Safety Harbor Historical Event: Peace Treaty Between the Tocobaga and the Calusa

Safety Harbor Historical Event: Peace Treaty Between the Tocobaga and the Calusa. . In the 16th century, the Calusa people lived along the coastal areas of southwest Florida and were the largest and most powerful group of indigenous people in South Florida. The Calusa's major rival for power were the Tocobaga. They lived north of the Calusa in small villages in the Tampa Bay region, with the main Tocobaga village being in present day Safety Harbor. In 1567, Pedro Menendez de Aviles, while searching for a water passage across La Florida, made contact with the Calusa Indians. Calus the Calusa Chief told Menendez that such a waterway did exist, but it was in the territory of the Tocobaga Indians, and they were at war with his people. He asked Menendez to assist him in defeating the Tocobaga., Menendez sailed with the Calusa Chief and twenty of his warriors to present day Safety Harbor. He negotiated a peace treaty between the warring tribes. A detachment of thirty soldiers and a a priest were left behind to continue searching for the non-existing water passage and to convert the Tocobaga to Christianity. When a supply ship for the detachment arrived about one year later, no one was found alive, and the village abandoned. Menendez's expedition to this area was the last known contact between the Spanish explorers and the Tocobaga. The Calusa-Tocobaga treaty negotiated by Menendez is believed to be the first European-brokered peace treaty between warring indigenous tribes in the Americas.