Explorers of South Carolina
Hernando de Soto
Hernando de Soto was a Spanish explorer that landed on the coast of Florida. De Soto and his crew were searching for gold, other riches, and slaves. They traveled north from Spanish Florida, and came across Native Americans in South Carolina. He did not establish a permanent settlement in South Carolina. De Soto traveled around the southeastern US in search of riches.
Jean Ribault
Jean Ribault was a French explorer. He set sail for the New World with a group of Huguenots who were seeking religious freedom. He named the area where he landed Port Royal. He and his men built a fort on Parris Island. They called it Charlesfort. This fort was to provide protection to the colonists that he left behind. Eventually the settlement at Charlesfort failed and the surviving colonists returned to France. The French never tried to settle in South Carolina again.
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Juan Pardo
Spanish explorer, Juan Pardo, traveled through the Carolinas and what is now Tennessee looking for a route to Mexico. He started a fort on Parris Island near where the French had built Charlesfort. He re-named the land Santa Elena and used it as a base from which he explored the interior of South Carolina. The fort was called San Felipe. Pardo led the first group of Europeans into the Up Country of South Carolina in the hopes of finding food. They also searched for treasure. Pardo tried to make friends with the Native Americans because the Spanish were beginning to see how trade with the Native Americans could be beneficial.
William Hilton
William Hilton, originally from England, sailed from the island of Barbados to Port Royal. Hilton was hired by English settlers in Barbados to explore the coast of present day South Carolina to find more lush land for plantations. He gave some of the first descriptions of the Carolina coast. He claimed the area now known as Hilton Head for England. Hilton Head Island was named for him. Later English migrants from Barbados became an important part of the English colony of South Carolina.
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Dr. Henry Woodward
Dr. Henry Woodward arrived on the English ship Carolina which landed at Bull’s Bay. Woodward’s group established the first English settlement in South Carolina on the Ashley River and named it Charles Fort. Woodward traveled and explored the interior of South Carolina for England. Woodward lived with the Indians and learned from them. They taught him how to live on the land. He used what he had learned to teach the new settlers. He traded with the Native Americans and tried to pave the way to honest, friendly relations with them.