<P> Some of the Apalachee eventually reached Louisiana, where they survived as a distinct group for at least another century . The Spanish evacuated the few surviving members of the Florida tribes to Cuba in 1763 when Spain transferred the territory of Florida to the British Empire following the latter's victory against France in the Seven Years' War . In the aftermath, the Seminole, originally an offshoot of the Creek people who absorbed other groups, developed as a distinct tribe in Florida during the 18th century through the process of ethnogenesis . They have three federally recognized tribes: the largest is the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, formed of descendants since removal in the 1830s; others are the smaller Seminole Tribe of Florida and the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida . </P> <P> Juan Ponce de León, a famous Spanish conqueror and explorer, is usually given credit for being the first European to sight Florida, but he probably had predecessors . Florida and much of the nearby coast is depicted in the Cantino planisphere, an early world map which was surreptitiously copied in 1502 from the most current Portuguese sailing charts and smuggled into Italy a full decade before Ponce sailed north from Puerto Rico on his voyage of exploration . Ponce de León may not have even been the first Spaniard to go ashore in Florida; slave traders may have secretly raided native villages before Ponce arrived, as he encountered at least one indigenous tribesman who spoke Spanish . However, Ponce's 1513 expedition to Florida was the first open and official one . He also gave Florida its name, which means "full of flowers ." Another dubious legend states that Ponce de León was searching for the Fountain of Youth on the island of Bimini, based on information from natives . </P> <P> On March 3, 1513, Juan Ponce de León organized and equipped three ships for an expedition departing from "Punta Aguada," Puerto Rico . The expedition included 200 people, including women and free blacks . </P> <P> Although it is often stated that he sighted the peninsula for the first time on March 27, 1513 and thought it was an island, he probably saw one of the Bahamas at that time . He went ashore on Florida's east coast during the Spanish Easter feast, Pascua Florida, on April 7 and named the land La Pascua de la Florida . After briefly exploring the land south of present - day St. Augustine, the expedition sailed south to the bottom of the Florida peninsula, through the Florida Keys, and up the west coast as far north as Charlotte Harbor, where they briefly skirmished with the Calusa before heading back to Puerto Rico . From 1513 onward, the land became known as La Florida . After 1630, and throughout the 18th century, Tegesta (after the Tequesta tribe) was an alternate name of choice for the Florida peninsula following publication of a map by the Dutch cartographer Hessel Gerritsz in Joannes de Laet's History of the New World . </P>

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