Editing Manatee County, Florida (section)

=== European exploration and early settlement ===
[[File:Manatee Map from 1856.jpg|310px|thumb|Map of Manatee County in 1856, shortly after its creation]]

Some historians have suggested that the southern mouth of the Manatee River was the landing site of the [[Hernando de Soto (explorer)#1539 to early 1540 in Florida|De Soto Expedition]].<ref>Bullen. p. 7</ref>

Due to conflict during the [[Patriot War (Florida)|Patriot War]] and [[Seminole Wars|First Seminole War]], many Native American and African American refugees fled to the Tampa Bay region of Florida and some settled in modern-day Manatee County.<ref>Oldham, Vickie, ''[https://www.lookingforangola.org/ Looking for Angola]''</ref> The settlement they founded on the Manatee River was called [[Angola, Florida|Angola]].<ref>Eger, Issac, ''[https://www.sarasotamagazine.com/news-and-profiles/angola-enslaved-people-florida Angola Highlights Florida’s History as a Haven for Escaped Enslaved People: The settlement has been called one of the most significant historical sites in Florida and perhaps the United States]'', Sarasota Magazine, October 19, 2023</ref> By 1819, the population of Angola may have reached as high as 600-700 people.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rivers |first1=Larry E. |title=Slavery in Florida : territorial days to emancipation |date=2000 |publisher=University Press of Florida |location=Gainesville |isbn=9780813018133 |pages=7–8}}</ref><ref>Time Sifters, ''[https://www.timesifters.org/rememberingthemanateemaroons/ Remembering The Manatee River Maroons Of 1821: Heritage, Archaeology, and Digital Reconstructions]'', Time Sifters Archaeology Society, Sarasota, Florida</ref>

The Manatee area was opened to settlement in 1842 with the passing of the federal [[Armed Occupation Act]].<ref name=statutes>{{cite web|url=http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=005/llsl005.db&recNum=539|title=An Act to provide for the armed occupation and settlement of the unsettled part of the Peninsula of East Florida|access-date=April 13, 2022}}</ref> Early settlements included the Manatee Colony led by Colonel Samuel Reid that numbered thirty-one individuals both black and white.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Knetsch |first1=Joe |title=The Army Vs. The Indians Vs. The Settlers: The South Florida Frontier Between the Seminole Wars |journal=Sunland Tribune |date=2000 |volume=26 |issue=10 |page=2 |url=https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1337&context=sunlandtribune |access-date=April 13, 2022}}</ref> Other prominent early settlers were Joseph and Hector Braden who moved into an area near the Manatee River in 1842.<ref name="bradenton">{{Cite news|url=http://www.bradenton.com/news/local/article34739931.html#0|title=Manatee History Matters: Braidentown, Bradentown, Bradenton - What's in a name?|work=bradenton|access-date=April 5, 2017|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170522164614/http://www.bradenton.com/news/local/article34739931.html|archive-date=May 22, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> The two had lost their land for their plantations in Northern Florida during the [[Panic of 1837]]. They were said to have heard that there was abundant land in the area. The brothers moved into a log cabin five miles north of the mouth of the Manatee River. Four years later Hector drowned while trying to cross the Manatee River on his horse during a hurricane. Despite this tragic event, Joseph decided he would still build the Braden sugar mill {{efn|Sugar production became a major industry in the area during the 1840s and several major sugar works were established.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Camp |first1=Paul |title=The Attack on Braden Castle: Robert Braden Castle: Robert Gamble t Gamble's Account |journal=Tampa Bay History |date=1979 |volume=1 |issue=8 |pages=1–8 |url=https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1007&context=tampabayhistory |access-date=June 26, 2023}}</ref>}} at the mouth of the Manatee River and the Braden River. He later built a dock where Main Street was and fortified the area near his house by building a stockade. A few years later in 1851, he built the Braden Castle, which was made out of tabby and served as his residence. In spring of 1856, the fortified home was attacked by Seminole Indians during the [[Seminole Wars|Third Seminole War]].{{sfn|Camp|1979|page=1}} It later became a popular tourist attraction in the early 1900s with [[Tin Can Tourists]]. He would only stay there for the next six years before moving to [[Tallahassee, Florida|Tallahassee]].<ref name="bradenton"/>