| Date
| Event
| Source
|
| 1513
| Juan Ponce de Leon - Spanish Governor of Puerto Rico - discovered and named Florida.
| Florida: A Short History by Michael Gannon
|
| 1527
| Panfilo de Narvaez lands at Tampa Bay in search of riches. Only 4 of the original 600 members of the expedition survive.
| Pizzaro biography at Wikipedia
|
| 1535
| Francisco Pizarro conquers the Inca in Peru and establishes mines for gold and silver. Fleets carrying this treasure to Spain followed the Gulf Stream current up the coast of Florida.
| Florida: A Short History by Michael Gannon
|
| 1539
| Hernando de Soto landed 6 ships on the west coast of Florida and began exploring what is now the southeast U.S. He was the first European to see the Mississippi River.
| Florida: A Short History by Michael Gannon
|
| 1554
| Pedro Menendez de Aviles appointed as captain-general of the Spanish treasure fleet.
| Menendez biography at Wikipedia
|
| 1559
| Spanish colony established at Pensacola.
| Florida: A Short History by Michael Gannon
|
| 1561
| Pensacola colony abandoned.
| Florida: A Short History by Michael Gannon
|
| 1564
| Rene de Laudonniere establishes a French colony near the mouth of the St. Johns River, posing a threat to Spain's treasure fleet.
| Florida: A Short History by Michael Gannon
|
| 1565
| Pedro Menendez de Aviles establishes St. Augustine and destroys the French colony.
| Florida: A Short History by Michael Gannon
|
| 1573
| Franciscan missionaries arrive in Florida and begin to build a network of missions up the east coast and across what is now north Florida.
| Florida: A Short History by Michael Gannon
|
| 1586
| Sir Francis Drake sacks and burns St. Augustine.
| Florida: A Short History by Michael Gannon
|
