In the early 1500s, the Spanish had discovered the Chesapeake Bay, which they named "Bahía de Santa Maria." By 1565, the Spanish increasingly dominated the oceans, claimed the vast bulk of the New World, and established their first permanent presence on the North American Atlantic Coast at St. Augustine. Continuing their steady colonization northward, they built forts in present day South and North Carolina in the late 1560s. In 1570, priests based out of Havana,Cuba, secured permission to found a non-military mission in the Chesapeake, in the region the Spaniards called "Ajacan." Central to the story of Ajacan is an Algonquian young man named Don Luis. After being kidnapped from the Chesapeake area as a child and raised by Spaniards into early adulthood, Don Luis accompanied the priests back to the Chesapeake. It is said that the priests met their demise at the hand, or at least at the influence, of Don Luis. In their book "Before and After Jamestown," Rountree and Turner address the historical rumor that Don Luis was Chief Powhatan's brother. They say it is highly unlikely. Anyway, although this mission failed, the English used Spanish northward expansion as a rally cry for colonizing the new world. You can read what the Mariners Museum and the Daily Press have to say about Ajacan.
There's a clue for GC5WHK9 in this cache.
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Because the trail is set in a wildlife conservation area, please take special care to not disturb the vegetation (or the wildlife!). The caches are set up to be easy for you to find. If your coordinates indicate that a cache is in a tree, please check the foot of the tree first, then along the trunk. Caches will never be out along the branches or in shrubs or bushes. If it takes more than a minute or two to find the cache, please check the hint. The trail is open from 7 am until sunset.
Thanks to James City County for keeping up such a beautiful trail and letting us cache here!