Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1931-02-26
Little Journeys in
!. Americana

By LESTER B. COLBY

lie 900 NOt tnS THSe
COMEHOw, we think Of Ferdinand
~ de Soto as being first Yet II You
will look closely into the records Of
his explorations into Florida you will
find he could not have been. Eor when
he arrived in Florida he found there
one John Ortiz, a native Of Seville,
Spain, who had been a captive Of the
Indians for a number Of years.
Nor was John Ortiz first.
Ortiz was captured by the Indians
while seeking trace of Pamphilo de
Narvaez, who was appointed governor
of Florida in 1927. De Narvaez had
sailed for Florida with FIVE ships car
rying 400 foot soldiers and 20 horse
men. He had bravely marched inland.
Several years later, four men, the
only known survivors Of the expedi-
ton, reached the Spaniards in Mex
leo. De Narvaez' wife, or widow,
clinging to hope that he might be-
found, organized a searching party.
Thirty men with brigantine set out
John Ortiz WIS a member Of the party
Rumor had it that De Narvaez and
his party had been blown ashore some
where on the Gulf coast in a storm.
The searching party therefore started
in to sail along the coast. One day
they spied number Of Indians on the
beach.
The Indians fastened something
white on the end Of stick, stuck it
up in the sand and drew back, beckon-
ing the Spaniards to approach. Pos
sibly letter from De Narvaez! The
searchers were much excited. Also
they mistrusted the Indians. Finally.
John Ortiz and one other man vol
unteered to 60 ashore.
They came carrying a white flag,
but the Indians either did not know
the meaning of the flag of truce or
ignored it. Anyway, they set upon
the two white men. Ortiz was cap
tured and the other man, offering re-
sistance, was killed.
Ortiz was taken to the village of q
chief known as Ucita. Here fire was
kindled and the captive was informed
he would be killed by fire and torture.
However, as the fire blazed, a daugh-
ter of the chief entered a plea on his
behalf and he was permitted to live.
Years passed and Ortiz labored as a
slave. His task was to guard q sort
Of mOrgue, strange house where the
dead were laid. At night time wolves
would come out of the forest seeking
to devour these dead. Ortiz job was
to protect the bodies.
Whenever his vigilance grew lax or
he otherwise would displease his cap
tors, they would kindle a fire and
threaten to roast him. Finally one
night a pack Of wolves made a raid
on the burial house. Though Ortiz
battled them with heavy club. they
succeeded in carrying off the body Of
young man, son of chief.
That morning fires were kindled
and it seemed sure that Ortiz would
die this time. But when a party of
men, seeking the body, came upon it
in the edge Of the brush, together
with the body of wolf that Ortiz
had beaten to death, the decision was
reversed and he was restored to
favor.
Finally this life. with death from
fire always seeming to be just around
the corner, palled on Ortiz and he
fed to the village of Mocoso, chief of
a neighboring tribe and enemy Of
Ucita. Here he Jared better. Then one
day runner brought word that some
white men in boats were coming
ashore. They were De -oto's men.
John Ortiz approached them, but
mistaking him for an Indian because
he was so sunburned and dressed in
Indian garb, they all but killed him
before he could make his identity
known.
In his years of captivity Ortiz had
learned to speak several Indian dia-
lects. He became interpreter for De
Soto and was Of great value to him
in his contacts with Indian tribes.
Ortiz never got back to Spain. He
died somewhere west of the Missis-
sippi, probably on the Red river, in
1912. De Solo, who also died that
year, lost more than 200 Of his 600
men. The leaderless survivors floated
down the Mississippi and finally
reached a Spanish colony at Panuco,
Mexico
(@. 1929. Lester b. colbyp