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VOICE ONE:
This is Steve Ember.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Shirley Griffith with the VOA Special English programEXPLORATIONS. Our story today tells of ships, explorers, pirateattacks and wars.
It is the story of an old militarybase, the Castillo de San Marcos. It was built in the oldestpermanent European settlement in the United States — SaintAugustine, in the southern state of Florida.
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VOICE ONE:
To reach the Castillo de San Marcos you must drive through partof the city of Saint Augustine. Saint Augustine is in northeasternFlorida near the Atlantic Ocean.
You drive on a small, narrow road with vehicles slowly going bothways. On one side of the road is water. On the other side is thecity.
You pass businesses, eating places, stores and hotels. And thenyou see it, just as the road turns to the left. It looks like a hillof rock rising out of the ground. It seems fierce. And it looks veryforeign. There can be no mistake about what it is. It is a very oldmilitary base — the kind that is called a fort. It looks like itshould be in some European country, not on the coast of Florida.
VOICE TWO:
Near the entrance is an area to leave your car. A large sign says”National Park Service, Castillo de San Marcos.” In English the namemeans the “Castle of Saint Mark.”
A National Park Service worker sells us a ticket to enter the oldfort. It only costs a few dollars. Slowly we make our way across awide, water-filled area called a moat.
VOICE ONE:
Passing through the huge walls of the fort is a little likewalking back in time. Sounds from the street and the city of SaintAugustine do not reach inside. The fort is very much like it waswhen its builders completed most of it in Sixteen-Ninety-Five. Thereare ancient guns here. Most of the huge cannon are made of bronze.They are a green color because of their great age. Some have deepmarks showing the gun was made by the royal weapons factory inSpain. Others are British.
If you could look down at the fort from above, you would see itis shaped like a star with four large points. The fort has more thantwenty rooms. Some rooms were used to store weapons, medicalsupplies and food. One of the rooms was used to hold religiousservices. Soldiers lived in others.
VOICE TWO:
The Spanish built nine forts in this area before they built SanMarcos. They needed some kind of strong protection after theyarrived in Fifteen-Sixty-Five. That was when explorers first claimedthe area for Spain. Soldiers were left there to provide protectionfor Spanish treasure ships sailing from the Americas back to Spain.They were also there to protect Spain’s claim to Florida.
The first forts were made of wood. They were not very strong. Oneof the early ones was burned in Fifteen-Eighty-Six by the famousBritish sea captain, Francis Drake. The Florida heat and insectsquickly destroyed other wood forts.
Spanish military officials in Florida knew they needed moreprotection. They asked Spain for the money to build a stronger fort.Each time they asked, however, they were refused.
The need for a stronger fort became clear on the night of MayTwenty-Eighth, Sixteen-Sixty-Eight.
VOICE ONE:
Earlier that day, a ship sailed near Saint Augustine. Thetownspeople thought it was Spanish. It was not. That night, piratesattacked the town and the wooden fort. The Spanish soldiers wereable to keep the pirates from capturing the wooden fort, but theycould not protect the town.
Many people in Saint Augustine were killed or captured. Thepirates left when they could find nothing else to steal. Theydestroyed much of the town.
VOICE TWO:
Spanish officials immediately began sending money to build astronger fort. They also sent workers to Saint Augustine to replacethe wooden fort with something that offered more protection.
Workers found a nearby area where they could begin cutting thickstone to build the fort. It took almost four years to gather enoughmoney and to prepare the land for the fort. But on October Second,Sixteen-Seventy-Two, Governor Don Manuel de Cendoya held a specialceremony to observe the beginning of the work.
VOICE ONE:
The Castillo de San Marcos grew very slowly. It took twenty-threeyears to complete. There never seemed to be enough money to pay theworkers. There never seemed to be enough workers. Disease oftenstruck the builders. The fierce heat of Florida’s summer monthsslowed the work each year. The work was extremely difficult, but thenew fort was finished just in time. War was soon declared.
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VOICE TWO:
The year Seventeen-Oh-Two was the first real test of theCastillo’s strength. The War of Spanish Succession had begun inEurope. Britain, Austria and their allies were fighting Spain andFrance to prevent a French prince from becoming the King of Spain.
The governor of the British colony of Carolina was James Moore.He hoped to capture the fort to prevent a possible attack by Spanishor French forces on his British colony further up the coast.Governor Moore commanded five-hundred British troops andthree-hundred Indians in his invading army.
The Spanish army only had two-hundred-thirty soldiers andone-hundred-eighty Indian allies at Castillo de San Marcos. Moore’sarmy arrived with eight small ships, and blocked the harbor of SaintAugustine. The people of the town fled into the Castillo.
Governor Moore could make no progress in his attack. The huge newfort was too strong. Then, several Spanish war ships arrived to helpthe Spanish soldiers. Moore burned his small ships and retreated tothe north. He burned the town of Saint Augustine before he left. Butthe Spanish soldiers and the people of the town had survived in thefort. The battle had lasted for fifty days.
VOICE ONE:
The Spanish again strengthened the fort after the British attack.This time they made a wall of earth around Saint Augustine toprotect the town. They also improved the fort’s defenses. SaintAugustine became a walled city.
In Seventeen-Forty, the British again attacked Castillo SanMarcos. For twenty-seven days they fired huge shells at the fort.The shelling had little effect. The British withdrew.
VOICE TWO:
In Seventeen Sixty-Three, Spain gave up its claim to Florida. TheBritish took control. Castillo de San Marcos soon became Fort SaintMark. The British occupied the fort during the American Revolution.When the war ended, Florida was once again returned to Spain.
Spain held Florida until Eighteen-Twenty-One. Then, tensionsbetween Spain and the United States caused Spain to give up itsclaim to Florida. The name of the old fort was changed again. It wasnow called Fort Marion.
During the next one-hundred years the fort was used as a prisonto hold American Indians from the western States. It was also usedas a military prison.
In Nineteen-Twenty-Four, Fort Marion was declared a nationalhistorical monument. In Nineteen-Thirty-Three, the United States WarDepartment gave the old fort to the National Park Service. TheNational Park service changed its name back to Castillo de SanMarcos.
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VOICE ONE:
Today, the Castillo de San Marcos still seems to protect the cityof Saint Augustine. However, no enemy has attacked since the yearSeventeen-Forty. Each day hundreds of people do what no enemy wasever able to do. They enter the fort.
The National Park Service representatives lead small groups ofvisitors through the fort. They explain how it was built. And theytell stories of the people who built it.
They also tell of pirates and English invaders. They explain whyit was so very difficult for even a strong enemy to capture thefort. Children play near the huge old guns that are no longerdangerous. They play that they are fighting against fierce invaders.Most visitors have cameras and take pictures. Everyone enjoyslooking at the beautiful surroundings from the top of the old fort’swalls.
Many visitors stand inside the small guard rooms at each point ofthe star. Inside the guard room, you can look out the little windowsat the ocean, much the same way Spanish soldiers watched forenemies.
Then, for a few moments, Castillo de San Marcos may seem again tobe protecting the city of Saint Augustine, and the treasure shipsreturning to Spain.
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VOICE TWO:
This Special English program was written and produced by PaulThompson. Our studio engineer was Holly Capehart. This is ShirleyGriffith.
VOICE ONE:
And this is Steve Ember. Join us again next week for anotherEXPLORATIONS program on the Voice of America.