He found the provincial capital, Saint Augustine, full of exiles – insubordinate military officers and licentious friars – as well many garrison soldiers who were debtors or had been convicted of petty crimes, including thievery, vagrancy, or rioting.
Governor Fernández wrote King Philip III the same year, informing him that the foundation of growth for the province was gift-giving to the Indians and military support for the Franciscan missionaries who ministered to them.
[5] In the summer of 1612, Governor Fernandez dispatched soldiers from St. Augustine to warn the chiefs of Pohoy and Tocobaga not to harm the Christian Indian settlements in revenge for the punishment inflicted on their predecessors.
Ensign Juan Rodríguez de Cartaya then reconnoitered the Gulf Coast, leading an expedition in a gunboat launch and several canoes to pacify the Indians of the region, including the powerful Calusa chief Carlos, to whom further gifts were given.
[4] Native American leaders were motivated to seek Spanish goods and the spiritual protection of the Franciscans, not only to enhance their own status so that they could maintain power over their people, but also perhaps to rebuild their communities, depopulated by the spread of epidemics, in the new towns that formed around the missions.