Editing Polk County, Florida (section)

===Early history===
The first people to inhabit the area now called Polk County were the [[Indigenous peoples of Florida#Paleoindians|Paleoindians]] who arrived in Florida at least 12,000 years ago, late in the [[Wisconsin Glaciation|last ice age]]. With large amounts of water locked up in continental ice caps, the sea level was more than {{convert|150|ft}} lower than at present. The Florida peninsula was twice as wide as it is today, and Florida was cooler and much drier, with few, if any, flowing rivers. Both animals and humans were dependent on scattered water holes, such as [[sinkhole]]s, deep holes in otherwise dry river beds, and rain-fed lakes perched on impervious clay. Most Paleoindian campsites found in Florida have been found at water holes. The largest collection of late (more than 9,500 years ago) Paleoindian [[microlith]]ic tools known from Florida were found in [[Lake Weohyakapka]], near [[Nalcrest, Florida|Nalcrest]] in Polk County.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Milanich|first=Jerald T.|title=Archaeology of Precolumbian Florida|publisher=University Press of Florida|year=1994|isbn=0-8130-1273-2|location=Gainesville, Florida|pages=37–41, 58}}</ref>

As sea levels rose and Florida became warmer and wetter, the Paleoindian period was followed by the [[Indigenous peoples of Florida#Archaic period|Archaic period]], which ended 2,500 to 3,000 years ago, with the emergence of recognizable [[Indigenous peoples of Florida#Post-Archaic period|archaeological cultures]] in Florida. In eastern Polk County, the [[Kissimmee River]] valley was occupied by people of the [[Belle Glade culture]], which persisted from about 3,000 years ago until the collapse of the Native American population in Florida after 1700. Native American people in western Polk County were part of, or influenced by, the [[Manasota culture]], which flourished from 2,500 years ago until around 800 AD, when it was replaced by the [[Safety Harbor culture]], from ''circa'' 800 until after 1700. The [[Peace River (Florida)|Peace River]] valley may have hosted a distinct culture during the Safety Harbor period.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Milanich|first=Jerald T.|title=Archaeology of Precolumbian Florida|publisher=University Press of Florida|year=1994|isbn=0-8130-1273-2|location=Gainesville, Florida|pages=105–109}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Luer|first=George M.|author2=Marion M. Almy |title=Temple Mounds of the Tampa Bay Area|journal=The Florida Anthropologist|date=September 1981|volume=34|issue=3|page=149|url=http://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00027829/00017/6j|access-date=August 22, 2018}}</ref>

In 1539, [[Juan Ponce de León|Ponce De Leon]] sent a detachment (between 80 and 180 men) of his expedition from his landing place on [[Tampa Bay]] across northern Polk County to visit [[Urriparacoxi]], a powerful chief based in southern [[Lake County, Florida|Lake County]] or eastern [[Orange County, Florida|Orange County]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Milanich|first1=Jerald T.|last2=Hudson|first2=Charles|title=Hernando de Soto and the Indians of Florida|year=1993|publisher=University Press of Florida|location=Gainesville, Florida|isbn=0-8130-1170-1|pages=57–58}}</ref> [[History of Florida#European contact and aftermath|For the next 280 years]], the Spanish (and, between 1763 and 1783, the British) ruled Florida, but did not venture into the interior of the Florida peninsula south of the [[Oklawaha River]] valley ([[Acuera]] Province). The indigenous peoples of the Florida peninsula declined in numbers, and the people who became known as the [[Seminole#History|Seminole]] moved into central Florida.