserted her and hl'r chi lden were enslaved."

As au thority for A leida she cites "Catholic History of Ala­bama and Florida. By a Member of the O rder of Mercy." page 58. T he resr of the passage is credi ted to F. A. Ober' s "Juan P o nce de Leon." a book of mingled histo ry and fiction for boys. in H a rpers America n H eroes seri es. .w

Consulting page 58 of the " History" we find (as the autho r must have found ) this statemen t: " The Silver Spri ng f spri ng ­head of the Ock lawa ha river] . which tradition :isserrs co be the Fountain of Y ou th. is fo rt y feet deep and transparent to t he botto m. A beautifu l C arib ma iden, Aleida, made its existence know n to Ponce de L eon an d accompanied him o n h is peaceful. romantic mission in search o f the elixir which was to restore strength to his tottering limbs and the light of youth to his fad ed eyes.

Turning to Ober w e fi nd that the person brought to P once de L eon is not the "bea u tiful maiden Aleida." but "the vieja (old woma n ) as she was ca ll ed- bein g a woman past the p rim e of life. " now that she was o ld it mattered not where she dwelled ." "Chil dren had been born to them, but they were los t to her now. having bee n enslaved; her husba nd h ad long sin ce tired of her and gone back to the cann ibal is lands." Her name is not given, she is on l y ·' the vieja , as she was ca lled".

It is difficult to comprehend how reading these two stro ngly contrasted accounts the author could possibly confuse the Ober old woman wirh the bea u tiful maiden of the "History." More difficult sti ll is it to account for the fact t hat as ;i resea rcher o f history she should have fa iled to recognize Aleida as a myth of traditio n and the o ld woman as a cre:i tion of fiction: and that merging the two into o ne. she shou ld have accepted th is com­posite of trad ition and fiction as an actual historica l personage. "With Ponce de Leon". she writes. "went A leida. the woman who t hough t she co uld find the Fountain of Youth... A nd to the guidance of the fleet by this fanrasy she att ri butes Ponce de Leon 's discovery of Flo rida.

At the outset of the voyage the auth or shows her independence of H errera. \Vhilc he recorded that Ponce de Leon sailed from

11

Sa n Germa n . Pono R ico , o n March 3 and reached Sa n Salvador o n March 14, she writes : "Po nce de Leon left San Ge rmain , Porro Rico, on Ma rch 12 . . .. By the 14th he was h;:i lfway through the arch epelago at Sa n Salvador." This is to say that th e distance which H errera recorded Ponce required eleven days to make she says was accomplished in two days. "Steer ing to the northwest as A leida stil l insisted, he saw land which he thou ght was an island on March 27 th ." Frc;a1. this poin t Herrera's d irec tio ns and land fa lls arc foll owed : " Three days la ter he a ltered his course WNW . .. and o n the 2nd of April, s igh ted land an d took h is bea ri ngs a t 30 degrees 8 mi nutes no rth. H e ran alo n g the coast, seek in g for a h arbor. and anchored that nigh t in eigh t fathoms of water near shore." Here she leaves the ships tem poraril y and d ismisses H errera permanently . Fo r latitude 30° 8' w as 18 m iles north o f St. Augustine, and H errera's d irec tio ns " closely fo llowed" would have taken P o nce still further n orth away fro m the St. A ugustin e I nl et.

H errera having been discarded, sh e replaces h im with Colo nel H. L. L anders of th e Uni ted States War D epartment, w ho is en ­listed n ot per manentl y bu t tem po rarily, fo r h is usefulness w ill be brief. H errera and Colo nel La nders are confl icti ng autho ri t ies. W hil e H errera said that from 30° 8' Pon ce sai led WNW in a direc tio n away from St. A ugustine, Colonel Landers. arbitraril y reversing th e H errera record, held that fro m 30° 8' Ponce "con­tinued th ence dow n the coast line seeking a h arbor", i. e .. in a direc tio n toward St. Augustine. (Senate Committee o n M ilita ry A ffairs h ear ing, Feb. 19, 1932.)

T o appreciate the sig nificance of the au thor's use of the au­tho rity o f Colonel L anders we may briefly recall the abonivc sch eme of 1932 by which Congress. the P res ident and the \Var D epartment were sough t to be used co validate the clai m char Ponce d ~ Leo n h ad landed a t the s ite of the Foun ta in of You th g roun ds in Sc. A ugustine.

T he story is too long to be to ld h ere. Suffice ir to say t ha t appropriat ion bill s were int roduced in the Senate and the H ouse. providing char ''for rhe pu rpose of commemorating the mi lita ry his to ric events in con nection with t he landing of Ponce de Leon in the Sta te of F lorida the S~cretary of War is authorized and directed to erect a tabl et," ere. There were no " milita ry h istoric events in conn ec tio n w it h t he leadi ng of Po nce de Leo n. " Colo nel Landers of the Army War College u ndertook an investi-

12

gar io n to dete r mine the pL.lCl' most appropriate fo r the location of the tab let. This he assumed meant also the idenrifica t ion of the land ing place. F or t h is p urpose he visi ted St. A ugust ine. where the p ro moters o f the Fou ntain of Y o uth business showed h im through t he plant- the \V il liams well Fou nta in of Youth, the Luell a Day McConn ell Ponce de L eon coqu ina cross. rhe Ponce de Leon la nding place on Hospita l C reek and Lhc anchor t h ere lost from o ne of P o nce's ships. Colonel .~ande rs was unconv inced .

After prolo nged stud y. and having been transferred to anoth er field . he wrote a personal lerrer to Senator Fletcher. regretting the en forced d isconti nuance of t he investigation , and submirring four conclusio ns "for the purpose of the bi ll which you have succeeded in putting through the Senate and w h ich w ill doubt­less become a la w at the nex t sess ion of Con gress." But the House bil l fa iled o f adopt ion and the whole grandiose scheme­a huge and fantastic fa rce audacio us beyond measure- came to its end , p resum abl y to the relief of the War Department officials concerned.

Three of the fou r conclusions of Colonel Landers as sen t to

Senator F letc her were as fol lows:

" (a) T he m ost appropriate place to erect a tablet o r monu ­ment commemorating the first landing of P once de L eon in the State of Florida , is at Sr. Augusti ne.

" (b) To erec t any memorial commemorating this fi rst la nding at any o ther p lace, ei the r in Florida o r Georgia. w ould be unwarranted.

" (c) I n my stud y, by the p rocess of elim inat io n I have discarded al l ot her places as proba b le points of the firs t landing."

These personal conclusions were nor of a n offic ia l n ature and had no official authority . Nevertheless the Sr. A ugus t ine Eue­ning Record printed them under a displa y head: "United States Official Probe La nds Ponce Herc." A nd the editor commented (Aug . 19. 19 32) :

"The decisio n com es down to us as officia l a nd authent ic as an o pinio n handed clo wn by the S upreme Cour t of the United States is concernin g the case in the lower courts o f the land. There is no highe r autho rity in m a t ters historica l and t he pron ouncement from Colonel L a nders concerning

13

b is repcrt to t he U nited Stares Army \Var College and made a matter of record at \Vashington. D. C.. should put an end to desu lto ry ta lk about other plaCl~s in Florida ha \· ­ing an y cl a im whatever LO the P o nce de Leon land in g."

