[indiscernible] when they leave here they will understand they were people living in a place, living well, developing art and music and a there werey, and times of conflict. if we can take lessons from that about how we relate to other people from around the world that is important and special -- we canfeel understand a bit more and they can look at our southwest or to environment and understand it the great deal more as well. >> more american history to her on native americans here on c-span. 1704, this was a

spanish mission settlement. today it is a living history museum. portrays appalachia. this is a place where you and your family can stroll through the grounds, talked with knowledgeable interpreters about and itsof spain appalachee and that engages and informs a more spanish world. with the idea to

explore the coastline. he was looking to gather the riches. ory were hoping for gold other valuables they could take it. aztec empire, the inca empire, the great silver mines northico, they thought america must have some of those resources as well. ,y the time you get tallahassee he thought he had missed his supply ship and they decided to s.ild some crude ship's

was det person to try soto. the spaniards come in and they [inaudible] some priests to be sent to them and eventually .riests as dust do come that certainly would have been a motivator. in a motivator. in any event by 6056 there had been agrium it between the appalachia and this for motion,

military, and you [indiscernible] so you had the western capital in the second largest mission established here on this only three miles from the modern capital. we have the capital of west quarter. for the established usual protection. there was a need in saint augustine for food. upon augustine relied exported food. wasas ordered and -- it sandy. y needed a reliable source of food. there were croplands around the site is far efficiency. the bread basket of the

early: neil effort. it was important from that standpoint and also it was a fortified outpost halfway area.n one end of the it pray that security link as well in the feeling effort of the spanish to secure their order land. of this establishment site in this village, they continued on until it was burned 17 -- 1704. of there was anticipation it might be attacked by a column of native american allies of the ingush and a few english militia. in order to prevent the site from falling into the hands of [inaudible]is

others burnt this mission to the ground. is thecular plaza here center. all the buildings around this plaza. there is -- the three main ingredients of the life of the .illage the catholicaza is church and the religious complex. the reason this pot was organized. here they are facing off each other, door-to-door. at the same time to me, there positions had mutual risk act. each honored the traditions of the other.

the council houses so impressive. life.as the center of they met to consider various complaints against the chief and the sub cheese would align with elders of the apalachee. of the various issues of the day. it was a place of celebration. it was a community center. that were celebrations followed the seasonal cycle. they would be celebrated here among the entire village. it is all inspiring to walk into

that space and look up at the hawk,ky, the occasional and just speculate. it was the heart of this community. the charge would have religious pictures of saints and scenes. these are not literate people. they cannot read. they don't have access to printed religious books. they educated them. the priest would tell the stories of the gospel to them. somewhat probably a elaborate altar, but we have not been able to identify that well. we know that it was sumptuous. there was an inventory of what the priests collected. things is the mission

bell. we know that they buried it. we have not been able to find it. it is somewhere here. the ancient mission bell as yet to be found. >> mission san luis is now ofsolidated with the state florida archaeology collections. appointment, cdr kill logical representations that represent this colonial. have a modern archaeology lab. the archaeologist are now analyzing a dozen years of material that has been excavated on the site.

we want to make a coherent picture of the past three days things to learn how rich the heritage is here, how it evolves over time. history is largely written by the victors. american history is portrayed to english eyes. yet, spain and hispanic culture much an integral part of the borderlands. history is a great mystery to people. population, the pendulum is swinging back. there are many more people in a population who are of hispanic origin. this is their heritage in the western hemisphere.

>> tonight's look at the people, places of native american history. countryl across the following the literary life and history of each city we visited you can see more of the c-span city tour at our website. c-span.org. c-span's american history tour continues next friday. stories from the western expansion. see historic sites and hear from those who have written on the subject starting at 9:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. c-span's american history to sure -- during now benson's the monument and outlook turkey, new mexico. we some some of the 24,000 drawings.