I may be onto something and looking for some advice/tips.

[FlHistoryMedic711]

My father owns a large tract of land in istachatta on lake townsen and the last time I was down I found a lot of old pieces that ranged from the late 1700's to the 1800's. I had never bothered to do any research on the property until last night and I discovered that Hernando De Soto camped within a literal 1/4 to 1/2 mile from his property (if what I read was accurate). I will heading back down there tomorrow to help out with some fence work and I will be bringing my detector along. My main question was in regards to the Potano village as described by de soto and what is depicted on maps that I have located. It looks like the village is literally on my dads property and I will be doing a lot of excavating the next few weeks when I have time off. What is the likely hood of these being accurate, and if they are would the Seminole Indians have used any type of metal or will MDing be futile?

My dad lives right off the withlacoochee river on lake townsen and any thing that might help my success would be great. I have been on this site a while but never really added anything. Ocalesix, I think you had sent me a while back however I could not gain access to that account. I would be willing to take someone out here if they have any places that they would like to share with me. I am not into making money off of any of this stuff so I would ask that if you were interested, you would feel the same way. I am an avid historian and want to recreate what might have taken place there.

 

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[godisnum1]

I'll pass the message along to him for you...

Bran <><

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S4 using Tapatalk 4

 

[ECS]

It is possible that it was the Indian village called VICELA,that Hernando de Soto encountered in 1539.There were also several battles fought along the Withlacoochee River during the 2nd Seminole War. HH
A timeline of Hernando County history from 1539-1887:
Some Early History of Hernando County, Florida

 

[FlHistoryMedic711]

It is possible that it was the Indian village called VICELA,that Hernando de Soto encountered in 1539.There were also several battles fought along the Withlacoochee River during the 2nd Seminole War. HH
A timeline of Hernando County history from 1539-1887:
Some Early History of Hernando County, Florida

Thank you very much. I have found a kmz file of De Soto's possible travel route and the potano village is listed as being in Istachatta. I thought the potano village was a little further in Marion County. I live near Gainesville so I am newly amassing this information in Hernando County.

 

[Army of 1]

Good luck with your searches , watch this space this could get real interesting .. cheers Mick

 

[YankeeDownSouthAdv.]

sent you a pm. what did i send you awhile back im not sure?? godisnum1 sent me a message via FB, are you on FB?

 

[Jon Phillips]

The Seminoles had plenty of metal. They were armed with the same, and in some cases better, weapons as the U.S. military, and the militia. They had silver coins and decorations, shirts with buttons, including captured military uniforms. They had metal pots and cooking utensils, etc...

However, these were not the same indians that the early Spanish explorers met (with the exception of a small remnant of early indians that later joined the Seminoles). The early tribes would have still been a stone age tribe, with their only metal limited to revoveries from Spanish shipwrecks, trade goods from the Spanish, and copper items recieved in trade with northern tribes.

 

[CaptEsteban]

This site may be of help to you.

De Soto's Trails thru Florida, Part 1 of 4

 

[FlHistoryMedic711]

Thank you for the information. To my understanding De Soto met with what was chiefdom of the Timicuan Indians and later in history the creek indians from Georgia migrated down and formed the Seminole nation around that area. I am trying to gain permission from another family member to excavate there property as well. I just want to throw this out in the case that anyone were to try to gain access to this area, you will more than likely get shot or shot at without permission. I only say this because I do not want anyone to get hurt. The farmers around my dads house are all pretty strict about their land.

I am looking forward to meeting a solid group of people whom we can swap history and knowledge with and preserve the past as much as possible. Thank you all for your input and knowledge of this area. I look forward to meeting anyone who is into the history of Florida as much as myself.

 

[Jon Phillips]

Also...the early explorers tended to stay in established native villages, and later forts tended to be in the same areas... Multiple occupations have happened on dry, high, ground near a good water source, so almost anything might show up.

 

[tomsright]

There are mounds in the area one near the Post office in a front yard on the corner. There are some others near by . My in-laws live right
There on the river. I've detected in the area with some good finds .I change some setting now though to see what I've been missing.