The w riter of t he booklet in turn makes use of the fi rst L wo co nclus io ns w hich may be consr rn ecl as infr rrntia lly supporting h er thesis t hat Ponce de Leon landed a1 St. Augusti ne. She says: " Colo nel H . L. La nde rs of the Historic;1l Section, Army \V:i r College. a nd fo r five years in charge o f ma rk ing •ttistoric la nd­m a rks of America wrote: "The most appropriate place to erec t a t ablet o r m o nu ment com memo rating the fi rs t la nding of Ponce de Leon in t he Sta te o f F lo rida. is a t Si. A ugustine. T o erect an y m emo rial com memo rating th is fi rst landi ng ac any other p lace, either in Georgia o r Flo rida, w ould be unwa rra nted .' "

H aving thus cast off the au thority of Herrera and invoked the auspices of C olo nel Landers, she now d irec ts her attention to t he ships which had been left o n the nigh t o f April 2 nd ancho red in 8 fatho ms o f wate r near shore. ~omewhere in the neighbo r­hood o f 3 0 ° 8' a nd proceeds to bring t hem into the h a rbo r of St. Augustine. To do t his she fo llows Colo nel Landers in re­versing the H errera directio n record.

"On the mo rning o f A pril 3 rd ," she writes. " t he shore was vis ible to P o nce de L eon in all its spri ngtime beau ty .. . . Sweet odors drifted fro m the green fo res ts beyond the sand dunes .. .. Ponce de Leon must have bee n g lad to fi n d t he entra nce to

St. Augustine harbo r. for a no rtheaster was blow ing , a nd h e stayed in t his shelter until the weat her moderated . W ithin t he river a very different cond ition preva iled from w hat we know toda y . The m outh of the in le t itsel f pointed no rth (whereas today it points south ) and sa nd bars b locked the north a nd sou t h ch annels. Stra igh t ahead lay a wooded point. the most co nvenient landing pl ace for Ponce. Toda y t he sa nd ba rs are gone and a ll th at is left of t he poin t is a sa lt ma rsh in fron t of the F o un ta in o f Y o uth property. These conclusions are based on a ca reful s t udy o f the ea rl y maps a nd charts and a check o f what the t ides and cu rrents have done to ch is coast over t h is grea t period o f ti me.··

By thus b rin gi ng che ships. from the ir a ncho rage nea r shore n orth o f S t. Augusti ne. down t he coast to find the in let a nd sa fe I y to cross t he ba r. and then to h o ld a course between sa nd ­bank- o bstructed channels, stra igh t ahead to t he d ista n t wooded

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14

point where the fountain awaited them. whik all the time J

florida northeaster was blowing from which Ponce was seeking shelter- by her successful accomplishmen t of this the author has here performed a consummate fear of seamanship that would have challenged the skil l and nerve of pi lot f\laminos. even though he had Aleida to show the way. His practical sailo r sense would have rold him to head for the open sea and sa fety. under the conditions desc ri bed no ex pericnced sea ma~ . wou Id have approached the co::ist or attempted ro enter an unknown and unchartered harbor.

In truth this whole episode in what the Times-Union ri ghtly terms an " amazing narrative"-from the morning of April 3 rd, when tra nscend ing the laws o f nature "sweet odors drifted from the green forests behind the sand dunes'' in the teeth of the northeaster out to the ships off shore, until '' rhe priests of the expedition offered the prayer which Columbus had said"-rhis enti re story is a figment of a nautically untutored imagination, and a n affront to the intelligence of the reader.

Bur at this supremely crucial point of the thesis that Ponce de Leon landed at the site of St. Augustine. imagination has no proper place. Here where if anywhere this "well documented piece of research" should be forr i.fied by evidence to susta in it, there is produced absolu te ly none. In place of recorded history is subsr1rured a story of her own, a fancy sketch having in it nor a word of demonstrable historical truth. Thus the thes is fails completely. Having n o foundation of fact, fiction d oes no t make it true.

"A bronze marker recording the lan ding of P once de I.con", continues the booklet , "stands on the Fountain of Yourh prop ­erty." The legend on the marker reads:

"On March third , A. D. 1513 , Don Juan Ponce de Leon left P orro Rico. On Easter Sunday, March 27th he sighted this land and named it Florida. On April 3rd, 15 13, he landed here and took possession in the name of God and of Their Catholic Majes ties Ferdinand and Isabe lla of Castile and Aragon, Spain. [ Isabella had been dead n ine years.j

"This tablet authorized by the fo llowing committee ap­pointed by the C ity of Sr. Augustine. July 2nd. 1930 : Harold Colee, Prest. St. Augustine Historical Society: Col. Herbert Felkel. Ed. St. Augustine Record; C. M orton

15

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Malli n g. M. 0 .. Tourist: Nin a H aw k ins. 0. /\. R.: Robert R:inson, Histo rian ; Geo. Bassett. Jr .. May or.··

By maneuvering t he caravals of Ponce de Leon into the ha rbor o f St. A ugustine, and by attesting as her citatio n of it docs attes t the his to r ica l t ruthfulness of tbe legend of t he tablet in the Founta in of Y ou th g ro unds procl ai min g: "' he !Jndcd here", D r. Corse d ismisses, repud ia tes and flo uts her short - t ime au­thority. Colon el L anders. For in t he letter to ~nator Fletcher, Colonel Landers had given as his fina l conclusion:

"(d ) T b e wording o n the mem oria l which may be erected by authorit y o f Con gress. and p laced ar St. A ugus­tine by authority o f the Historical Sect ion. A rmy War College, should no t state w ith absolu te fina lity that St. Augustine was the fi rst land ing place."

But " that St. Augustine w as the fi rst lan d ing place" is pre­cisely what the tablet does "state with absolu te fina li ty" and what the monograph w as designed to prove should be s tated w ith a bsolu te finality. The readers of the St. Au gustine Evening R ecord w ere deceived when this fourth conclusion was w ithheld fro m them. R eaders of the booklet "The Foun ta in o f Youth" arc misled in like manner by the w ithho lding of it.

"After Ponce d e L eon h ad taken possessio n of the new la nd in t he name o f his King," our author con tinues, "the priests of the expedition offered the p rayer w hich Colum bus had said at his first landing. " A s the autho ri ty fo r t his statement reference is m ad e to Lowery 's " Spanish Settlemen ts in the P resent Limits o f the U. S., 15 13 -1 562." Consul t ing t he "Settlements" we d iscover th is to be another instance of an author ity cited to prove a sta tement but actuall y disproving it. Lowery wrote (page 139): "On some day between the 2nd and 8rh of April, P once de L eon w ent ashore to get an inte rp reter an d take posses­sion . .. . The spot where he anchored and landed. says D r. Shea, was somewhere in the neighborhood of the mou th o f the Sr. J o hn 's River. Of the attendant ceremon y, t here is no record . Tberc could h ave been no sa y ing of mass. fo r no pries t was '.v ith the party. Perhaps, on land ing. Ponce o ffered the simple p ra yer said to have been used by Colu m bus, and from whose lips he may have lea rned it."

