Jim -

Fascinating and well written post. Thank you for contributing.

Keith Kirkland


On Thu, May 16, 2013 at 4:43 PM, Jim Glanville <[log in to unmask]>wrote:

> Subject: The Hybrid Map "Virginia 1567" and a Buried Conquistador
> Date: Thursday 16 May 2013. 4:50 pm.
> To: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history <
> [log in to unmask]>
> From: Jim Glanville <[log in to unmask]>
>
> Fellow List Members:
>
> On March 13th this year, an email message brought me the transcript of a
> short article from the December 31, 1869 issue of the "Bristol News" (see
> http://goo.gl/96BFY and also the 110-word transcript in the appendix
> below). That information quickly led to my stunning discovery in the
> previous week's "Bristol News" (December 24, 1869) of an archeological
> account of the excavation of a Spanish soldier near Holston Knob in eastern
> Sullivan County, Tennessee, not far from today's Appalachian Trail and only
> 3-4 miles south of the present VA-TN boundary line (see
> http://goo.gl/wPVfb and also the 520-word transcript in the appendix
> below).
>
> This newly-found documentary evidence provides strong confirmation that
> the first Europeans definitely known to be on the ground within the
> perimeter of the future state of Virginia were indeed Juan Pardo's
> lieutenant Hernando Moyano and his men at Maniatique (Saltville) in 1567
> --- as suggested among others by Robin Beck in his 1997 article "From Joara
> to Chiaha: Spanish Exploration of the Appalachian Summit Area, 1540-1568"
> ("Southeastern Archaeology," pp. 162-169). Charles Hudson told the story of
> sixteenth century Spaniards in Appalachia  in his 1990 book "The Juan Pardo
> Expeditions" (Washington, DC: The Smithsonian Institution Press). Paul
> Hoffman transcribed and translated the Spanish primary documents included
> in that volume.
>
> Last month, I published two articles in the "Saltville Progress" newspaper
> describing the new archeological evidence and discussing it and its
> implications  (see http://goo.gl/HW19k and http://goo.gl/wQ8Nd).
>
> Prompted by this new evidence, I have reexamined the 1584 Geronimo Chaves
> map titled "La Florida" to consider in detail what it says about Virginia.
> The "La Florida" map (see http://goo.gl/1Hvp1) was published by Abraham
> Ortelius in the third edition of his "World Atlas" in 1584, a decade after
> Chaves' death. Information for the northern region of Chaves' map comes
> from the de Soto expedition of 1539-1543. Internal evidence from one of the
> names shown in its southern region demonstrates that Chaves' map was
> prepared later than 1554. While we will likely never know its precise date,
> the Chaves' map was drawn within a decade either side of 1564.
>
> Incidentally, the Chaves map draws extensively from the so-called "de Soto
> map," see http://goo.gl/3Bd0R. "This map [is] attributed to Alonso de
> Santa Cruz [and] is often given the date of 1544, about the time some of
> Soto's men returned to Spain. In truth, both its authorship and the date
> are uncertain, its popular label misleading," see Robert Weddle at
> http://goo.gl/BwtTk. It is the earliest known map that shows inland
> features of the American Southeast. It is possible that the northernmost
> town on the eastern side of this map attributed to Santa Cruz lies within
> the future state of Virginia; however, to actually make that claim would be
> to over press the case.
>
> As is well known, Spanish maps of the Southeast dating from the sixteenth
> century are defective in their estimates of latitude and longitude. By
> means of the program GPS Visualizer, I plotted the as-marked corner
> coordinates of the Chaves map to make a modern version of its outline. This
> procedure yielded the outline of an approximately 150-mile wide strip of
> land running north-south from Cuba to Cleveland, see http://goo.gl/94wKG.
> This outline graphically illustrates Chaves' latitude and longitude errors
> when judged by modern standards. By adjusting the latitude and longitude of
> the Chaves map's edges  I was able to generate an outline on a modern map
> which looks very much like the published Chaves map, see
> http://goo.gl/Ey3KY. These adjustments were the first step of my
> adaptation of the Chaves map for a modern rendering.
>
> A further deficiency of the Chaves map is that its northern and southern
> regions are incompatible. The southern region traverses almost 20 degrees
