Although Columbus was on the high seas in 1492, it wasn't until 1513 that the first Spanish explorer sighted the mainland of North America. During the Christian holy season of Easter, Juan Ponce de Leon of Spain sighted the subtropical land that is now the southern-most state of the United States of America. On March 27, 1513 he landed near what is now St. Augustine and he gave this new land the name "La Florida," meaning "Land of Flowers."

Don Juan Ponce de Leon sailed to Florida from the Spanish islands of the Caribbean, namely Hispanola and Puerto Rico. Ponce de Leon had settled on these islands after accompanying Columbus on his second voyage to the Americas in 1493.

Although we do not know exactly where de Leon landed, it was somewhat north of present day St. Augustine. He claimed the area, which he believed to be an island, for Spain and then sailed south around the peninsula and part way up the west cost of Florida, exploring and mapping his newly discovered territory. Ponce de Leon would make several exploratory trips to Florida. He died in Cuba from an arrow wound inflicted by the Calusa Indians of Florida.

In 1565 the king of Spain sent Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles to try to establish settlements in Florida.

When Menendez arrived, he knew that the French had recently settled at Fort Caroline, at the mouth of the St. Johns River. Part of his mission was to eliminate the threat of French settlement in Florida.