16

T he T imes-Union assert ions. rhat the ·· M onograph fi xes P o nce 's land ing p lace." and that D r. Corse "has defined the locatio n of rhe land ing place o f Ponce de L eo n ," a re not borne ou r b y the fact . This defi ning o f the loca tio n o f the landin g is on ly the la test of a series of simi lar definin gs of the locat ion. a ll b y th e sam e method of pervertin g the H errera record and ma nip ­ulating it to arrive at a p redetermined landin g spot. ~111e l y. in St. A ugusti ne, o n the ban k o f H ospita l C reek , in the Fo untain of Y o uth groun ds. Precedi ng the M o nograph finding w as that o f the Mayor's F act F in ding Commissio n recorded on the tablet. Before that was the d ictu m o f the officia l H istorian of the St. Aug ustine Historical Society broadcast over the radio and incor­porated in a documen t by the St . A ugust ine H istorical Society and signed by her. (St . A ugust ine E uening R ecord, Sept . 2, 193 0. ) Prior to these the loca t io n of the landing h ad bee n de­fined by Luella D ay McCon nell, w ho presum abl y had never heard of H errera, bu t w ho advanced as her au thority P once d e L eo n h imself and h is parchment record of 15 13-the original parchment fou ndatio n (and the o nly founda tion ) upon w h ich has been erec ted the entire st ructure o f S t. Augustine's Ponce de L eo n 's landi ng place hoax for to uris ts.

T H E ST. A U G USTINE FOU NTA IN OF YOUTH.

W e come no w to the author 's treatmen t o f the Fo untain o f Y outh in St. Augusti ne. Fo r an in telligent app reciation of th is it is essen tial t hat w e shou ld keep in m ind o ur knowledge o f j ust what this so-called "Fountain o f Youth " actually is. As has been told in preced ing pages it is the W ill iams household well. a dug w ell lined w ith coqu ina rock .

I n a magaz ine articl e o f D ecember. 192 1, the p rese nt w riter said : " The w ell w as dug about I 875 b y P h ilip Capo and Philip G omez, as recalled by persons now livi ng in St. Augusti ne."

That the well was bui lt about the yea r 1875 by Philip Gomez w ith P h ili p Capo and G ab riel Go mez (son o f Ph il ip Gomez) as assis ta n ts. is now stated on the autho rity o f M r. Bartolo G enovar (son - in- law of Philip Gomez) , M rs. T heo. P omar (daugh ter o f Phil ip Capo) and M r. C h ristopher Pomar, all o f who m arc no w (Ju ne, 193 4 ) li ving in S t. A ugustin e; and M r. Ga brie l Gomez no w li ving in New Smy rna. M r. C hristopher P o mar recal ls that as a boy he watched the buildin g of the well , and fi xes the d are as "approxi mate ly rhe rime Mr. Rey no lds has

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17

The \\"i lli;um: \\'ell a~ in :\£rs . )lcC01111ell':- time.

in mind," 1875 : also that he was living on adjoining property when Mrs. McConnell first began to exploit the w ell as the Fountain of Youth; and saw the house moved from nea r the well in order that the place might be arranged as desired .

The testimo ny of these witnesses is incontrovertible. It es tab­lish es the origin of the Wil liams well as a well. The well has been a we] l fro m the beginnin g ; its nat ure was not changed by the fakery of Mrs. McCo nnel l, nor by the sho wman's device of camouflagin g it in an endeavor to make it look like a spring. I t being a well, to speak o r to write of it as a spring is to violate the truth and to deceive.

The fro nt cover of the booklet bears a sub-title which reads: " The Fo untain of Youth St. Augustine F lo rida 15 13 ."

This means that the "Fountain of Y o uth" at St. Augusti ne, which is now shown as a "spring", was here in 1513. The author must believe this, otherwise she w ou ld not h ave made the assertion as the fi rst eight w ords of her history.

After the account of the saying of the prayer of Colu mbus b y the priests who were not present, fo ll ows a parag raph in which an abrupt transition is made from the yea r 15 13 to o ur ow n ti mes:

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18

[

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"Duri ng the five days while the exped ition stayed here. ir is reasonable to assum e that P o nce d e L eo n d id what his co ntempo­ra r ies sa id he did- namely samp le the springs in the immed iate vicin ity for magic properties. Says G. T . Rude. Chief of rhe Division of Tides a nd Cu rrents, U. S. Coast and Geodetic Sur­vey. 'Tht> F ounta in of Y outh, a spring in the city of St. f\ ugus­ti ne, reco rded as a la ndmark in the o ld Sp;inish gra 1;~ .. is still p reserved as o ne of the numerous a nd va ried attrac tions fo r vis ­ito rs. In t he U .S. Geolog ical Survey t he sprin g in the Foun tain o f Y outh Park is listed a nd an anal ysis of its water is g ivt>n. The sprin g is unique in this loca li ty , because it is w itho u t the odo r o f sulphu r. "

The p la in implicat io n h ere is that Com ma nder R ude was w riting of the Williams well F o untain o f Y o uth . w h ich the autho r sa ys is a "spring unique because w ithout the odor o f sulphu r"; oth erw ise there would have been no peninence in qu oting h im . A foot note refers to the Geographica l Societ y of Philadelphia Bulle tin, July, 1925 . Consu lti ng the Bu llet in we find that w h a t Command er R u de wrote was this: " The Foun ­tain o f Y o uth, a spring in the city of St. A ugusti ne. recorded in the o ld Spanish gra nt, is st ill preserved as o ne of the nu merous and varied attractions fo r visitors. This spring, like many of the Florida springs, has a strong odo r o f su I phu r. "

The author of the book let has deodorized t he quotat io n per­haps to make it more agreeable to t he senses and t he better to serve her purpose. The citat ion h as been sweetened , but the Rude spring retains its st ron g od or of sul phur.

" You may brea k , you may shatter the vase if yo u will. But the scent o f the roses will hang ro und it st ill. "

In Commander R ude's paper are ind ications thJt it related to a per iod earlier tha n the time of publicat io n ( 1925). He com ­mented o n the number o f sulphu r sprin gs in the vicinit y of the city . Perhaps a mo ng them h e bad in mind the Whirney spring beyond the San Sebastia n river , wes t o f St. f\ugus tine. where abou t the year 1870 Joh n F . W h itney promoted a rea l est ate development known as Ravenswood . R u nnin g through the p rope r ty was a sma ll s tream, w hich at one point t\il r. Whitney deepened to fo rm a pool inclosed w ithin a coq uina curbing, which h e advertised as " Sulphur Springs." Later h e named it "Po nce de L eon Spring," and it ca me to be known JS the "Fou n -

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19

ta in of Yourh." In 1881 W. \V. Drwhursr wrote of it in bis '"History of St. A ugustine". page 175 : "Mr. Williams and Mr. Hildreth. north of the city, have attracr ive places which arc much visited by tourists. There is an interesting drive to a suburb west of the city called Ravenswood. where is a spring called from rhe famous Ponce de Leon.··

This brings us to one of the mosr rnrious passages in rhe book­let. The aurhor writes: " In 1868 Mr. H.~. Williams. an English florist, bought and larer developed a beauriful grove on the Fountain o f Youth grounds which he called Paradise Groves and Rose Gardens .. . . Mr. Williams discouraged the visito rs who came to drink from the little spring flowing in his grove. and to listen ro tales of P o nce de Leon told by rhe local hack drivers. He finally built a w ooden fence around his prop­erry, afrer which the drivers resorted to am using devices to pro­vide a place ro tell the story of P o nce de Leon." This she credits co "Fountain of Y ouch Library." and except for rhe bare face that Mr. Williams bought and d eveloped the place it is sheer fic­tio n. '"In 18 7-f, however," she continues, "the spring on Mr. Williams' properry was again open to visitors. for Florence Feni­more Woolson. niece of James Fenimore Cooper, described her walk there, and cold of drinking fro m a spring half enclosed by a coquina curb." For chis she refers to " Harpers Magazine," Vol. L., p . 176, Dec. 1874. "The Ancient C iry. "

M iss Woolson's "The Ancient C iry," contained in rhe De­cember 1874 and January 1875 numbers, relates the rambles of a group of winter visitors about Sr. Augustine. T he v isit co the Williams place is in the January number, pages 165-67. On this occasion when one member of the group asks where others have gone, rhe rep I y is : " They have al 1 gone ou t lo the Rose Garden by moonlight." "Su ppose we stroll o u r that way to join chem." sugges ted another. This moonlight srroll to the Williams place is the basis for the scaremenr rhal Miss Woolson " described her walk rhere and rold of drinking from rhe spring, half incl oscd by a coquina curb ."

