Diego de Quiroga y Losada was the

acting Governor An acting governor is a person who acts in the role of governor. In Commonwealth jurisdictions where the governor is a vice-regal position, the role of "acting governor" may be filled by a lieutenant governor (as in most Australian states) or a ...

Spanish Florida Spanish Florida () was the first major European land-claim and attempted settlement-area in northern America during the European Age of Discovery. ''La Florida'' formed part of the Captaincy General of Cuba in the Viceroyalty of New Spain, and th ...

1687–1693. His administration was mainly concerned with building fortifications, including the

Castillo de San Marcos The Castillo de San Marcos ( Spanish for “ St. Mark’s Castle”) is the oldest masonry fort in the continental United States; it is located on the western shore of Matanzas Bay in St. Augustine, Florida. It was designed by the Spanish en ...

, which his predecessors began to defend ''La Florida'' against British and French attacks by land and water.

Career

On August 20, 1687, Diego de Quiroga y Losada was appointed acting governor of Florida, and remained in that position until September 21, 1693.Worth, John.
Spanish Florida – Governors
. University of West Florida. That same month (August, 1687), eleven escaped African slaves from the

Province of Carolina The Province of Carolina was a colony of the Kingdom of England (1663–1707) and later the Kingdom of Great Britain (1707–1712) that existed in North America and the Caribbean from 1663 until the Carolinas were partitioned into North and Sou ...

, including an infant, arrived by boat at the Franciscan Mission of Santa María de Sena on present-day

Amelia Island Amelia Island is a part of the Sea Islands chain that stretches along the East Coast of the United States from South Carolina to Florida; it is the southernmost of the Sea Islands, and the northernmost of the barrier islands on Florida's Atlant ...

in Florida, seeking a better life. Soldiers garrisoned there sent word to St. Augustine, informing Quiroga of their arrival so that he could decide what to do with them. In October, the governor ordered the Africans brought to

St. Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced the development of Western philosop ...

. Once they were in the

presidio A presidio (''jail, fortification'') was a fortified base established by the Spanish Empire mainly between the 16th and 18th centuries in areas under their control or influence. The term is derived from the Latin word ''praesidium'' meaning ''pr ...

, he put the men to work on construction of the

, and the two women became a part of his household. Quiroga assigned several Spanish families responsibility for assisting the priests in Christianizing them. Later in 1687, Quiroga visited the

Apalachee Province Apalachee Province was the area in the Panhandle of the present-day U.S. state of Florida inhabited by the Native American peoples known as the Apalachee at the time of European contact. The southernmost extent of the Mississippian culture, the ...

to assess the strategic situation there, and upon his return to St. Augustine, ordered Captain Primo de Rivera to build a ''Casa fuerte'' (

blockhouse A blockhouse is a small fortification, usually consisting of one or more rooms with loopholes, allowing its defenders to fire in various directions. It is usually an isolated fort in the form of a single building, serving as a defensive stro ...

) on the

Chattahoochee River The Chattahoochee River () is a river in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern United States. It forms the southern half of the Alabama and Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia border, as well as a portion of the Florida and Georgia border. It ...

to protect the province from British incursions. The location was chosen because of its nearness to the head town of the

Apalachicola Province Apalachicola Province was a group or association of towns located along the lower part of the Chattahoochee River in present-day Alabama and Georgia. The Spanish so called it because they perceived it as a political entity under the leadership of ...

. Quiroga sent one hundred Native Americans, many of them trained as carpenters, with Rivera to build the fort as quickly as possible. Quiroga ordered the construction of Fort Apalachicola without seeking the King's permission, "because English traders had begun to settle and conduct business with local Native American groups immediately north of Spanish missions". In the spring of 1690, Lieutenant Favian de Angulo traveled to Chattahoochee to command the garrison. Based on a letter sent by Angulo to Quiroga, at the time the garrison consisted of 17 regulars and 20

Apalachee The Apalachee were an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands, specifically an Indigenous people of Florida, who lived in the Florida Panhandle until the early 18th century. They lived between the Aucilla River and Ochlockonee River,Bobby ...

Native Americans. Despite Angulo's warnings about trading with the English, the Indians continued to trade with them and soon the town surrounding the fort was abandoned. Angulo then demolished the fort and took away food, weapons, and anything else that might be useful to the Carolina merchants. The lieutenant and the Spaniards abandoned the area. In 1690, Quiroga y Losada began selling

coquina Coquina () is a sedimentary rock that is composed either wholly or almost entirely of the transported, abraded, and mechanically sorted fragments of mollusks, trilobites, brachiopods, or other invertebrates. The term ''coquina'' comes from the S ...

from the royal quarry on

Anastasia Island Anastasia Island is a barrier island located off the northeast Atlantic coast of Florida in the United States. It sits east of St. Augustine, running north–south in a slightly southeastern direction to Matanzas Inlet. The island is about lon ...

to the garrison soldiers and the other townspeople for building houses or other structures. In 1690, Quiroga saw that with the high tides, the sea was beginning to flood

Saint Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berbers, Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia (Roman province), Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced th ...

, threatening to inundate its houses and the fortress. To prevent this encroachment, he met with the leading men of the town and proposed the construction of a sea wall. The inhabitants approved his proposal and started to build the wall with two thousand

dollars Dollar is the name of more than 25 currencies. The United States dollar, named after the international currency known as the Spanish dollar, was established in 1792 and is the first so named that still survives. Others include the Australian d ...

donated by the local soldiers, who were themselves owed back pay. Diego de Quiroga complained in 1693 that the church bells of Saint Augustine were too loud and rung too often, saying that their noise would drown out the alarm bell at the garrison's guardhouse. The largest, loudest bell of the four in the belltower was subsequently replaced with a smaller altar bell. On September 21, 1693 Quiroga y Losada was replaced by

Laureano de Torres y Ayala Laureano is a male name and a surname, both deriving from . Alternate spelling include Laurean (Romania, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Brazil, France, Mexico, Yugoslavia) and Laurian (Romania, Italy, France). People Given names * Laureano A ...

as Governor of Florida.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quiroga Y Losada, Diego de Royal governors of La Florida