Description: 2017 North Carolina Historian of the YearAlthough Imperial Spain laid claim to Southeast North America for more than seven decades during the 16th century, attempts to colonize this region proved to be a dismal failure. Neither Juan Ponce de León who charted La Florida, "The Land of Flowers," nor Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón or Pánfilo de Narváez would succeed. Likewise, Spain's honored conquistadors Hernando de Soto, Tristán de Luna and Supreme Commander Pedro Menéndez with his captain Juan Pardo would also fail. Ultimately, it was the determination and intrepid resistance by Catawba, Creek and Cherokee chiefdoms to these invasions of their homeland that changed world history -- and a future United States of America.