The way was rhrougb the Ci ty Gares. past rhe cemetery and along the Shell Road. "Passing through rhc odd liir le wicker," wrote J\lliss Woolson. "we found ourselves in a green lane bor­dered at rhe far end with ceda rs. Herc. do wn on the Norrh River. was the Rose Garden . now wirh irs s ilen t house fast asleep in rhe moon light." In what follows nothing is said about a

20

spring o r to suggest the existence o f a spring. \\Ir: need not quote the text ro show this. for it will be amply proved by the inferences ro be drawn from ;inother incidenr related by Miss Woolson herself a few pages further on in this same m;igazine chapter. and no w to be read :

"The pleasant days passed." she writes. and o ne mornin g " one of th e grou p proposed a walk to the Ponce de Leon spring . . . . Away we went through th e town. ;icross t he M;iri.~S;inchcz Creek, under the tree arches and out on the broad causeway be­yond . .. . Beyo nd the rive r the road led through the deep sa nd of Florida ... turning to the right we passed through a li tt le hamak. Presentl y we came out upon th e barren .... At last we came to the place, and filed in through a bro ken down fence. We found a deserted h ouse, an overgrown field . a gu ll y, a pool , and an old curb of coqu ina surrounding the magic spring."

"'The Fo untain of Youth.' declaimed John. lad ling ou t the water. 'Wh o w ill drink ? Centuries ago the India ns of Cu ba came to these shores to seek the waters of imm orta lity. and as they never returned they are supposed to be still here somewhere enjoying a continued cherubic existence .. .. Father Martyn af­firms that there is a spring here the water whereof bein g drunk straightway maketh the old young again . Lad ies and Gent le­men : the o riginal and onl y P once de L eon Spri ng! W ho will drink?'

"We all drank and then there was a gre<lt silence.

" 'W ell.. sa id the poet. deliberately look ing around from his seat o n the cu rb. 'take it al l together, that shanty. t hose bushes. the pigsty, the hopeless sandy field, t he oozin g pool , and this h orribl y tepid water. drawn from . to say the least. a dubious source-a very dubious source- it's all in all about the ugliest p lace we ever saw! "

"There was a general shout. .. 'We have suspected it in o u r hearts a ll wi n ter.' said the

other young lady . 'bu t not o ne of us dared put the tho ugh t into w ords. as it was ou r o nl y walk.' "

One can but marvel t hat a scien tific mind which had achieved the task o f a h ydrographic survey extend ing back over a stre tch of 420 years. an d "by a ca refu l ch eck of what the t ides and cur­rents have do ne to t his coast over this grea t period of time" was able to chart the ep trance bar. the channels and sa ndbanks. the mud marshes and w ooded poi nts of the St. August ine h;irbo r of

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1513-rh ar such a m ind shou ld become so obfuscared as to lose itself h ere o n dry land in rhe St. Augustine of 187 4 . should fail to distin guish the Whitney Ravenswood from the Wi ll iams R ose Garden, an d sh ou ld confuse the sulphur spring here on rhe west sid e of the San Sebasr ian river w irh the Williams well o n Hos­pital Creek miles away.

The wonder is increased when we consider that Miss \.Voolson so clearly describes the separate entities and di ITcr~t locarions of the two places, the d iverse routes to them, the d ifferent hou rs of the visits, the places themselves and their sur roundings and w hat occurred o n each visit. And to a ll this must be added the pic­tures she leaves in the m ind o f the reader-the Rose Gard en with its house fast as leep in the m oon light ( ;i pretty conceit ), in con­trast w ith the hopeless sand y field at the Ravenswood sul phur spring. the shanty and the pigsty, the oozing pool and the h or­rib l y tepid water. I r seems incredible that our autho r, reading Miss Woolson 's sketch, should h ave got so far o ff her bearings, a nd h ave m ade such a lamentable mix-up of the waters of St. Augustine's two Foun ta ins of Y outh-a nauseous draught that would h ave disgusted P o nce de Leon and dismayed Aleida.

THE NAME SANTATAN.

O ur author tells us that " It was Herrera w h o a lso supplied us with the name of the founta in. w hich h e sa id was called Sa n ­tatan. For this she refers to H errera. Dec. 3, B ook l, C hap. 14. T his in translatio n is a summing- up of the later li fe of Juan Ponce de Leon , the b rief roll o f the even ts of his ca reer w hich gave him fa me- rhe seeking for n ew lands and gold mines and Indian slaves to work rhem . the search fo r the wonder-working foun ra in. the discovery of Flo rida. the second voyage of l 52 1 to assume possess ion, the res isrant na tives. t he fara l arrow w ound. and rhc withdrawa l ro C uba where he " ended his days.·· and his h eirs succeeded ro his ho nors and his wea lth. H erc compact in this brief reci t al H errera has left us a lit tl e hom il y o n the ho l­lown ess o f human aspirat ion , the fut il it y of hig h endeavo r, the fleetin g brevi ty of life.

B u t in the transla tio n no thin g is sa id o f the fou nta in 's na me. F o r rb is we must look ro rhe o r ig in a l Spanish text. Even rbere it is contained o nl y in a cipher, conceal ed in w hich it has eluded discover y by rhe most eru d ite sc holars. Bu t now that we know

23

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it to be there and kno w what it is. the name may read ily be found. It is discovered lurking as a cryptog ram in the phrase : "i anduuo buscando aquelfa Fuente Sanw, tan nombrada entre los Indios."

As here printed a com ma divides the name into tw o parts. This may be accounted for by the w orking theory that Herrera. who had an appreciation of the eternal fitness of things, tho ught to perpetuate the air of mystery attaching to the fountain by in­vesting the name with mystery as well: a nd by the s im p le ar­tifice o f an o ut-o f-place punctuation point ttf concca l it as a cry ptogra 111.

The comma. which is found in the first ( 160 I ) edi tion, has been carried through subsequent printings, a nd Herrera 's in­genious device has baffled his reade rs for centuries. English trans­lations have rendered the text variously but all of them su bstan­tia lly thus:

i anduuo buscando aquella Fuente Santa, tan nombrada and went seeking that fountai n hea ling so renown ed

entre los Indios. among the Indians.

"Fuente Santa." then. is the. healing or res to rative fountain whose waters accomplish the supreme triumph of healing by restoration of the vigor of youth to the aged. Those who con ­sult the original text a nd those w h o rely on a translario n would have continued to accept this ve rs ion, had not the discerning in ­sight and inspired interpretatio n of a cryptogrammatist detected the cipher and its hidden meaning. But now that "Santa. tan" is shown to be a cryptogram, we have on ly to take out the cunningly delusive comma a nd "Saniatan" leaps out the name it actually is. The corrected trans lation now reads : "and w ent searching fo r that fou ntain named Santatan by the Indians."

