Talk:King's Highway (St. Augustine to Mexico)

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Someone who knows about the Southwest terminus needs to better define where this route ended. Rich J 00:26 12 Jun 2003 (UTC)

An overland route from Florida to Mexico in the seventeenth century needs some kind of contemporary reference. So much of the geography makes it unlikely. Were there ferries across the mouths of all those rivers, for example? A seventeenth century overland trip: three months? or more?

Here's an Internet quote that seems quite a good deal more accurate to me (my emphasis added):

"Spain's colony in Florida was merely the small outpost of St. Augustine; founded in 1565 to prevent France or England from settling the area. St. Augustine was more important as a military and naval base as it was close to the gulf stream which was the route of the treasure ships after they left Havana. Florida had few materials of any value to the Spanish and absolutely no gold nor silver. The only other settlement, and it was barely a settlement, besides St. Augustine was the one at Escambia Bay called Pensacola. St. Augustine was far larger, but neither colony paid its own way and was dependent on the situado, that is subsidy, from the Spanish crown. This money was dispersed from Mexico City via Havana and was often incomplete and slow in coming. St. Augustine and the rest of Florida was far down the list of colonial priorities. Spain's colonies were looked upon as producers of raw materials to be exploited by the mother country. Spain was not particularly interested in populating her colonies as was England."

http://members.tripod.com/roypbower/id3.htm

Could this Camino Real be a historical reality?. User:Wetman