> of longitude, while the equally-sized northern portion traverses only 4
> degrees of longitude. The consequence of this incompatibility is that
> locations in the upper region of the map known to be in East Tennessee are
> placed due north of locations in the lower region of the map known to be in
> Texas and actually 500 miles to the west of those in Tennessee. To apply
> the Chaves map for today's Virginia, and to analyze it, I therefore
> extracted and used an upper right hand rectangular segment of the map.
> Specifically, I took the rightmost two-thirds and the upper one-third of
> the map, or about one-quarter of the map's area. That segment includes the
> map's prominent cartouche.
>
> Next, I adjusted the excerpted segment of the Chaves map using its upper
> right hand corner as a reference point, and relating it to features such as
> the location of Xuala (and other identified places). I increased the length
> of the N-S axis by a factor of 2.34, to make the N-S scale consistent with
> the E-W scale. Overlaying the adjusted Chaves map with a Google-derived map
> using the same four corner coordinates allowed me to prepare a hybrid map
> which combines the features shown on the sixteenth century map with modern
> features.
>
> The remains of the town of Xuala (Joara), where Spanish soldiers lived in
> close proximity to Native Americans for eighteen months in 1567-1568, are
> situated at the Berry site, near Morganton, NC. The Spanish called their
> settlement Fort San Juan. Berry has been studied with increasing intensity
> over the past 25 years. Archeological work at the site has generated a
> large body of published literature; see, for example, the 112-page report
> published in 2010 from the principal investigators to the National Science
> Foundation, http://goo.gl/2aayD.
>
> All students of Virginia history should be aware of the significance of
> the Berry site and its implications for Virginia's history. Berry is only
> about 50 miles south of the VA-NC state line.  In recent years, students of
> North Carolina history, making a passing reference to the late-coming
> arrival of the English on the Carolina outer banks, have been waggishly
> calling the Berry site "the First Lost Colony."
>
> I have designated my hybrid map "Virginia 1567." My first draft is on line
> at the link http://goo.gl/F7zt6. Its scale is approximately 250 miles N-S
> and 200 miles E-W. Its bounding latitudes are 37.54° top and 23.58° bottom.
> Its bounding longitudes are -83.68° left and -79.14° right. Its top and
> right edges are those of the circa 1564 Chaves map.
>
> To make "Virginia 1567" a hybrid map, on the adjusted Chaves segment map I
> overlaid historical places, state boundary lines, and some modern towns.
> Historical places include Maniatique (modern Saltville) where the first
> battle of Virginia took place in 1567, the newly-discovered burial site of
> the conquistador near Holston Knob, and Phoebe Butt --- in western Lee
> County near the present Tennessee state line --- where it is likely (though
> not proven) that, heading north from Chiacha in search of metals, the first
> Europeans (Juan de Villalobos from Seville and Francisco de Silvera from
> Galicia) ever to set foot in Virginia did so in 1541 see,
> http://goo.gl/rk0w9.
>
> With the evidence of this hybrid map, I assert that the Chaves map of
> circa 1564 shows the earliest European depiction of Virginia. None of the
> Chaves map towns is in Virginia, though the two mountain peaks depicted
> immediately north of present-day Bristol are.
>
> I am currently preparing a formal article on this same topic. In it, I
> will explain in further detail the basis for my adjustments to the Chaves
> map and include a full set of citations.
>
> Comments, criticisms, and corrections,  either on line or privately, will
> be welcomed.
>
> Jim
>
> Jim Glanville
> Former Fincastle County
>
> PS: While preparing this posting for the Virginia History list server, my
> attention was called to the article "Why Virginia Was Not Spanish" by
> Anthony Aventi, published in the Spring 2013 issue of the popular history
> journal "Colonial Williamsburg," see http://goo.gl/cHrsZ.  One does not
> wish to be unduly critical of either the article's author or its publisher.
> However, noting the absence in the article of any mention of the
> Pardo/Moyano Appalachian Spanish expeditions of 1566-1568, I was reminded
> of the famous James Branch Cabell dictum that we Virginians tend to write
