Fort San Juan was a late 16th-century fort built by the Spanish under the command of conquistador Juan Pardo in the native village of Joara , in what is now Burke County, North Carolina . Used as an outpost for Pardo's expedition into the interior of what was known to the Spaniards as " la Florida " , Fort San Juan was the foremost of six forts built and garrisoned by Pardo in modern-day North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee to extend Spain's effective control deeper into the North American continent.
31-515: Fort San Juan may refer to: Fort San Juan (Joara) , established by Juan Pardo in 1567-8 as the earliest Spanish outpost in the interior of what is now North Carolina Fort San Juan (Nicaragua) Battle of Fort San Juan (1780), in which the fort in Nicaragua was contested San Juan de Ulúa , a fortress complex on an island overlooking Veracruz, Mexico Fortín San Juan de la Cruz (Fort Saint John of
62-542: A physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Highlands range. The mountain range is located in the Eastern United States and extends 550 miles southwest from southern Pennsylvania through Maryland , West Virginia , Virginia , North Carolina , South Carolina , Tennessee , and Georgia . The province consists of northern and southern physiographic regions, which divide near the Roanoke River gap. To
93-489: A defensive moat and other remains, definitive evidence of Fort San Juan. In 1566, a fleet under the command of Pedro Menéndez de Avilés established the coastal mission of Santa Elena on what is now Parris Island in South Carolina . Santa Elena was established to be the headquarters for further Spanish expeditions into the interior of North America, and in this vein, Avilés ordered conquistador Juan Pardo to explore
124-517: A garrison of 31 men at the fort. Along the way back to the coast, Pardo constructed several more forts, including one named Santiago and another named Santo Tomás. Pardo arrived at Santa Elena on March 2, 1568, and never returned to the interior of the continent. The fate of the Spanish garrison at Fort San Juan is not exactly known, but it is known that in May 1568, a contingent of Native Americans laid siege to
155-462: A massive texture and missed the main episode of Mesoproterozoic compression. At the time of their emergence, the Blue Ridge were among the highest mountains in the world and reached heights comparable to the much younger Alps . Weathering , erosion , and mass wasting over hundreds of millions of years has resulted in much shorter peaks. At the foot of the Blue Ridge, various tribes including
186-699: A portion of Joara. Previously, scholars believed that the site of Joara may have been located near the Qualla Boundary in Swain County, North Carolina , or elsewhere in the Appalachian foothills of North Carolina or Tennessee, between Knoxville and the Catawba River. Despite being unsure of the fort's exact location at the time, in 2008 the State of North Carolina erected a highway historical marker commemorating
217-422: A professor and geologist at George Washington University , provide greater insight into the petrologic and geochronologic history of the Blue Ridge basement suites. Modern studies have found that the basement geology of the Blue Ridge is made of compositionally unique gneisses and granitoids , including orthopyroxene-bearing charnockites. Analysis of zircon minerals in the granite completed by John Aleinikoff at
248-473: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Fort San Juan (Joara) Fort San Juan was the first European settlement in North Carolina and the interior of present-day United States, predating the earliest English settlement at Roanoke Island, North Carolina by 18 years. In 1568, natives from Joara and the region surrounding the fort razed this and
279-491: The Blue Ridge Mountains , which prevented their progress. During their two-week stay at Joara, Pardo's men constructed Fort San Juan in the style of a blockhouse , and possibly also built a palisade and moat . After two weeks at Joara, Pardo left a garrison of 30 Spanish soldiers at the newly built fort under the command of Hernando Moyano de Morales. Pardo and the remaining Spaniards headed east, exploring away from
310-478: The New York–New Jersey Highlands . The petrologic and geochronologic data suggest that the Blue Ridge basement is a composite orogenic crust that was emplaced during several episodes from a crustal magma source. Field relationships further illustrate that rocks emplaced prior to 1.078–1.064 billion years ago preserve deformational features. Those emplaced post-1.064 billion years ago generally have
