A Tribe Lost: Timicua

A Tribe Lost: Timicua. Historic Florida Barge Canal Trail. , Who were "Americans" first? , At least several hundred years before Crackers migrated from England and Scotland to the USA, and then wandered down the eastern seaboard to Florida in the 1800s, Well before the Seminoles sought refuge in Florida from the forces of Army General Andrew Jackson because the federal government was determined to move Indians to the Oklahoma territory, or kill them off (1815-1858), to make room for more Europeans..., Even before the Spanish explorers and their priests arrived in La Florida in 1562, there were Timicua Indians numbering around 200,000 and loosely organized in about 35 "chiefdoms" in southeastern Georgia and Florida., A 2006 archeological dig in St. Augustine, Florida, unearthed objects which indicated the Timicua were there as early as 1100 AD., The Timicua population was reduced to about 50,000 by 1595 (just 35 years after the Spanish arrived in La Florida). By the year 1700, their numbers were reduced to about 1,000. A few years later, there were none., What happened to these "Native Americans"? , With no natural immunity, the Timicua were unable to withstand infectious diseases introduced to the New World by Europeans. Tens of thousands of Timicua died from smallpox, measles, cholera, chickenpox, influenza, syphilis, and other illnesses., Thousands more were enslaved by the Spanish, and then the English, and shipped to the Caribbean islands for enforced work on plantations. In addition, English colonists warred against the Timicua to eliminate them from the land the colonists wanted for themselves., One Spanish leader estimated the Cross Florida Canal could be dug in one year with these Indians as slave labor. It's easy to conclude that idea, too, would have been a boondoggle. . This historical marker was erected by Florida State Parks. It is Near Ocala in Marion County Florida