Fort Caroline National Monument

— Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve —

"After... two months... Ribault made port in New France... [where] he discovered a very large and beautiful river ... Ribault erected a column of hard stone on the banks of this river ... The coat of arms of France was carved upon it."
Ren? de Laundonni?re, 1564, Second-in-command during Jean Ribault's 1562 voyage.

On the morning of May 1, 1562, French navigator Jean Ribault first viewed the river you see before you - the St. Johns. He named it the River of May. A day later, staking France's claim to the New World, Ribault's men placed a stone marker - similar to the monument behind you - on a sandy knoll near the river's mouth.

Thus began a race with Spain to colonize la Florida. The race ended in 1565 with France's defeat and Ribault's death at the Matanzas massacre, south of St. Augustine.

(Caption at upper right):
This painting by Jacques le Moyne, an artist with the French expedition to colonize Florida in 1564, shows the expedition's leader, Ren? de Laundonni?re, standing with a Timucuan chief, Athore. Le Moyne's caption described the Timucuans as "worshiping the stone as an idol."

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Show me all markers in:  Jacksonville, FL  |  Duval County  |  32225  |  Florida  |  United States of America

Timucuan Preserve
Ribault Monument
Staking a Claim
Spanish Pond
The River of May
Timucuan Friends
The Building of la Caroline
Fort de la Caroline
Jean Ribaut
Pilot Town/Napoleon Bonaparte Broward

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