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National Geographic : 1966 Feb
Contents
to be rebuilt. The early records indicate a succession of nine forts built and destroyed. Meanwhile the danger grew worse. The Eng lish, like a dagger pointed at St. Augustine's throat, were moving south. In the 1670's they settled in Carolina, only 225 miles north. Then a great event took place in St. Augus tine. By order of the crown, work was begun in 1672 on a massive and impregnable for tress that would defy the most powerful can non, big enough to shelter the entire popula tion of the town in an emergency. It was called the Castillo de San Marcos; it took 24 years to build; it still stands today, and it has never yet been taken by assault. The most re markable fact about it, however, is that it is made of sea shells. Beneath the sands of Anastasia Island the Green walls of Fort Caroline, near Jack sonville, memorialize France's brief hold on the peninsula. Two and a half years after the Spanish massacre of the colony in 1565, vengeful Frenchmen returned to the St. Johns River and wiped out the Spanish gar rison. This National Park Service recon struction of the stockaded earthwork stands near the original site, which washed away in the 19th century. Cross and Sword, a symphonic drama by Pulitzer Prize-winner Paul Green, portrays St. Augustine's early years. In the finale, colonists bid farewell to their governor as he sails for Spain. "Yea, our city lives!" ex ults Men6ndez. "For here we did our best." 215
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