When Juan Ponce de Leon set foot on the land the Bahamians called Bimini, he promptly claimed the land for Spain and renamed it La Florida. For the next two hundred and fifty years, that claim would be disputed and defended by the native peoples, the Spanish, the French and the English.

The native peoples who occupied Florida numbered approximately one million. Their societies were rich and diverse. The Timucuans were the natives first encountered by Ponce de Leon along the northeastern coast. Further south, the Tequesta, Ais and Jeaga controlled the lands of southeastern Florida. On the west coast the fierce Calusa reigned over a vast empire that stretched across the Everglades and far north into central Florida. The northern panhandle was home of the Apalachee, a society that was known for both its military proficiency and advanced farming abilities.

To this land came the Spanish conquistadors and French explorers. They came to find the storied riches of gold, copper, silver, Catholic converts and the fabled fountain of youth. What they found was a native population that had been exposed to the military expeditions of previous European explorers and a land far more vast than anybody had ever imagined. Its value changed over the next two hundred years from a source of wealth and power to a priceless, strategic military stronghold and the history of North America was forever changed.