History of Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States de Oñate. In all, Spaniards probed half of today's lower 48 states before the first English colonization attempt (Roanoke Island, 1585). The Spanish didn't just explore, they settled, creating the first permanent European settlement in the continental United States, at St. Augustine, Florida in 1565. Santa Fe, New Mexico also predates Jamestown, Virginia (of Pocahontas fame, founded in 1607) and Plymouth Colony (of "Mayflower", Pilgrims and Thanksgiving fame). In 1566 Pedro Menendez established Fort San Felipe on Santa Elena- which is present day Parris Island near Beaufort South Carolina. The fort was part of the Spanish King’s ongoing effort to
Spanish missions in Florida Father Luis de Cancer and three other Dominicans to Tampa Bay was the first solely missionary effort attempted in "La Florida". It ended in failure after six weeks with de Cancer's death at the hands of the Tocobaga natives, which sent shock waves through the Dominican missionary community in New Spain for many years. The first Spanish missions to the Indians of Florida, starting with the foundation of St. Augustine in 1565, were attached to presidios. Between 1559 and 1567, ten presidios were established at major harbors from Port Royal Sound in modern South Carolina to Pensacola Bay on the