341-729: The Siouan Manahoacs , the Iroquois , and the Shawnee hunted and fished. A German physician-explorer, John Lederer , first reached the crest of the Blue Ridge in 1669 and again the following year; he also recorded the Virginia Siouan name for the Blue Ridge ( Ahkonshuck ). At the Treaty of Albany negotiated by Virginia Lieutenant Governor Alexander Spotswood with the Iroquois between 1718 and 1722,
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#1732855852523372-499: The U.S. Geological Survey has provided more detailed emplacement ages. Many of the features found in the Blue Ridge and documented by Tollo and others have confirmed that the rocks exhibit many similar features in other North American Grenville-age terranes . The lack of a calc-alkaline affinity and zircon ages less than 1.2 billion years old suggest that the Blue Ridge is distinct from the Adirondacks , Green Mountains, and possibly
403-691: The Blue Ridge: the Brushy Mountains and the South Mountains . In Virginia the Southwest Mountains are an anticlinal range that similarly parallels the Blue Ridge. The Blue Ridge extends as far south as Mount Oglethorpe in Georgia and as far north into Pennsylvania as South Mountain . While South Mountain dwindles to hills between Gettysburg and Harrisburg , the band of ancient rocks that form
434-543: The Catawba River, towards the site of the modern-day city of Salisbury . While exploring in that direction, Pardo received word that Santa Elena was being threatened by a French expedition. Pardo returned to Santa Elena, leaving Moyano without support at Fort San Juan. Pardo reached Santa Elena on March 7, 1567. Meanwhile, Moyano set out on an expedition through the mountains toward the Chiaha village of Maniatique (near present-day Saltville, Virginia ), which he attacked. Pardo
465-622: The Cross), or El Cañuelo, on Isla de Cabras, Puerto Rico San Juan del Bayou , a previous name of Spanish Fort, New Orleans Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Fort San Juan . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fort_San_Juan&oldid=416767081 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
496-684: The Iroquois ceded lands they had conquered south of the Potomac River and east of the Blue Ridge to the Virginia Colony . This treaty made the Blue Ridge the new demarcation point between the areas and tribes subject to the Six Nations, and those tributaries to the colony. When colonists began to disregard this by crossing the Blue Ridge and settling in the Shenandoah Valley in the 1730s, the Iroquois began to object, finally selling their rights to
527-568: The Wateree past where it becomes the Catawba River (in modern-day naming conventions), arriving in 1567 at the Native American city of Joara (spelled "Xuala" in later Spanish maps). By 1567, Joara had been occupied by people of the Mississippian culture consistently since the 15th century. Pardo's expedition was forced to stop at Joara for an extended period of time due to heavy snowfall in
558-613: The core of the Blue Ridge continues northeast through the New Jersey and Hudson River highlands, eventually reaching the Berkshires of Massachusetts and the Green Mountains of Vermont . The Blue Ridge contains the highest mountains in eastern North America south of Baffin Island . About 125 peaks exceed 5,000 feet (1,500 m) in elevation. The highest peak in the Blue Ridge (and in
589-543: The entire Appalachian chain) is Mount Mitchell in North Carolina at 6,684 feet (2,037 m). There are 39 peaks in North Carolina and Tennessee higher than 6,000 feet (1,800 m); by comparison, in the northern portion of the Appalachian chain only New Hampshire 's Mount Washington rises above 6,000 feet (1,800 m). Southern Sixers is a term used by peak baggers for this group of mountains. The Blue Ridge Parkway runs 469 miles (755 km) along crests of
620-467: The five other Spanish forts, killing all but one of the soldiers. After the fort's destruction, its exact location was lost. Archaeological work has been underway for years, revealing artifacts suggestive of Spanish settlement. During the summer of 2013, archaeologists affiliated with the University of Michigan , Tulane University and Warren Wilson College announced that they had discovered evidence of
651-535: The fort in Morganton, North Carolina , which had developed in the area. This was based on the findings published from 2004 to 2006 of the results of earlier archaeological work, including Spanish trade goods and tools. Excavation work at and educational outreach concerning the site is supported by the nonprofit Exploring Joara Foundation. The land remains privately owned and permission is required to access it. Blue Ridge Mountains The Blue Ridge Mountains are
