Florida.

Warfare between Spain and France had spilled over into South America and the Caribbean, and both nations turned their attentions to the Southeast because it lay parallel to the route Spanish galleons followed on their return to Spain. French leaders knew of the legend of Chicora, and they zeroed in on the southern low country as the site for their next attempt to build a colony. In 1562 the Protestant leader Jean Ribault departed the port of Le Havre with two ships, a crew of experienced sailors, veteran soldiers, and a few noblemen. When they sighted Florida, they saw a land that had not been visited by Europeans for almost twenty years. Turning north, Ribault landed his party near present-day Jacksonville, where the region's Mississippian population welcomed the newcomers. In return Ribault presented their chief with a blue robe decorated with...