It may be long before this historico-crypto-philo logical dis­covery shall find general acceptance- the Baconian -Shakespearian ciphers are not yet univers:illy received- but the discovery h as at the least contributed a new a nd musical catch-wo rd to the patter of the guides at Hospita l C reek. who show the tourists the place where Ponce de L eon first se t foot on land. as their brothers of the ilk at the temple of :incient Kuofa show the pi lgrims the precise spot where the prophet Jonah was cast up on land out of the bel ly o f the whale.

24

I I I

J_-

Corria el nombre de Hernando Cor­tes, i fu fama andaba mui reputada , lo qu:tl levanto cl :mimo a muchos de los m:is antiguos , i mas principales Capi­tanes de las Indias , para emprcnder co­fas fcilaladas ; porquc ficndo del ciempo de Hernando Cortes , no fc tenian en. menos. Fue vno de eftos el .Adelantado Juan Ponce de Leon, que delde el Ano de dbce , que def cu brio la F lorida , i an­duvo bulcando aquella Fuente Santa, tan nombrad:i. entre los Indios ~ i el Rio, cuias Aguas remoc;aban los Vicjos: i c:\cf­de que le maltrataron los Caribes de la Isla de Guadalupe , fe cftuvo retirado. Ahora detcrmino de annat en la Isla de S:in Juan de Puerto· Rico, adonde te­nia fu Ca fa , dos N :ivios , en quc gall:o mucha p:irte de fu Hacienda ; fuc con cllos a la Florida , que :mn fe tenia por Isla , para ccnificarfe de C\mino , fi era Tieli-a-Firme, como lo dice en fus Car­r:is , que efcrivio en ell:e Ano al Empe­r;tdor , al Cardenal Adriano , Govema· dor de -cll:os Reinos , en aquella fac;on, i al Sccretario Samano. Y llegado a to­mar Tierra en la Florida, haviendo p:i.­fado muches trabajos en la Navegacion, los Indios le falieron a refill:ir' i pelean­do con el porfiadamcnte' le mataron al­guna Genre , i herido en vn mll:>lo, con la que le qucdaba , fe bolvio a Cuba, adonde acabo fus dias , i cl Rei , por contempl:tcion de fu s fcrvicios , dio el Adclantamiento, i las demas Mercedes quc tcnia , a Luis Ponce de Leon, fu Hijo.

Phornstat copy (I f It t'rrt ra . l>cr. 111 . Hook I . Chap. :'\ I \'. in wluch the: :mthor or the J,uokltt !-ay~ j, s,:i\"Cll lhe n:u11c or tht> fot1 11l :-1 i11 .

25

I I' I

SOME ILLUSTRATIONS.

Amo ng the illustrJtio ns in the bookl et is o ne entitled .. Mencn­dez·s First Mass... This may have been ihc bJsis o f the Timrs­Union reviewer's still mo re astonishing statement, .. where Menend ez. the found er of St. August ine. said his fi rst Mass." There is a view entitled "Casa Blanca , Sa n Juan, Puerto Rico. built for Ponce de L eon. 1521-1523... The house was built in 1525, fou r yea rs ;ifter the death of Po nce in J 52 1. (See U. S. Govt. R egister of Po rto Rico, p. 122). An o ther illustrat ion is of the "Don T o ledo House, " which is the .Whitney 's "oldest house in the United States," anteda ti ng by many yea rs as a hoax the St. Augustine Historical Society "oldest house in the United States." Another v iew is entitled ' 'Slave Market on the Plaza." A diagram map purports to show where P o nce de Leon landed on the site of the Fountain of Youth Park, and designates as " Points o f Interest": "Old Huguenot Cemetery," "Oldest School House," 'Post Office, forme rl y Spanish Governor's Man ­sion, " "Old Slave Market, " "State Arsenal, formerly Francisca n Monastery." "Fountain of Youth."

It may be conceded that Dr. Corse bel ieves in these things. otherwise she would no t endorse them by including them in this history which bears her name o n the title page. Her own credu­lity however does not give sufficien t sanction for her inclusion of them in this wo rk which professes to be truthf~ l as to h istory. Intelligent residents o f S t. Augustine know them all to be hoaxes. Perhaps the oldest and certain ly the most vulgar of the lo t is that of the "Old Huguenot Cemetery," to which she gives first place in her lis t. Dr. Andrew Anderson, St. A ugustine's most beloved citizen. to ld the truth about this in his Armistice Day Address of 1921: "In those days befo re the Civil War I never heard of the existence of a burning spring. nor of an oldest house, no r o f a slave market. no r of a Hu guenot Cemetery ... . The cemetery just ou tside the C ity Gates was deeded to the trustees of the Presbyterian C hurch, of whom my father was one, by the Rev. T. Alexander in 1832, for the use of the P rotes­tants o f the City. " From l 832 until 1887, when interments were discontinued, this was the on ! y Protestant Cemetery here. To it for mo re than fifty years the people o f St: Augustine brought their dead.

One might think that a decent respect fo r the resting places of the dead and consideration for the sensibili t ies o f the living would restrain from profanation of the spot by applying to it the negro drivers' hoax title which is thei r stoc k in trade.

26

WHAT THE EXAMIN/\TION I l t\S SHOWN.

O u r exa min at i0n has shown that .. The Fo untain o f Y o uth .. booklet is no t the prod uct o f careful rescJrch the Times-Union review er pronounced it to be. Invest iga tion has disclosed inac­curacy and recklessness o f statement, source citations man ipu­lated to suppress evidence and lead 10 fal se deductio ns. substitu ­tion of fict io n for recorded fact. co nfusio n of loca lities so gross as to demand ex planat ion. and an interp retatio~~of Herrer;i 's text so fa ntastic as to be explained o nly by so me h ypothesis not less bizarre. The work exhibits a lack o f the sense of respon­sibili ty which must control the histori an and constrain him to impart to his readers on ly what his research may reveal to be the facts of his tory. The thesis w hich the monograph was to prove -that Ponce de Leo n on his voyage of discovery first landed at the site of St. A ugustine, has not been esta blished. The weird m ono logues of L uella Day M cConnell. which gave the hearer the uncanny feeling that he was listening to the mau nderings of a disordered brain, are not shown to have been rec itals of his­tory. The crucia l point o f the thesis we have seen to be a travesty of historica l truth.

One who seeks information as to Ponce de L eon's landing p lace will find no thing authentic concerning it here ; and though the naive observat ion in an earl y page, " Histo rians often find it necessa ry to consult man y autho ri ties before com ing to a con­clusio n upon a point of ancient history," appears to be intended for readers o f school age , " The Fountain of Youth " in the b ands of the young wou ld misin form and mislead. The practica l business promoting usefulness of the work w ill be found in its effect upo n the sightseers a t Hospita l C reek . who w ill believe that they fi nd in its pages confi rm a tion of w ha t has been to ld them rhere.

27

THE HERRERA TEX T.

i>FL\J).\ I . LIBRO I.'\ . l'.-\1' . .'\ .

