Tristán de Luna

Tristán de Luna
Born	Tristán de Luna y Arellano 1519 Borobia, Spain
Died	1573 México
Occupation	Explorer and Conquistador

Tristán de Luna y Arellano (1519 – September 16, 1573) was a Spanish explorer and Conquistador of the 16th century.

Born in Borobia, Spain,to a noble family he came to New Spain, and was sent on an expedition to colonize Florida in 1559. He was a cousin of the viceroy of New Spain, Antonio de Mendoza, and of Juana de Zúñiga, wife of Hernán Cortés. In August of that year, he established an ephemeral colony at modern-day Pensacola, the earliest multi-year European settlement in the continental United States.

During his years in Mexico, Luna had served with Francisco Vásquez de Coronado on his expedition to the Seven Cities of Cíbola and crushed an Indian rebellion in Oaxaca. Luna was chosen by Luis de Velasco, Viceroy of New Spain (Mexico), to establish a settlement on the Gulf Coast of what is now the United States, and clear an overland trade route to Santa Elena (in what is now South Carolina), where another outpost would be founded. The bay known as "Filipina Bay" (modern Mobile Bay) had been recommended from the September 1558 voyage of Guido de Lavazaris, but Luna's fleet eventually chose "Ochuse Bay" (modern Pensacola Bay) for their settlement. Luna's fleet included eleven crewed ships and more than 1,500 soldiers and settlers, under six captains of cavalry and six of infantry. Luna, however, proved to be an ineffective leader, and the expedition was plagued by multiple disasters, before he was deposed and the remaining survivors of the colony were evacuated.

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