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. > > > ______________________________**________ > To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at > http://listlva.lib.va.us/**archives/va-hist.html<http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html> > -- Keith Kirkland ______________________________________ To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html