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#1732855852523682-464: The fort, lured out its garrison, and killed the Spaniards, with the exception of one, Juan de Badejoz, who claimed to have escaped and hidden in the woods. The motivation for doing this was because the Spaniards had taken Native women as concubines. Subsequent to the fort's destruction, the occupants of Joara constructed a ceremonial mound over the site. Land near the fort was also potentially bulldozed by
713-652: The interior of the new territory, and to find an overland route to Spain's silver-rich holdings in Zacatecas , Mexico , located within what was known as the Viceroyalty of New Spain . Pardo's expedition set out from Santa Elena in December 1566, and followed the routes of the Congaree and Wateree rivers up to the native city of Cofitachequi , which had been visited 26 years prior by Hernando de Soto . The expedition continued along
744-731: The mountains and their perceived color. Within the Blue Ridge province are two major national parks: the Shenandoah National Park in the northern section and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in the southern section. The Blue Ridge Parkway , a 469-mile (755 km) long scenic highway, connects the two parks and runs along the ridge crest-lines, as does the Appalachian Trail . Eight national forests include George Washington and Jefferson , Cherokee , Pisgah , Nantahala and Chattahoochee . Although
775-613: The owner around 1950 due to the field being hard to mow. Joara's location has been long disputed, but several archaeologists and researchers, including Robin Beck of the University of Michigan , David Moore of Warren Wilson College , and Chris Rodning of Tulane University , announced in 2013 that evidence uncovered at the "Berry Site", an archaeological site revealing the remains of a large Native American settlement in Burke County, North Carolina , definitively demonstrates that that site contains
806-456: The range lacks the tree line found at lower elevations in the northern half of the Appalachian range. Statistical modelling predicts that the alpine tree line would exist at above 7,985 feet (2434 m) in the climate zone and latitude of the southern Appalachians. The highest parts of the Blue Ridge are generally vegetated in dense Southern Appalachian spruce-fir forests . The area is host to many animals, including: The largest city located in
837-553: The southern Appalachians and links two national parks: Shenandoah and Great Smoky Mountains . In many places along the parkway, there are metamorphic rocks ( gneiss ) with folded bands of light-and dark-colored minerals, which sometimes look like the folds and swirls in a marble cake. Most of the rocks that form the Blue Ridge Mountains are ancient granitic charnockites , metamorphosed volcanic formations, and sedimentary limestone. Recent studies completed by Richard Tollo,
868-787: The term "Blue Ridge" is sometimes applied exclusively to the eastern edge or front range of the Appalachian Mountains, the geological definition of the Blue Ridge province extends westward to the Ridge and Valley area, encompassing the Great Smoky Mountains , the Great Balsams , the Roans , the Blacks , and other mountain ranges. In North Carolina, two lower elevation ranges to the east, referred to as foothills , are also often included as "spurs" of
899-455: The valley, on the west side of the Blue Ridge, at the Treaty of Lancaster in 1744. The Blue Ridge Mountains have stunted oak and oak-hickory forest habitats , which comprise most of the Appalachian slope forests. Flora also includes grass, shrubs, hemlock and mixed-oak pine forests. While the Blue Ridge range includes the highest summits in the eastern United States, the climate is nevertheless too warm to support an alpine zone , and thus
930-536: The west of the Blue Ridge, between it and the bulk of the Appalachians, lies the Great Appalachian Valley , bordered on the west by the Ridge and Valley province of the Appalachian range. The Blue Ridge Mountains are known for having a bluish color when seen from a distance. Trees put the "blue" in Blue Ridge, from the isoprene released into the atmosphere. This contributes to the characteristic haze on
961-498: Was tasked with returning to Fort San Juan and locating a trail to Zacatecas. Upon reaching Joara, on September 24, 1567, Pardo received word that Moyano was under attack from a force of Native Americans at Chiaha. Pardo arrived at that town on October 7, 1567, and retrieved Moyano and his men, returning with them to Fort San Juan on November 6, 1567. After resting and replenishing supplies at Fort San Juan for two weeks, Pardo and his men began their return voyage to Santa Elena, leaving