Juan Pardo was a
SpanishSpanish people or Spaniards constitute the nationality and ethnic group of natives of Spain, a European country in the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. The Spanish nationality is in essence made up of regional nationalities, reflecting the complex history of Spain...
explorer and
conquistadorConquistador is the term widely used to refer to the Spanish soldiers, explorers, and adventurers who brought much of the Americas under the control of Spain in the 15th through the 17th centuries following Europe's discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus in 1492...
who was active in the later half of the sixteenth century. He led a
SpanishSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
expedition through what is now North and South Carolina and into eastern Tennessee. He established Fort San Felipe, South Carolina (1566), and the village of
Santa ElenaSanta Elena, the Spanish-language name of Saint Helen, is often used as a toponym in parts of the world where that language is or was spoken:*Argentina**Santa Elena, Entre Ríos*Belize**Santa Elena, Belize*Costa Rica**Santa Elena, Costa Rica*Ecuador...
on present-day Parris Island, the first Spanish settlements in
South CarolinaSouth Carolina is a U.S. state that borders Georgia to the south and North Carolina to the north. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence from the British Crown during the American Revolution. The colony was...
. While leading an expedition deeper in-country, Pardo founded Fort San Juan, the first Spanish settlement (1567-1568) in the interior of
North CarolinaNorth Carolina is a state located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties...
.
Pardo led two expeditions from Santa Elena into the interior of the southeast United States.
Juan Pardo was a
SpanishSpanish people or Spaniards constitute the nationality and ethnic group of natives of Spain, a European country in the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. The Spanish nationality is in essence made up of regional nationalities, reflecting the complex history of Spain...
explorer and
conquistadorConquistador is the term widely used to refer to the Spanish soldiers, explorers, and adventurers who brought much of the Americas under the control of Spain in the 15th through the 17th centuries following Europe's discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus in 1492...
who was active in the later half of the sixteenth century. He led a
SpanishSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
expedition through what is now North and South Carolina and into eastern Tennessee. He established Fort San Felipe, South Carolina (1566), and the village of
Santa ElenaSanta Elena, the Spanish-language name of Saint Helen, is often used as a toponym in parts of the world where that language is or was spoken:*Argentina**Santa Elena, Entre Ríos*Belize**Santa Elena, Belize*Costa Rica**Santa Elena, Costa Rica*Ecuador...
on present-day Parris Island, the first Spanish settlements in
South CarolinaSouth Carolina is a U.S. state that borders Georgia to the south and North Carolina to the north. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence from the British Crown during the American Revolution. The colony was...
. While leading an expedition deeper in-country, Pardo founded Fort San Juan, the first Spanish settlement (1567-1568) in the interior of
North CarolinaNorth Carolina is a state located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties...
.
Pardo led two expeditions from Santa Elena into the interior of the southeast United States. The first, from December 1566 to March 1567, numbered 125 men and was to seek food and to establish bases among the region's indigenous people. He established Fort San Juan at
JoaraJoara was a large Native American settlement, a regional chiefdom of the Mississippian culture, located in what is now Burke County, North Carolina. Joara is notable as a significant archaeological and historic site. It was a place of encounter in 1540 between the Mississippian people and the...
, a
Mississippian cultureThe Mississippian culture was a mound-building Native American culture that flourished in what is now the Midwestern, Eastern, and Southeastern United States from approximately 800 CE to 1500 CE, varying regionally....
center (near present-day
Morganton, North CarolinaMorganton is a city in Burke County, North Carolina, United States. Reader's Digest included Morganton in its list of top ten places to raise a family. The town was recently profiled in The 50 Best Small Southern Towns. The population was 17,310 at the 2000 census...
) and left a garrison behind. Claiming the settlement for Spain, he renamed it Cuenca.
Pardo led a second expedition from September 1567 to March 1568 and explored the Piedmont interior and south along the Appalachian Mountains. He established additional forts to supply a land route to
ZacatecasZacatecas state of Mexico is located in the north-central region and it is bounded to the northwest by Durango, to the north by Coahuila, to the east by San Luis Potosí, to the south by Aguascalientes and Guanajuato and to the southwest by Jalisco and Nayarit...
in present-day Mexico, where the Spanish had silver mines they wanted to protect. Pardo returned to
Santa ElenaSanta Elena, the Spanish-language name of Saint Helen, is often used as a toponym in parts of the world where that language is or was spoken:*Argentina**Santa Elena, Entre Ríos*Belize**Santa Elena, Belize*Costa Rica**Santa Elena, Costa Rica*Ecuador...
when he learned of a French raid there.
Later in 1568, the
Native AmericansThe indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of the Americas, their descendants, and many ethnic groups who identify with those peoples...
turned against Pardo's garrisons in the interior, killing all but one of the 120 men and burning down all six forts. The Spanish did not return to the North Carolina interior.
A stone believed to have been inscribed by Pardo or one of his men is in the collection of the Spartanburg Regional Museum of History. It is inscribed with an arrow and the year 1567. The stone (#454865) was found by a farmer in
Inman, South CarolinaInman is a city in Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 1,884 at the 2000 census.Inman is a small, enterprising community located in the Upstate of South Carolina. The weather is temperate around the year and because Inman is located in the Isothermal Belt, Inman...
.
Archaelogical evidence
Since 1986, archaeologists working at the Berry Site near Morganton have found evidence of mound culture, burned huts and 16th-century Spanish artifacts. There is strong scholarly consensus that this is the site of Joara and Fort San Juan. In 2007, the archaeologists fully excavated one of the burned huts. They found a Spanish iron scale typical of what the expedition would have used.
External links