A Tale of Two Chemists: Castillo de San Marcos

Castillo de San Marcos ... Monday 26 November 2012

The whole flavor of St. Augustine seems different from towns we’ve visited recently. There are lots of squares/parks dotted around. Many beautiful buildings and tropical plants grace the streets. We visited the cathedral where they play liturgical music—quite atmospheric. Then we strolled the pedestrian street looking at the shops, restaurants and old buildings. Outside one rebuilt “old” house, we saw a sign for a “ghost walk of St. Augustine, led by a pirate. Buy tickets here”. My cynical side chirped up to say “you know there are no ghosts and you know the guide isn’t a pirate. You are already walking around so what are you paying for?” Later in the afternoon, coming out of the bathroom at the marina, I nearly ran into a guy all dressed up as a pirate with full beard and hat. He looked pretty scary so what do I know.

The highlight of the day had to have been the Castillo de San Marcos. This large Spanish fort from the 1700s was built of a local stone know as coquina. Coquina is a form of limestone that is basically seashells compressed together with sand and mud. The walls are reported to be 17 feet thick. While many flags have flown over the fort, it was never taken by force, despite several sieges. The resistance of the walls to bombardment is attributed to the coquina, absorbing the forces rather than shattering. Originally held by the Spanish, the fort changed hands many times as wars in Europe and North America impacted the possession of Florida. While the history is interesting, the view from the walls is stunning. The fort itself sits on a man-made glacis (mound), once you are atop the walls you are quite high over the bay. You can see right out the St. Augustine inlet and up the Tolomato River as well as down the Mantanzas River. The person who picked this spot for the fort knew what he was doing.

One of the exhibits inside the fort tells of an era when the fort was used as a prison for Native Americans. During the late 1800s, three different groups of tribes were held at the fort as “prisoners of war”. In 1837, Seminoles were held as a result of the Seminole wars. From 1875 to 1878, a group of “plains tribes” were held here. Most shocking was the incarceration of the Apache people. In 1886, a group of 530 Apache “POWs” were held at Fort Marion (as Castillo de San Marcos was re-named). These individuals were transferred to Mt. Vernon Barracks, Alabama two years later. In 1894, they were transferred to Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Eighty percent of the prisoners died in captivity. They were finally released in 1913-14. Of the 275 prisoners released at that time, 170 were children who had been born in captivity. As we have been travelling southward we have thought quite a bit more about the legacy of slavery and the plight of African Americans before and after the Civil War. The story of the Native Americans seems another shameful chapter of our history.

Gloria

29 53 03.4 N, 81 18 19.0 W