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I recently read this article in Archaeology magazine. In 1559, Tristán de Luna y Arellano attempted to set up a colony near modern day Pensacola, with plans to connect overland to another future colony at Santa Elena, near Parris Island, SC.Although the colony was well-planned with plenty of provisions and weapons, a hurricane destroyed the ships before they could unload.
The article quotes one archaeologist as saying that if they'd been successful, the Spanish very well could have also been successful at Santa Elena, and "we'd be speaking Spanish right now." I think that might be a little hyperbole, but...
What if there had been no hurricane or the hurricane took a different path (a butterfly in Australia and all that)? Could this colony have survived and prospered? Could it have actually led to a successful Spanish colony further north on the Atlantic coast? Could it at least have led to an earlier Spanish presence at the mouth of the Mississippi? What would the consequences of all this be?