The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1914-04-10
JACKSONVILLE
AND THE REUNION
Veterans Will Find a Modern,
Progressive City
Many Points Of Historic Interest To
30 Visited BY Survivors Of Gray
Army During Week.

30 Visited BY Survivors OF gray
Army During Week.
Jacksonville, Fla.-When the Con.
federate veterans and their friends as
semble here for their oath annual re-
union, they will be introduced to city
and community, proud of the present
and loyal to the ideals Of the old South.
Making Jacksonville the hub Of .
wheel twenty-five miles in diameter,
territory is covered rich in historic
associations and interest and at the
same time a fit exponent of all that
is progressive in the Southern States.
Jacksonville is city Of $4,000 popu-
lation, with handsome business blocks,
modern skyscrapers, commodious ho'
tells and residence sections that com.
pare favorably with the best in the
country. The city's business has
grown into large proportions, embrac-
ing every line known to modern
city. Jacksonville of to-day is in all
respects thriving center Of trade
and commerce, much Of its commerce
going across the seas into foreign
countries on ocean steamships. Its
transportation facilities are superb,
both by rail and water. Railroads
feeding the great Florida Peninsula
center here. Thousands of tourists
and uncounted tons of freight pass
through the city and port every year,
the one hunting health and pleasure,
the other scattering out over the civil
lied world to do its part in supplying
the demands of the consumers of the
earth.
And while the visitors are enjoying
this view and prospect of modern
business and community thrift, they
will be given an opportunity to look
down the past three hundred and nifty
years. All of this territory was in dis.
pute three and a half centuries ago
between the French and Spanish, with
the wild Indian holding the balance of
power between the combatants. The
Frenchman and the Spaniard both laid
claim to the Florida territory. Which
was first to discover it is a matter
over which historians differ, but 1t Is
we'll authenticated that the first white
men to set foot upon the soil now COW
cred by Jacksonville were Frenchmen
under Rene Landowners.
The first white man to enter the
mouth of the St Johns river was
Jean Ribault, in command of a CON-
pany of Huguenots. who had left
France because of religious persecu-
tons He made his landing on May
/, 1862, fifty years after the landing
OF Ponce de Leon at point to the
south of Jacksonville. Some histori-
ans are OF the opinion that Ponce de
Leon sailed as far north as the mouth
OF the St. Johns, but the weight of
evidence is against this opinion. II
he were here he left no trace. The
evidence Is that he did not travel in
a direction from his original landing
that would have brought him to the
vicinity OF Jacksonville. 1t is thor
oughly established that Ribault en-
tered the mouth of the st. Johns river
May /, 1862, and sailed up the river
some miles to bluff, where he erect
ed stone column on which was in
scribed the arms of France. But Ri
bault did not ascend the river as high
as jacksonville He went from the
mouth of the river to Port Royal, S. G.
In 1864, one year after the depar.
ture OF Ribault. Rene Laudonnere,
who had been with Ribaut on the
first expedition, came to the mouth Of
the ST. Johns with another colony Of
Huguenots, and assembled tho river as
far as the present site of Jacksonville,
camping probably on the south side Of
the river on territory now covered
by South Jacksonville These were
the first white men to penetrate the
country above the mouth OF the river
In honor of the day OF discovery. May
/, Ribault gave the river the name Of
May, and this stood until the Span
iards whipped out the French, some
years later. The Spaniards called it
the River San Mateo at first, but later
changed its name to San Juan. From
this it finally became the ST. Johns
Old Fort Caroline was situated at St
Johns bluff some miles below the
city OF Jacksonville. No sign of this
historic fort remains, not even a slab
to commemorate It's mournful story.
During the reunion, steamboat ex.
cursions will be run to all these points
OF historic interest on the st. Johns
river. 1t is but twenty-seven miles
from Jacksonville to the mouth of the
St. Johns, where the government has
constructed, with the aid of Jackson
vile, and the State OF Florida, a sys-
tenn OF ietties, deepened the water or
the bar and otherwise protected navi-
cation. In passing between Jackson
vile and the jetties, the visitor will
have no trouble locating the sites OF
old forts that were erected nearly four
hundred years ago by the French and
Spanish. The trip is one OF the most
delightful in the Southern States.