Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-04-17
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
SOMETHING ABOUT THE EARLY
HISTORY OF TAMPA.

SUN EAE1lN& AItOOI IItG hAASLA
HISTORY OF TAMPA.
Narvaez and fernando DE Soto
Their Wild Projects and Untimely
Fate-The Tampa of the Present
Fort Brooke-Original Extent ofthe
TOwn-Ihe Coming Metropolis of
South FIOrida-SteambOats and
COmmerce-schooIs and Institu-
tions-HoteIs-O Orange Prospects
Tampa's Enterprise-Cigar FactO-
ries-An Embryo City-''It is an Ill
Wind that Blows Nobody Amy
Good"-Efect of the Hey West
Disaster, Etc.
Tampa, which has but recently been
aroused from its Rip Van Wrinkle sleep
by the shrek of the locomotive whistle,
is second only to St. Augustine in anti
guilty and historical interest. AS early
as 1928, and only sixteen years subse-
quent 10 the landing OF Ponce de Leon at
the latter city, Pauflo de Narvaez APP
peared with a small army and fleet of
ships in Tampa bay and took possession
Of the country. Tradition says he landed
about the spot where the town of Tampa
now stands. The expedition was divided;
part remaining in the fleet which was
sent on a voyage OF discovery along the
Gulf coast, and the soldiers, headed by
their leader, boldly marching into the
interior, bent upon conquest and the ac-
QUESTION of gold. The untimely fate of
many of the Adventures including
NarvaeZ himself is recorded in the narra-
tive of n of the survivors.
CABECA DE vACA.
Their marches, hardships, and san gum
airy battles with the savages, vie with the
deeds OF the famou Knight of La Mancha
in illustrating the age of knight Errantry.
Eleven years afterwards, in 1888, that
renowned warrior
HERNANDO DR. SOTO,
the favorite lieutenant of Plzarro,
flushed with the easy conquest Of Peru,
and enriched by the treasure of the Incas,
determined to carry his victorious arms
into this portion also of the unknown
American continent. Accordingly, fol-
lowing in the footsteps of Narvaez, in the
wear above mentioned he landed in Tampa
bay with a thousand battle SCARED COM
rades at his back. Christening the bay,
EspIrita SantO in commemOration of the
Whit-Sunday upOn which he debarked his
troops, the brave General at once struck
OAAb AALO AA0 AA161a 49,
phantasms and visions of glory passing
in grand reviewIbefOre his vivid magma
ton. OF his bloody fights, hair breadth
escapes and terrible experiences, culmi-
mating at length In his own death and the
discontinue and dispersion OF the eXpe-
dition, the reader can be informed in the
chronicles of the historian. Our purpose
is to deal with the
TAMPA OF II PRESENT
49, --1As- nFtov -. 1r1rfvr
the night of the past two centuries. And
happily this is a pleasing task.
From the eStinfOrmatiOn available, the
town is the with of Fort Brooke. a
military post established here in 8 , by
the United States government, as a depot
for military stores, and to protect the in
habitants from the depredatiOns of the In
dians. The post was named in hOnor of
Capt. Brooke the army officer In command,
and who ~superintended the construction
of the Notifications. 1t included a gov
eminent reservation of five miles around
the fort. The barracks and fort occupied
a beautiful site commanding the APP
proaches from the bay, with tire Hills
borough river on the right, just where it
debOuches into the gulf. The works were
mounted with heavy artillery, several
pieces of which are still to be e Mn
the rear, the garrison was quartered be-
meath the wide spreading branches OF the
noblest grove of live oaks it has ever
been Our fortune TO behold. They lift
their majestic trunks in groups Of five or
six trees, each a giant of the forest, the
roots rising fully two feet above the sur
face and forming a natural stage or rus
tic platform. capable of seating more
| than a score OF visitors. The gnarled
limbs assume fantastic shapes, in one in
stance doubling back
BOOMERANG LIKE
for six feet, and almost forming one gigan-
TIC link in a chain of living oak. 1t was
here during the prevalence of yellow fe-
yer at any Gulf port, that the troops and
employees OF the United States govern
ment were sent, to protect them from the
dreaded p~estilence.
This charming spot is virtually a part
of Tampa, and hundreds Of tourists visit
it every winter. During the late wal the
fort was held Dy a Confederate force, but
was captured by the FedeTals and the guns
spiked.
TAMPA PROPER
is built upon a tract OF one hundred and
sixty acres of the government reserva-
tiOn, which was donated by Congress in
1S47 for a county site. 1t is regularly
laid out with broad streets, and avenues
stretching far beyond into the country
for miles, upon which front numerous
orange groves and vegetable farms.
About 1000 inhabitants reside within the
city limits, but more than a thousand
more are TO be found within the radius of
less than a mile, and the population is
constantly and rapidly increasing. 1t is
in contemplation at an early day to ex-
tend the area of the corporation so as to
include the flourishing suburbs. Outside
of Jacksonville, no place in the State has
a more promising outlook, aud indeed
the following statistics will prove that
TAMPA is THE COMING METROPOLIS
of South Florida.
There are at this time plying upon her
adjacent waters, eleven steamers, in
GLIDING the regular lines TO Key West
and Cuba and 10 New Orleans and Cedar
Keys, and those engaged in the coast
wise traffic. A packet line Of sail yes
sels also has been established to New
York, and many slOOps and schOoners
are probably employed in the fisheries.
The city also contains one public