On the opposite p;ige is reproduced from a photostat of the o riginal , the passage in the H errera 160 I ed ition recordi ng the landing o f Ponce de Leo n in F lo rida. The expedition s:ii led from San German. P o rto R ico, March 3 rd .• t#l, 5 I 3, and o n March 14th reach ed Guanahani. the island which was the first la nd discovered by Columbus, and which he renamed San Sa lvador. The text reads:

"They set o ut from here [San Sa lvador], run ning north­west, and o n Su nda y the 27th, which wa.s the day of the Festival o f the Resurrection, which com monly they call 'of Flowers', they saw an island and did not exam ine it. and Monday the 28th they ran fifteen leagues by the same d irection, and Wednesday they proceeded in the same way, and afterward with bad w eather until the 2nd of April. running to west­northwest, the water lessening to nine fa thoms, at o ne league from land, which was in thirty degrees and eight minutes, they ran along the length of coast, seeki n g harbor, ard at night they anchored near the land . in eigh t fathoms of wa ter. And think ­ing that this la nd was an island, they named it La Florida. because it had a very pretty view of many and cool woodlands, and it was level and u niform : and because mo reover they dis­covered it in the time of the Flowery Festival f Pascua Florida l Juan P once wished to conform in the name with the two facts. He went on land to tak e info rmation and possess io n.

"On F riday. the 8 th . they made sa il : they ran in the same direct ion. an d Satu rday they sailed LO the south a quarter by sou theast: and sa ilin g by the same rhumb up to the 20th of April they discovered some huts o f Indians, where they anchored .·· ( L. D . Scisco Trans/at ion. )

On Friday the 8th they ra n "in the sa me direction." The same direct ion ca n o nl y mean the direct io n las t previously men­tioned i. e. , the wes t -northwest of April 2nd. This shows that from April 2nd up co the Lime of turning south o n Apri l 9th the sa ilin g course had been continuously in a northerly directi on fro m 30° 8' However fa r "they ran along the length o f coast ". it was in a direc tio n northerly from lati tude 30° 8'.

28

I I

I l

.!

los Luc ayo~.Efl. \ ilh Gu:in:ih.ln1t"ue1.i primer:i. quc de (c ubr io cl Almir:rn cc dun C hrdtou:ll Colon, y a dondc en [ u primc.:r vi<1je f.l li o :i nerra,y I ~ ll :i rn_~ fan Saluador. P:nt icron de aqu1 come do por cl Noruefl:e,y D omingo avr.i n re y ficrc 1 quc era dia de Pafqu~ J c."* . ReCurccion, quc comunmcntc 01?.en de Florcs,vicron vna ifh,y no la rcco­nocicron, y el Luncs a vcintc y ocho corric ron quinzc lcgti:is por la mi(ma vi:i, v cl Micrcolcs :mduuieron de la mi[m.\ rn:rnera,v def puce; con mal tic­po hafb dos de Abril,corricndo a Luci' norucftc , yrndo l!i(minuycndo cl :i-

gu.t luCra nucuc bt:.l<j:.lS ,a vna lcgu.i de n crra, tiu c dbua en t1 eynt:1gra­dos y oc lw rninuros,corrinl>n por lul: go de coll:a , bul\.:anJo pucm.>, y la nochc (urg1cron cc.:rca de Licrra , a ocho br:l~as <le :igu:i . Y pcpfanJo que clh tierra erJ. itb , b 11.im:iron !J. Flond:i, porquc tcni.1 muy 1inda villa de muclus y frctc:is :nbolcd:is, y era llana , y pa rep: y porquc ram­b1cn la dckubricron en riL'mpo de Palqu.l Florid:i,lc quifo Tu :in Ponce co form .tr en cl nombrc, con clbs dos razonc.:s.Saliu :i rierr:i a romar lcngu~, y pollclsion . V 1erncs a ocho hizieron vcb,corricron per Ll mi(m:i via: y S.1-b;1do n:iucg:iron al Sur, quarr:ia! Suc­flc :y naucgan do pe r cl mtfino Rum­bo,hafb los vcynrc Jc Abnl, dcfcu­bricron vnosB;hios Jc l ndios,a don­de (urg icron :y cl d1a figui cn tc,yendo

Pho1oslat oi 11u: lrerrera tc:\ l , l>ecad3 1. Lihro IX. (;q1. :'\. 1 ecc.11<ling the landing of Ponce <le Leon.

29

THE WAR DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL FINDING.

Supremely ridiculo us as was the St. i\ugustine Euening R ecord editorial of August 19 , 1932. quoted in parL on page 11 . it had the effect of de luding its readers in to the belief chat the War Department had promulgated an official decision that Po nce d e Leon had landed at the sire o f St. Augustin e. This belief sti ll prevails. How ground less it is the record shows.

An Act of Congress of June 11 . 1926, provided for " the study and investigation of battlefields in the Un\\ed States for commemorative purposes.'' The provisio ns of the act arc curied out by a Board of Officers, three in number, appointed by the Secretary of War and representing the Quartermaster General. the Chief of Engineers and the Historical Section of the Army War College. The p lan of operation provides for having the historical studies made by the Historical Section. Colonel H. L. L anders, the member of the Board of Officers representin g the Historica l Section at the time Senator Fletcher's bill was to be considered, undertook the historical study pertaining to the project. Notwithstanding that there were no "military historic events in connection with the landing of Ponce de Leon ," Colonel Landers held that these might be assumed and that they were of a nature to br ing them w ithin the scope of the Act of 1926 and so within the pu rview of the Board of Officers. In due course he prepared his officia l report which was submitted by the Board of Officers to the Secretary of War, and was by him incorporated in his annual report covering the subject. T his report was submitted to the President on December 10. and was transmitted ro the Congress on D ecember 13 in a Presidential Message entitled "Study o f Battlefields in the United States for Commemorative Purposes." (Senate Document No. 15 1. 72 nd Congress. 2 nd Session. ) The sect io n of the report relating to

the tabl et reads as follows:

Ponce de Leo n's Landing in Florida: Method of commemoratio n: Tablet . Land required: None. Estimated cost of comm emoration: $ 1.000. Attitude of local community: The most appropriate

place to erect a tablet commemorat ing this event is at Sc. Au gustine. The tablet shou ld be erected on ground no w owned or to be acqui red by the city of Sc. Augustine

30

This then is 1hc o nly o ffi cia l report rtndrrcd by the War De­partment. In it is no allusion to the la ndi ng place of P o nce de Leon . no '·gove rnmental decree" that the la nding w as at St . A ugustine. In response to an inqu ir y. Major C. C. Benson , Secret ary o f the Army War College Historica l Section . advised the w rirer : " This pa rt of the repon was drafted by Colonel Landers. Y ou wil l note that it does noc specify the place where P o nce de Leon landed in F lo rida. but mere ly i ndica~ ·the place (St. Augusti ne ) that Colo nel L and ers selected as being most app ropriate for the erection o f a commemorati ve tablet. ..

And from another officia l source. a lso in response 10 an in­quiry , is the fu rther co nfirma tion: '"T he statement in Senate Documen t No. 15 l. 72 nd Congress, 2nd Sessio n, is the report of the Secretary of W ar to Cong ress on the su bjec t in ques tio n . T his report is the result of the study m ade by a Board o f Officers advisory to the Secretary of War and constitures the o nl y 'official .finding' of rhe War Department."

