Tampa Bay

Tampa Bay is a broad estuary on Florida’s western coast, its arms reaching inland behind a narrow entrance from the Gulf of Mexico. Indigenous communities lived around its waters, including the Tocobaga at the head of the bay and the Uzita farther south. Fish and shellfish supported settlements along the shore, where people raised mounds and maintained ties with neighboring communities around the estuary.

In 1539 Hernando de Soto’s expedition landed near the southern coastal part of the bay and entered Uzita territory. Spanish newcomers encountered a populated coast with its own leaders and settlements. In 1567 Pedro Menéndez de Avilés visited the Tocobaga and left a small garrison and missionaries, an early Spanish attempt to establish a foothold on the bay.