> our history not as it actually happened but rather as it "ought to have
> happened."
>
> ------------------------------**------------------------**
> Appendix----------------------**----------------------------
> ------------------------------**-------- Transcripts of the 1869 articles
> ------------------------------**--------
>
> Bristol News, December 24, 1869, Page 2, column 3. "Mysterious Discovery
> in Iron Mountain---Opening of a Curious Sepulchre, Special Correspondence
> of the News, NEAR HOLSTON, Sullivan. co , Tenn, Dec., 15th '69. //
> Messrs. editors, Gents:--- Knowing that you are interested in all matter of
> news and moreover that the greater part of your time is passed in catering
> to the reading public, I have determined to send you a short account of a
> very curious discovery that I, in company with some other gentlemen, had
> the good fortune of making, some days ago. Being in the mountains (Iron) on
> a hunting excursion chance led our party into a deep and gloomy gorge,
> flanked on either side by beetling walls of granite, adown [sic] whose side
> the "forked lightnings" have played these many centuries; with here and
> there a stunted tree, to relieve the vision, while at its base a little
> stream flowed, or rather floundered on its way, here forming in a deep
> crystal pool, and the next moment creeping threadlike among the boulders.
> Whilst sitting near this little stream, I happened to cast my eye around
> and observing a rather singular mound at a short distance, I arose and on
> examination became convinced that it must have been erected by men at some
> period anterior to this. With the assistance of my companions I at once
> began to remove  the earth and stones from the surface, and we were soon
> rewarded with a sight into its interior, for at the place where we began
> removing earth, &c., the crust, so to speak, was not exceeding 2 feet in
> thickness. Having made a cavity of a foot or more in diameter, we could at
> first distinguish nothing in the interior save the decayed remains of
> bodies the nature of which---owing to the imperfect light---we could not
> determine, curiosity being excited we determined to unearth the mystery at
> all events. Accordingly we dispatched one of our party to the nearest house
> for implements and on his return set to work, and soon succeeded in
> removing totum jugum tumuli; On entering this "habitation of the dead," for
> such it proved to be we found several human skeletons in various stages of
> decay; but with one exception all in a very imperfect state. This one
> underlying the others, at first presented the appearance of a corpse in
> complete preservation; but on examination the fleshy parts we found to be
> of a sort of cheesy consitence [sic], and readily yielded to the touch,
> Decayed implements evidently those of war were found intermingled, and one
> medal or coin the inscription of which was so effaced that nothing could be
> deciphered, except the word "Espa," or, I should say part of a word for
> there was an appearance of other letters, on the reverse the figure of a
> cross could be plainly seen, its presence owing to the concavity of the
> side. One skull which I examined is evidently that of a Caucasian; or, at
> least differs widely from that of the aboriginal inhabitants of this
> country. You will probably aid in throwing a new light on the early history
> of this country by giving publication to this in your excellent paper. //
>   This tumulus is near the residence of Mr. F. Wright on Jacobs Creek,
> Sullivan County. //  with respect, I remain yours, T. C. KING
>
> Bristol News, December 31, 1869, Page 3, column 1 // "The Iron Mountain
> Mystery." ---The communication of Mr. T. C. King, in our last issue has
> attracted much attention. The remains found by him, in a gorge of the Iron
> Mountain, while very ancient are evidently those of European persons. That
> they must date their sepulture beyond the settlement of the County is
> plainly evident. It has been suggested that they are those of a portion of
> De Soto's party, in its journey to the Mississippi River in [blank space,
> 1541 intended?] and we regard this conjecture as not only plausible, but
> probably true. The spot will be visited by gentlemen of our town, and
> perhaps by one of the editors of the News.
>
>
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-- 
Keith Kirkland

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