T h is is the reco rd of the War Department. It is also the record of Colonel L inders as a member o f the Boa rd of Officers and of the His to rical Secrion o f the War Col lege. and as rhe o ne who wrote the repor t. I t is his on I y record that ca lls for a tten ti on by a careful histor ian . The irrelevant and prolonged investiga­t ion to determine the locatio n of the landing place had ended in fu ti lity . R ead collectively the fo u r conclusio ns of t he letter to Senator Fletcher left the la ndin g location sti ll in t he realm of conjecrure and Po nce de L eon s ti ll at sea.

But while Colo nel Landers fa iled in h is q uest, another suc­ceeded. Dr. Corse pursued a simpler and more su mmary method of resea rch. S he wrote her own account o f the event: laid the scene at the site o f St. A ugustine. and broug ht P o nce de Leon ro land o n H ospita l C reek, within the bounds of what is now a sh ow man 's park , and ar the spot where a mendacious t ablet p rocl aims with absolute fina lity : '"He landed here."

3 I

..

'l'J1e J>lNOtor • Rational Pe1'k 8a:rTloe,

WaahS.Jlgtcm, D. O.

P'OtmrAIN OF YOUTH Ji.ORI DA

518 cwnom Boue, DeJmJr1 COloftdo, .Aprtl a, 1 9 8 D.

on Zanuu7 1, 1G36, l 'ftalto4 be FounWa or Youth, a prt­'f'8~ park ar tomlat ·nmr' in the ol t7 ot st. ~. ftor14a, on at.oh Pl'OPH'V l t baa baa propoae4 th&\ the t'e4era1 s>VGl'lll8Dt onot a momnemt 1D Ponce 4e LeoA.

stnce the Ratlcmal Perk SC"rloe baa al~ ocmel4e:n4 tbe Pl'OJeot 8114 bu been 1D touah with .,. ot the Sntneatiel penoae, I almpl.J' •48 the tl"J.p ea 'Uae a~ 'ft111tor ooe..

Poace 4a Leon 41a01Wen4 nwt.c!a 1D 1518. The onl.J" autborl• tatiS.Te llOID'CO ot tn~mauoa ~ Id.a ape41 t1oa la tbe ao­ooum of Henera, •Jdab lndloe.tea ,., tha mc:pectl ti.OD, wbUe eail.· tna :In o ~wen o01D'8e oa Sa~, Al.11'11a,1J513, reaobe4 t!ae sraatnlamt (than SQPPDBe4 w be ea S.al.en4) at latt tu4a S> 4epeea 811111 a m1mtea aJ14 ran el.ODS ._ com until alght aD4 than anotm­ec1. Ponce de Lean ._. OD lac1 to tate lnfbmatlon and poaau­dcm. • On M4a;r, the 8\b, 11lq na ID '1ae aam 41zeaUcm (prema­abl.J' 1Dw1ml the north), •11214 SatUl'da,y they aaile4 to ib8 eor:ath a quarter bJ' mutheaat. •

PN•naabl.J', Ponce 4e Leon'a ftrn landlll8 was no1"\h ot st. kaguttne and aouth ot Zaakmurrtlle. !he a.act apot or tllG lmut­tns wtU probably ana be lalon. fte ol.a1ll that the aotual st te ot tho lm141D8 baa bean 4ettn1tel.J' enabllaW at 'he ~'81A o~ You~h Pal1E aeama annpparte4 bf ~ aau.taato17 ntaenoe.

'lb8 Jbuna1n or Youth .... :to be a well, no• a apnll(l, a.A to be •~t authenttaatecl hlaw~oal ~ •

. one ge'a the lmpreaalcm that a eti"m't la •48 to 8'.,. the

tourieta tbair mDm7' • mrth anci to popularize h1ator, d th mOll ...tnona aa wt.U l>Mt •ene the gate naetpta, all4 t?mt la ao cJo­t.Ds ldatortoal ac~ hu autt8N4.

lt fm7 •amt.el to ~· de teaa wea to be enotacl bJ t.b9 ~ te4eftl pmat at st. AugueUne, it ahoQld be ID ammeoUcm ~,r wt.th the For' l!Ulon Batlcmal tt.m•-t an4 no' oa aa aoN ot 1nn4

mnoan4e4 by private ~ that la ue4 ea a tourist lNaX"t •

..

\

.,

Blatog 2', ProJeot. Attaohect ta a OOPJ' Of s. 0016, puM4 bJ the senate on Aprll ii, 1032, and lati-oduoe4 1A •be BDuee ot Rep!'e­aGntativoa Q:rtl 18, l~E, "TO PNY14e tor the oomaw>ntlon ot tbl 10D41DS of Ponoe 4e Leon bl the State ot 7lo1"1.4a." ftla bill PJIO­poen that the seo:retal'J ot tf81' be au,ho!'l1Se4 to &NOt a tablot .. either on 8IOWl4 Otme4 or to be uqulncl bf a amlol»elltl' ill the St11te of l'loJi4a or on appl"OslmatelJ" one aore ot len4 to whioh 1;hll seoretory at tlor 111 authoitae4 to aooep' 'i 1ile wt thcnl' ooat to the lJnltecl States." 'l'b.e b1U piiopoa98 an appropl'iatlon ot ei,ooo tu Wa Jm.'POOO'•

It .... pl'Obable that the OwaeN ot the J'ouDWD Of You'h Patt 'tflOUl.4 be Wlllbg \O 4olaaH am 801'9 ot 'hell' pt'Op&r'J' lJl oJIO.• to baft a IUIDl:>l'lel '° Pcmoe 4e Leon ottiolal~ cou'1'uote4 bf the teae:ral sov~t on the Va.at.

It l• UD4ere1io04 that enot!l• plall ta tor the Joun'8irl ot Youth irro»notora to oouVwl• the mtllOl'lal at theSI" owa a;:paae, but to 1'aquent that tho wol'dSl:lg ot tile inamptloa be autborlae4 bF th• Batlonal Pak smm.oe.

'1'he o~ :reaaon tba~ a a9>1"lal to Ponce. c1e Leon ld6ht be 8l'80tl4 bV the todei-al aorermunt Sn st. Augutbla W01114 be be­omae tho axaot location or the lemdtns ta 1Dlknown fJD4,. while t t waa pneumabl.J north of a•. AugU.1t1m, '' mlsht be cU.tnoul.t to ftn4 any tul.1¥ .aattatao~ looo'1on fttr mob a mamortel wltbln the Uld.te ot the ~ trltldla 'lhloh the 1.:tlq pzrobabJ.7 oocunect •

e

..

