Tocobaga Indians originally inhabited Fort De Soto from 1000 to 1500 AD. They enjoyed the wealth of seafood the natural estuary offer, just as many fishermen enjoy today. On April 15, 1528, their peaceful paradise was ruptured by the arrival of the Spanish somewhere between St. Pete Beach and Clearwater Beach. The initial conquistadors explored the bounty of our Bay then moved up the coast.
About a decade after the first exploration, on May 30, 1539, the tempo of visits changed when Hernando De Soto landed on our shores. De Soto’s exploration of the Southeast US region would explore over 4,000 miles by its end. De Soto and his crew discovered many riches and fought numerous Native American attacks with 10 ships and 700 men.
De Soto’s expedition started in May 1539 from Tampa Bay, heaDed north to Tallahassee where they set up camp for the winter. With spring they continued north through Georgia and the Carolinas then started west through Tennessee and down to Mobile Bay in Alabama. By mid-1541 the expedition was crossing the Mississippi River to explore Arkansas and Louisiana. At the start of 1542, De Soto and his men began their return journey back towards the Mississippi River. Along the route De Soto took fever, died by early May and was buried in that Great River.
Becoming and Unbecoming a Fort
The modern history of Fort De Soto began in 1849 with a group of US Army Engineers commissioned to explore the utility of the island known as Mullet Key. After study various islands surrounding Tampa Bay, the engineers chose Egmont and Mullet Keys for military use, prohibiting any private Developments on the land. Staying fairly dormant during the Civil War, the island began truly being used in November 1898 with fears over a mounting war with Spain over Cuba. In orDer to protect Florida’s coast and the port of Tampa Bay, the US government started construction on a 275-foot wharf extending into Tampa Bay with accompanying barracks. By 1899, they were ready to start laying the foundation for the Fort.
During the construction of the Fort, however, the shipment of the stones for the Fort from New York and New Jersey was delayed. The workers were forced to innovate and used local shells to create a sturdy concrete mixture that now can be seen around the base of the Fort. They continued to use their local concrete mix even after their stone shipment arrived. The Fort was named Fort De Soto on and officially became a sub-post of Fort Dade on Egmont Key April 4, 1900. The construction was officially completed under budget ($155,000) a month later on May 10, 1900.
From 1901 to 1909 the Fort was used for joint maneuvers and training exercises by various local and national troops. By 1914, the presence at Fort De Soto dwindled to one sergeant and 1 game warden from the Department of Agriculture. In 1917, The Fort’s population spiked again with a WWI presence of 22 privates, two commissioned officers and two officers. On November 23, 1922 the Secretary of War wrote a letter to then Florida Governor, Cary A Hardee, explaining the Army’s closures of Fort Dade and Fort De Soto.
The Army offered Fort De Soto up for private sale on April 16, 1928 after the state, county and city governments declined to buy the land at its appraised value of $192,000. The army rejected both bids on the land and it remained in their name for the time being. The Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners finally bought a 271 tract of land on Mullet Key on September 29, 1938 for $12,500. The land had previously held a quarantine station for the Public Health Services.
In 1940, the War Department briefly decided to re-militarize Mullet Key as a bombing range. The island became a sub-post for MacDill Field in June 1941.
After the end of WWII, Pinellas County bought back the island of Mullet Key from the military for $26,495.24. The purchase included the 271 acres they had purchased in 1938 along with another 613 acres the military had occupied. The buyers were already dreaming up the park that would be officially Dedicated Fort De Soto Park on May 11, 1963.
The refurbishment and historical registration of the Fort began in 1977 with the replacement of the batteries on Fort De Soto. Visitors today can now see these batteries along with four 12-inch M 1890-MI mortars (the last remaining in North America), the ruins of Battery Bigelow (in the Gulf of Mexico surf off the SW coast of Battery Laidley), historical arms, and some of the worst conditions (heat, isolation, and mosquitoes) troops had to experience outside of war.
Please visit their website to view the full history of Fort De Soto and find their self-guided historical tour.
Hernando De Soto
Hernando de Soto was born circa 1946 in the southwest region of Spain. De Soto was the second son from a family of minor nobility in an impoverished region. With a limited future at home, De Soto left home at a young age to see out his big dreams and future. At the age of 14, De Soto left for Seville and joined an expedition led by Pedres Arriao Davila and his childhood Alvaro Nunez de Balboa to the West Indies in 1514. After earning a fortune from Davila’s conquest, De Soto became the leading slave trader and one of the richest men in Nicaragua. De Soto’s next expeditions were with Pizano to look for gold in Columbia, to conquer Peru and the Incas and then back home to Spain to marry Davila’s daughter. While in Spain, De Soto received his royal commission to explore La Florida and was given the governorship of Cuba. This would be his last expedition. His men buried him in the Mississippi River in May 1542.
Author: Kaeley Dawson
Date: May 9, 2013