History
The priests and religious that traveled with the early conquistadors not withstanding, the 1549 expedition of Father Luis de Cancer and three other Dominicans to Tampa Bay was the first solely missionary effort attempted in la Florida. Alas, it too ended in failure after 6 weeks with de Cancer's brutal martyrdom at the hands of the Tocobaga natives, which sent shock waves through the Dominican missionary community in New Spain for many years.
The first Spanish missions to the Indians of la Florida began soon after the founding of St. Augustine in 1565, carried forth by the Jesuits. Due to the hostility of the Indians, which resulted in the murder of several of the missionaries, the Jesuits withdrew from the mission field in la Florida in 1572. Franciscan friars entered into la Florida in 1573, but at first confined their activities to the immediate vicinity of St. Augustine. The Franciscans began taking their mission to the Guale and Timucua Indians along the Atlantic coast in 1587. Starting in 1606 the Franciscans expanded their mission efforts westward across Timucua territory, and by 1633 had established missions in Apalachee Province. The mission system functioned throughout the 17th century, but collapsed at the beginning of the 18th century after raids by English soldiers from the Province of Carolina and their Indian allies had depopulated all provinces. The network of missions took its heaviest blow with Carolina Governor James Moore's raids into the area during Queen Anne's War. Most of the Spanish missions in the Apalachee Province were wiped out during the Apalachee massacre.
Read more about this topic: Spanish Missions In Florida
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