'124 CONGRBSS lat seasig

a. 301'

IR TBB JIJUSB 0-, REPBISlll'l'A'l'IVES April 13, 1988

Beterred to the CoDmitwe on lllllteJ.T Attaira

AB NJt

'l'o p:roV14e tor the oo•maratloa ot the lan41ng ot Ponoe 4e LeGA 1n tba state ot P'lort.cta.

l Be lt enaote4 by the senate and Bouse ot Repre881lta•

2 tivee of the t1n1 te4 Stat• ot Amd.oa 1n 0oDgl'988 a11saable4,

8 'l'hat tor the purpose ot oommemol'atina tbe m1lt.ta17 hiatorlo

4 eveata 1n oonneotlon With the 1an41D8 ot Ponce c1e Leoa ill

6 the State ot Jlorida the SeoretaJ'J' ot WBJ' 1• authortze4

e aa4 41:reote4 to ereot a tablet, ettbar on SJ'OUZl4 O'IU4 or

'1 to be aOQ.u11'e4 b)' a nmnlotpaU.ty 1n the State ot J'l.oztaa or

8 on appro:id.mately one aore ot land to whloh the Se0Nta17

9 of War ta authorized to aooept title Withoa:t oo•t to the

10 Unlte4 states. Be is tt&rther authorized to do all matten

U 1no14e.t to proouraimit 811.4 erection proT14e4 tor henln, b)'

18 aontmot OJI otherwise, w1 th OJ- wt thout ad1'tJZ"tia1ng, 1nolu41ng

18 also the engagement bJ oontraot or otharwtae, Without

14 regard to aeotion 3909, Bev1984 statute. (u. s. o., 111'18

16 "1, aeo. 6), and at suoh i-at• ot oompanaatlOD u be 11181'

1& ctetarmlDe, o:r the 11enioea ot uabiteot•, acralptor•, artist•,

1'1 and otbar teohDioal. u4 pl'Ofeaalollal peraonnel aa 1181 be

18 neoesaary, or ot ft:nu, partnerahlpa• ar aorporatlcma the:reot.

lG SEO. a. There t.a barebJ authorimo4 to be app:roprlatecl

80 the nm ot 11,000. or ao nm.oh ihereot aa mar be ne"eaaz:r,

21 to oarr.v out tba pronelou ot W• A.Gt.

SB SEO. 3. It lancl is aoqu1re4 by tha United states un4ezt

e

..

Im the p1'0"1.elom ot this A.o,, lt shall be 1Ul46r ~ jur11141otloa

26 am oontl"Ol ot the seoretU'f ot war, and la such oaH ha

28 shall prov14e tor the care GD4 •1atenenoe ot se14 tabloi

ee aD4 its .,,. aD1 tor thla purpose shall aubmlt 8ll eatllllate with

8? b1a annual eatimatee to CoDSNU•

Puaa4 ti. senate AprU 11, 1988.

BDWIJI p. TBA1'IR. sea.re~ •

"

st. A!l!!tille1 st. Aususti110 ta a ob.t\mt.ng ot ii wt th sob to llltneai Tlal">N• It bae peai bletol'ioal. impOl'tanoe. 1' _. the n.ret PftlUDJlent European eetilll!DCnt 1D what la now the t1Jdt.e4 States, ad It baa been aont~ ooouple4. Jta olala ot "The oldest ol ty in th• Uni te4 Sta~••" ta nll npportect. The v°" llO­ioa 1fatloll81 Mcmmw11 1n st • .&ugua•w ta ldatorloall.7 itlponaat m4 hishlJ' tn\.-eettng w 11.otton.

st. AUgUtlne hu ao aQ elemen\e ot hiatorioal lntereat tbat It 111DU14 M81ll cmtlrel.7 wmeoea1817 8114 undeotmble tu S.t to a­oounge 8DJ' piojeou ot &nabVul autheDt1olv.

'l'Jae 41aooT917 ot J'lol'lda bF Ponae 4e Leon la lm.8 ... a "8llt ot great lmportanoe. Ko!Dorlala to Ponoa t1e Leon mlpt well be eMOtecl tn llBD1' ot the ~tie• ot J'londa. at. AUBWl~SJle _. hu a Ponoe de Leon mon\111l9Dt. Xt aAdl tlonal llClllOrS&le 'flUV dea1re41 8Jr/ plaoe 1n tho aitJ wou14 be .. appioplate, ol' ., .. app1"0Priate, tban would \be Foutain ot touih PoJ1c.

The pnnotpal teatvn ot this resort ana

1. The 10mr.Wn ot Youth, a well, hQm tdlloh Ponoe 4e Leon might bave 4ll'UZlk bad. be been ill the no1n1t7 an4 it the nl.1 ba4 been 4ug at that tllm.

8. A 01"011•1 to:nne4 of blootl Of ooquino done aet la tba pound, there be11J8 tittaen at<mea 1D the matz llhaft ma4 Wl1le8A atone• lD tho uo1111beaa. Vlaitol'• unm tha' tide Ol'Oal wa11 built by Ponce 4• tao11. in i.m.s en4 U..t the tortv.nate 41NO'J_, ot the ero• eetablillhe• the au'bantlol tJ ot a. J'ouatalA ot Youth.

8. A mall oha1'91. reo•t~ butl' oa What i• ea14 to be \Illa dte or an early Spanlsh abal)el. 1 un4ua'-4 that the Oathollo aut-t tle• ot St. Avpattne Uaapee wi'h the ol.dla to:r tbla alte an4 ban another ett• ~t thoJ aocept aa the ooneot om.

•· A tablet wt th a bronze Snaortpttoa 1'81.aitq to Poacse 4e LeoJl a4 •'8t1Ds: "89 1.aM4 lm'e. •

a. AD Ia4lan burial grounA tm' wu opene4 lA AprU, 19M, cm4 which ba• been partly exoantea to a 4epth ot three o:r tau feet, apoalag eame fttt7 m.- • lluldn4 lkelewu.

ot tlhe abo'f8 ftw teatarea, the Xn4taa burial poUD4 '8 authentlo.

7

i'ba "BlatoJ."1 ot at. AUgU&'tinl," publlah04 1J)' : • w. Barri• Camp01lJ. Ino •• lOM, hao a bnet retel'GllGe to the Jtmntdn ot Ycnt'1lt but wt tbout montlon ot aq hlotorloal ~tanoe, • tol• lon n,. Zh "On the east ot son ltaroo Aft!lUe, eievan abort blocks north ot the Olty ootee, le loce.tea ~ JlbUn~ or Youth, whloh la vtalted anmiaU7 by ~de ot touneta. Ope 4atl.y."

'1'he at\aohe4 booklet, "The tamu.na ot Ponce 4e Looa, A Blatorlcol. :Reriew," by ObaJ'l.ee B. ROJDol.4a, I• iD'tere•"!Ds 1'-6-111& an4 contalDa a pbotoata• oop1 ot tba Hen.we text :reterr1D1 t.o ~he londlna at Ponce de Leon and a troaolat1CXD. ot thla reter­enoe.

The booklet that Yr. R8JD014a dlacuaeeae namel~, ~Fowl• ta1n ot You't.h," by Carita Dossett OorSG, ta also at'8ohe4.

A oomprebenotve ncoount ot Ponoe do Leon' a 't'DJ'88GD to nm-14a and nolnl'1' Will appear In tbe J12.ol'tcla Bla'°l'ioal Bool.•'1 Q.uarterl7 tor luJ.1, 19311.

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•ountain ot Youth Natl. Monument, Florida.

General: At St. Augustine in St. 1ohns County.

General Charaoteriatios:

(A) Soeniol.

(b) Historical: Said to be the landing place of Ponce de IAon.

(o) Geologioal:

(d) Maafttional:

(e) Biological:

Acoesaibility: U. s. Highway No. l to St. Augustine.

Intereeted. Individuals: Mr. Balloy; Dr. Carita Corse at Green Cova Springs.

Reports A prelilninary report was submi tted by Mr. Herbert Kahler dated January 18, 1934, to Mr. Verne E. Chatelain, on his visit with Mr. Young and Mr. Bello¥ to Dr. Carita Corse at Green Cove Springs, who gave them considerable bibliographical aid and furnished several maps ot this area.

Mr. Kabler stated that Mr. Ballou will make a 0C111plete ~ report on this area later. l-30-54

Action:

Mr. Ballou submitted an adverse report on April 17, 1934, stating that historical evidence is not well founded. 7-26-34 JIB.