Castillo de San Marcos National Monument

1 South Castillo Drive, Saint Augustine, Fl

Thursday, March 11th, 2021

The Castillo de San Marcos is the oldest fort in the continental U.S. A wooden structure existed in its place before being destroyed by the British in 1668. The construction for the current coquina fort began in 1672 and finished in 1695. It has served as a defense against attackers but also as a prison for Native American groups. It is currently a popular tourist spot. For more information, please visit the: National Park Service. 

Artifact I:

Furnace fire

Soldiers would load cannonballs into the furnace where they would be heated up to 1500 F for 30 minutes. Then, the soldiers would carry the red-iron shot to the cannons. The goal was to set the enemy ship on fire. Although soldiers here never fired cannonballs against enemies, they still conducted drills in case of the event. 

Artifact II:

Escape window

This thin window is rumored to be the one where warrior Coacoochee made his escape through. In an 1848 interview with Lieutenant John T. Sprague, Coacoochee told the story of how he escaped with his friend Talmus Hadjo by starving themselves enough to fit through the window. Next, they lowered themselves with bedding material and made their escape. 

Exterior I:

View from NorthEast corner

Exterior II:

View from entrance

In Conversation: 

Castillo San Cristóbal, San Juan, Puerto Rico

Source: Puerta de Tierra

This Castillo is located in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It was finished in 1783 and it is the largest fortification built by the Spanish in the Americas. It has defended the city from attacks by the British and Dutch and it has withstood earthquakes. Also worth noting, is the infamous Garita del Diablo or The Devil's Guerite. This "Devil's Sentry Box" is known for its legend of many soldiers disappearing from the lonely area. It is believed that the legend started when a soldier known as Sanchez left his post to be with his lover.  

Castillo San Felipe del Morro, San Juan, Puerto Rico

Source: Maci Wachtel,Afar

The foundation of the Castillo San Felipe del Morro was laid in 1539 but was not considered fully complete until 1787. It has six levels and 60-foot walls. El Morro endured numerous attacks from the English in 1595 and 1598 and the Dutch in 1625. During the Spanish-American War, 1898, the United States Navy ship destroyed the lighthouse but was later restored. 

ENG 202 Connection:

"You made a swell get-away, all right. I guess nobody knows where we are. But they could find us if anyone took a notion of looking. You can't run away nowadays, Elise."
-The Surrounded, (287), D'Arcy McNickle

With few similarities to Coacoochee's escape from the Castillo, Archilde, and Elise escaped to the mountains. Their conversation surrounds the idea of being caught or surviving in the mountains. Indigenous and enslaved people had to run away from their captors and worry about survival and not returning to the place they escaped from. The fear they must have felt when running was a constant in their lives.

Creative Component:

In this collection of photographs, the coquina material is highlighted as it is the crucial element in the success of the Castillo. The coquina is what has made the Castillo survive for more than 300 years of harsh conditions. It proved to be the greatest idea as cannons balls would not destroy or even damage the structure. The coquina simply compressed and absorbed the shock of the hit.

Governor's House Cultural Center and Museum

48 King Street, Saint Augustine, Florida

Thursday, March 4th, 2021

The Governor's House Cultural Center and Museum is historically known as the Government House since 1598. It has been used to accommodate administrative headquarters for both Spanish periods and Britain. It is currently  managed by the University of Florida "to ensure long-term preservation and interpretation of state-owned historic properties in St. Augustine while facilitating an educational program at the University of Florida..." For more information, please visit, University of Florida, Historic St. Augustine. 

                                                 Artifact I:

Timucuan pottery and tools

Cooking pots, shells, stone tools, and beads left behind by different Timucuan tribes. Timucuans refers to the language group that lived in the Northeast and North Central portions of Florida. These were organized into many loosely related chiefdoms speaking different dialects of the Timucuan language. The earliest recorded evidence of their presence dates from around 3000 BC. 

Artifact II:

Gold toothpick, earrings, silver reales, gold escudos

Spanish colonial coins and gold were made in the Americas to control tax and shipping. Other items such as jewelry, ornaments, and religious objects were made by artisans to ship back to Spain. 

Exterior I:

Exterior II:

In Conversation:

Timucuan food

Source: Florida Museum

The Timucua hunted a mixture of animals and fish and smoked them to preserve for longer. They also cultivated corn, beans, and squash. The local chiefdom in the St. Augustine region was named after its chief, Seloy. It used to be located on what is now the Fountain of Youth Park. 

Manuel Riso

Source: Florida Museum

Manuel Riso was an indigenous Timucua man born in 1662. Records show he lived on Mision Nombre de Dios in 1759, the current-day Fountain of Youth Park. He left his native land and moved to Cuba when the Spanish left St. Augustine in 1763. 

ENG 202 Connection:

"Tell him it's all lies, what the priests say. It's all lies about the devil...Not the way the priests talk..."

-The Surrounded, (192), D'Arcy Mcnickle

Throughout the novel, the concepts of religion and conversion are spread throughout many chapters and characters. However, in this quote, Archilde is trying to convince Narcisse and Mike that the priests are lying to them about the idea of the devil, and what it causes to people. Archilde does not believe the devil will harm him in any way but has to convince Narcisse and Mike that the devil is not real to calm their anxieties. Similar to this situation, religion was used to instill fear and anxiety into the native populations to convert them and make them more controllable. 

Creative Component:

This collage contains pictures and artifacts found at the Governor's House Museum that were not shown above. This collection focuses on the Timucua people and their way of life that is often forgotten or ignored. The archaeological findings are the closest indicators of their way of life as the images are often created by colonizers who often blended different indigenous cultures together.