Pensacola Survival

Unable to grow their own food, the Pensacola Spanish were heavily reliant on the supply system that originated in Veracruz: the situado, which was a "cluster" of funds, including rations, wages, munitions and bonuses (Bushnell, 1981:64; 1994:44). The environs of Pensacola Bay dictated that the Spanish would remain reliant on the situado for the duration of their stay on the Barranca de Santo Tomé. The soils at Pensacola were less fertile than those of St. Augustine or those of its coastal neighbor, Mobile. In a December 1698 letter to the Viceroy, Jaime Franck described the sterile environs:

the extreme sterility of the vicinity is evident since nothing is seen except sand as white as snow, many pines, no fruit trees like those of New Spain or the cold lands, except for some wild walnuts and live oaks whose acorns are small and the nuts are bitter without meat. I have only seen one up to this time that had meat of some good flavor because these are wild. There are many blackberries (zarza) mulberries (mora), and palmettos in quantity…[the land] is not [good] for planting anything other than maize, watermelons, cantaloupes and some beans (Franck, 1698).

Pensacola's history prior to the Rosario's arrival in 1705, and beyond, was marked by failed attempts to introduce horticulture or animal husbandry, and thereby reduce reliance on the situado. House gardens proved the most successful, as Jaime Franck noted in a 1700 letter to the king: "with more care and work, the Captain Juan Jordán de Reina by means of his infantrymen that he brought from Havana managed to give some credit and value to the land by cultivating various plants in a little garden he made around his hut, where he planted wheat, maize and other vegetables" (Franck, 1700c). Although there were small farms on the Perdido River in time, there is no evidence that they were successful (Hessain, 1746). With no hinterland to supplement the situado, the Pensacola Spanish endured recurring food shortages.

Tardy supply ships, natural disasters and overcrowding played havoc on supplies at the presidio. In theory, the situado arrived periodically, in increments of four, six or eight months. In reality, the supply system was hardly so regular. The sporadic relief that the situado represented never satisfied appetites at the presidio. Rations at Santa María de Galve were supposed to consist of one pound of flour, six ounces of pork and two ounces of dried vegetables (either rice, garbanzos or fava beans) on days with rations of meat. There were more than seven weeks of designated fast days in a six-month period. On these "fast days" rations were six ounces of dried vegetables, two ounces of cheese (if it was available), and two ounces of lard (Urbina, 1703, 1705a). Presidio officials were frequently forced to curtail rations of meat, vegetables, flour and/or bread. In June 1700, Franck reported that rations at the presidio actually consisted of, "half a pound of wormy biscuit, 6 ounces of the most rancid pork and on Fridays, a little of fava beans or frijoles" (Franck, 1700b). That September that same year, Captain Phelipe Serrano y Perea noted, "at best our daily ration has been eight ounces of bread, or corn, and another eight of meat, without any kind of vegetable or other sustenance than salt water to season it" (Serrano y Perea, 1700) (Figure 6).

One option for supplementing the irregular supply system was through trade with the Indians. By 1698, the Spanish had learned that natives in the region wanted wide dark blue serge of Tlaxcala (jerguetas de tlaxcala azules obscuras anchas), woolen cloth (palmillas) of the same color, blankets (congas mestizas), scalping knives (cuchillos de cavo), black or white bronze hawk-bells, sky blue beads, German hatchets (azadas hachuelas alemaniscas), ordinary axes edged with steel (calzadas de acero), small brass pots (basinillas de azofar), and salt from Campeche. They brought some of these items with them when they arrived in 1698 (Florencia, 1698).

Another way to supplement the sporadic supply system was by making direct purchases from other colonists. Prior to settlement, royal officials in Mexico debated the merits and logistics of purchasing corn, cattle, pigs, horses and even mules from Apalachee (Sigüenza y Góngora, 1698). The Apalachee Spanish, utilizing the Old Spanish Trail opened up by Fray Rodrigo de la Barreda and Florida Governor Laureano de Torres in 1692, drove cattle to Pensacola (Misc., 1704a) (Figure 7). After 1702, the War of Spanish Succession (1702-1713) made enemies of the English while making allies of the French. The war destroyed the Apalachee trade but opened new opportunities with the French in Louisiana. Covetous of Spanish silver and desirous of its goodwill, the French at Mobile (the capital of Louisiana after 1702) frequently came to the aid of the Spanish at Pensacola, as they did after the fire of November 23, 1704 (Bilbao, 1704; Chateâugue, 1705a; de la Salle, 1705). The French trade could not, however, satisfy the demand created by the refugees arriving from Apalachee.

Bibliography

Figure 6		Figure 7
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