Description: In the early 17th century, 150 years before Spanish missions were established in California, a chain of missions reached westward from St. Augustine across northern Florida. Today nothing exists of those Florida Franciscan outposts. Our knowledge of them comes only from archival research and information gleaned from archaeological excavations.

Florida's missions came to a fiery end in the first few years of the 18th century, victims of devastating raids by Carolinian militia and their Indian allies. The Apalachee and other mission Indians were slain, some by being burned at the stake or flayed alive. Others were taken back to Charleston as slaves and still others fled. Here They Once Stood, first published in 1951 and a classic example of collaborative research, presents the first-hand accounts describing the horrific fate of the missions. It also offers archaeological reports further documenting the missions and the lives of the native peoples who lived and died as Christians under Spanish rule.

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