Vicente González (governor)
Vicente González (? - ?) was governor of Florida between November 22, 1577 and 1578.[1] He was also governor of Santa Elena, la Florida, from, at least, 1577 to 1580.
In 1586 Gonzalez led a mission send for Pedro Menéndez de Márquez to a legendary strait located "beyond" Florida, where several villages were established, of which Menendez de Marquez wanted to learn. González confirmed the reality of this strait by the data obtained from a local cacique.[2] Vicente González was appointment lieutenant of Menéndez de Marquez in Santa Elena, together to Captain Tomás Bernaldo de Quirós, in 1577, governing it until 1580.[3] In November 22, 1577, González was appointment governor of Florida, holding office until 1578.[1] In October 1586, Gonzalez told the Council of the Indies that near St. Augustine, Florida, was a port next to a fertile land with gold and diamond mines, which was densely populated by indigenous. The Council decided that this land should be studied in depth and Spanish shipwreck victims to settle there.[3] In the 1580s Vicente González led several voyages into the Chesapeake Bay in search of English settlements in the area.[4]
References
- Turner Bushnell, Amy (1994). Situado and Sabana: Spain support system for the Presidio and Mission Provinces of Florida. The Archaeology of Mission Santa Catalina de Guale. Volumen 68. American Museum of Natural History, Anthropological Papers. Number 74. Page 212.
- Ménard, Caroline. La Pesca gallega en Terranova, siglos XVI-XVIII (in Spanish: The Galician fishing in Newfoundland, XVI-XVIII centuries). Page 57.
- Witness to Empire and the Tightening of Military Control: Santa Elena's Second Spanish Occupation, 1577-1587. Retrieved in July 20, 2014, to 01:47pm.
- MR Peter C Mancall (2007). The Atlantic World and Virginia, 1550-1624. UNC Press Books. pp. 517, 522. ISBN 978-0-8078-3159-5. Retrieved 17 February 2013.