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Bad Weather Plagued Area's First Settlers
But for some bad weather, Pensacola - and not St. Augustine - might well have earned the distinction of being the nation's oldest city. But though Pensacola has had to settle for being "America's First Settlement," that hasn't tarnished in the least its pride in its rich history.
Spanish conquistadors first put the Pensacola area on the map more than 440 years ago. Pensacola got its name from the Panzacola Indians who greeted the first Spanish explorers in 1559, when Don Tristn de Luna y Arellano led colonists to what is now Pensacola Beach.
De Luna landed at Pensacola Bay on August 14 and established the city of Santa Mara de Filipinos with 500 soldiers, 1,000 colonists and servants and 240 horses. But just five days later, a major hurricane destroyed all but three of his ships and drowned much of the livestock.
Starvation, fever and mutiny plagued the dwindling group for two more years, before survivors were rescued in 1561 and de Luna was relieved of his command. Four years later, Spaniard Pedro Menéndez de Avilés arrived at a place he called San Augustn (St. Augustine) and established the first permanent European settlement in what is now the United States.
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