Editing Pensacola, Florida (section)

===Spanish===
{{Main|Spanish Florida|Spanish West Florida|Treaty of Paris (1763)}}
{{See also|Seven Years' War|French and Indian War}}

The area's written recorded history begins in the 16th century, with documentation by [[European colonization of the Americas|Spanish explorers]], who were the first Europeans to reach the area. The expeditions of [[Pánfilo de Narváez]] in 1528 and [[Hernando de Soto]] in 1539 both visited Pensacola Bay, the latter of which documented the name "Bay of Ochuse".<ref name=FLluna>{{cite web |title="History" (Luna colony at Ochuse/Pensacola) |work=MyFlorida.com |publisher=State of Florida, Office of Cultural & Historical Programs |year=2007 |url=http://www.flheritage.com/archaeology/projects/shipwrecks/emanuelpoint/history.cfm |access-date=March 6, 2007 |archive-date=October 16, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061016222540/http://www.flheritage.com/archaeology/projects/shipwrecks/emanuelpoint/history.cfm |url-status=live }}</ref>

In the [[Age of Sail]], Pensacola was the busiest port on the [[Gulf Coast]], having the deepest harbor therein.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Gulf: The Making of an American Sea |last=Davis |first=Jack E. |year=2017 |publisher=Liveright |isbn=978-0871408662 }}</ref>
[[File:Juan Sebastian de Elcano at Pensacola.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Spanish Navy]] training ship ''[[Spanish ship Juan Sebastián Elcano (1927)|Juan Sebastian de Elcano]]'' fires a [[21-gun salute]] in honor of Pensacola's 450th anniversary in 2009.]]

On August 15, 1559, [[Tristán de Luna y Arellano]] landed with some 1,500 people on 11 ships from [[Veracruz (city)|Veracruz]], Mexico.<ref name="uwf.edu">John E. Worth, The Tristán de Luna Expedition, 1559–1561, http://uwf.edu/jworth/spanfla_luna.htm {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160630174438/http://uwf.edu/jworth/spanfla_luna.htm |date=June 30, 2016 }}</ref><ref name=FLluna/><ref name=SRhist1>{{cite web |title=Santa Rosa Island - a History (Part 1) |first=Jane |last=Johnson |url=http://www.navarrebeach.org/History/History%20in%20Acrobat.PDF |access-date=March 6, 2007 |archive-date=June 14, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070614222056/http://www.navarrebeach.org/History/History%20in%20Acrobat.PDF |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=PAluna>{{cite web |title=The Tristan de Luna Expedition |first=Steve |last=Pinson |publisher=Pensacola Archeology Lab |url=http://www.de-luna.com/pal.html |access-date=March 6, 2007 |archive-date=September 14, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070914115605/http://www.de-luna.com/pal.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The expedition was to establish an outpost, ultimately called ''Santa María de Ochuse'' by Luna, as a base for Spanish efforts to colonize [[Santa Elena (Spanish Florida)|Santa Elena]] (present-day [[Parris Island, South Carolina]]), but the colony was decimated by a [[hurricane]] on September 19, 1559,<ref name="uwf.edu"/><ref name=FLluna/><ref name=PAluna/> which killed an unknown number of sailors and colonists, sank six ships, grounded a seventh, and ruined supplies.

The survivors struggled to survive, most moving inland to what is now central Alabama for several months in 1560 before returning to the coast; in 1561, though, the effort was abandoned.<ref name="uwf.edu"/><ref name=PAluna/> Some of the survivors eventually sailed to Santa Elena, but another storm struck there. Survivors made their way to Cuba and finally returned to Pensacola, where the remaining 50 at Pensacola were taken back to Veracruz. The viceroy's advisors thus concluded the region too dangerous to settle, ignoring it for centuries.<ref name="uwf.edu"/><ref name=PAluna/>

In the late 17th century, the French began exploring the lower [[Mississippi River]], with the intention of colonizing the region as part of [[Louisiana (New France)|New France]]. Fearful that Spanish territory would be threatened, the Spanish founded a new settlement in western Florida. In 1698, they established a fortified town near what is now [[Fort Barrancas]], laying the foundation for permanent European-dominated settlement of the modern city of Pensacola.<ref name=USFhist>{{cite web<!--history from source "The Founding of Pensacola" 1904--> |title=Floripedia: Pensacola, Florida |publisher=[[University of South Florida]] |year=2005 |url=http://fcit.usf.edu/FLORIDA/docs/p/pensac2.htm |access-date=March 6, 2007 }}</ref> The Spanish built three presidios in Pensacola:<ref name=UWFpres>{{cite web |title=Presidio Isla de Santa Rosa |publisher=[[University of West Florida]] |year=2003 |url=http://www.uwf.edu/anthropology/research/SantaRosa.cfm |access-date=March 6, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070319030901/http://uwf.edu/anthropology/research/SantaRosa.cfm <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date=March 19, 2007 }}</ref>
* ''[[Presidio Santa Maria de Galve]]'' (1698–1719): The presidio included fort ''San Carlos de Austria'' (east of present [[Fort Barrancas]]) and a village with church.<ref name=UWFpres/>
* ''Presidio Isla de Santa Rosa'' (1722–1752): This next presidio was on western [[Santa Rosa Island (Florida)|Santa Rosa Island]] near the site of present [[Fort Pickens]], but hurricanes battered the island in 1741 and 1752. The garrison was moved to the mainland.<ref name=UWFpres/>
* ''[[Military of New Spain#Military units of New Spain|Presidio San Miguel de Panzacola]]'' (1754–1763): The final presidio was built about {{convert|5|mi|0}} east of the first presidio; the present-day historic district of downtown Pensacola, named from "Panzacola", developed around the fort.<ref name=UWFpres/>

During the early years of settlement, a [[triracial]] [[creole peoples|creole]] society developed. As a fortified trading post, the Spanish had mostly men stationed here. Some married or had unions with Pensacola, Creek, or [[List of ethnic groups of Africa|African]] women, both slave and free, and their descendants created a mixed-race population of [[mestizo]]s and [[mulatto]]s. The Spanish encouraged [[Fugitive slaves in the United States|fugitive slaves]] from the [[Southern colonies]] to come to Florida as a refuge, promising freedom in exchange for conversion to [[Catholicism]]. Most went to the area around [[St. Augustine, Florida|St. Augustine]],<ref>{{citation |url=https://www.nps.gov/articles/sanctuary-in-the-spanish-empire.htm |title=Sanctuary in the Spanish Empire: An African American officer earns freedom in Florida |author=Gene Allen Smith, Texas Christian University |publisher=National Park Service |access-date=April 5, 2018 |archive-date=January 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210110103703/https://www.nps.gov/articles/sanctuary-in-the-spanish-empire.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> but escaped slaves also reached Pensacola.