On Easter Sunday, March 28th 1513, a group of explorers led by Juan Ponce de Leon became the first Europeans to record sighting a large land mass west of the Bahamas. The first people they encountered were Calusa Indians living in Southwest Florida. Details of that encounter and what followed are the topic of a symposium Saturday titled “Conquistadors and the Calusa: Reflections on Resistance”. It’s part of the Viva Florida 500 initiative.
Speakers include John Worth a Professor of Anthropology at the University of West Florida …he says historians are still debating exactly where Ponce De Leon and his crew first came ashore.
The free symposium is Saturday from 1:30 to 4:30 at the Koreshan State Historic Site Art Hall in Estero.