The Baga Shores Romance Series title is a hat tip to the Tocobaga Indians, an indigenous people who once lived in the northern part of Tampa Bay.
A bit of history
Throughout history, everyone claimed this odd-shaped piece of land called La Florida. Everywhere a ship could drop anchor, somebody stabbed a flag in the sand and claim the place for the king or queen back home.
These were not gentle, family-friendly excursions, either—no air-conditioned SUVs equipped with Wi-Fi to entertain the kids in the back seat.
There were no multi-lane interstates like I-95 or I-75. No I-4 or I-10.
No Wawa or Buc-ees?
In the 1500s, men schlepped belongings, swords, boots, and uniforms through foul mosquito and alligator-invested marshes. Remember this the next time you drive across the state.
As you sit in a lovely dead-stop back up, take a look out your window. A large portion of Florida is still primitive. They walked through that stuff, people!
These were busy times for the Portuguese and Spanish conquistadores who took turns invading and raiding. Hardly any part of the Florida coastline was overlooked. Why?
Gold!
Some joker started a rumor that gold was here for the taking. Once the story got out, it went viral. At this same time, all of the Caribbean, Mexico, Central, and South America were ripe targets. These waters were hopping with explorers.
Among the people already living in La Florida were the Tocobaga. The best estimates place them north of Tampa Bay from 900 to the 1500s. Let that sink in a second.
That’s 1100 years ago!
In 1528, the Spanish explorer Panfilo de Narvaez arrived in the bay area and as has happened, time and again, brought European diseases. De Narvaez wasn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer, so to speak, and managed to lose most of his crew before arriving.
That said, within a hundred years, between the disease his men gifted to the tribe and the ensuing violence that resulted from the endless quest for wealth and riches, the Tocobaga died out.
Sadly, a story as old as time.