Santa Elena was ultimately built at the site of the abandoned French outpost of Charlesfort, founded in 1562 by Jean Ribault.
From this base the Spanish founded six other forts during the Captain Juan Pardo expedition into the interior and the Appalachian Mountains.
Interest in the area was piqued following exploration of some part of what is now the coastal southeastern United States by Francisco Gordillo and Pedro de Quejo in 1521.
In 1540 Hernando de Soto's expedition found European goods in the wealthy chiefdom of Cofitachequi (in present-day South Carolina), and determined they were near the site of Ayllón's colony.
In 1559, Tristán de Luna y Arellano established a settlement at present-day Pensacola, Florida, as a base for future colonization of Santa Elena, but this mission failed.
The French also heard the early accounts and took an interest in the area; in 1562 Jean Ribault came to modern-day Parris Island and set up the short-lived settlement of Charlesfort there.
Menéndez ordered Captain Juan Pardo, to lead an expedition from Santa Elena to the interior of Southeast North America.
Pardo's mission was to pacify and convert the natives and find an overland route to silver mines in central Mexico.
In an expedition the following year, Pardo built five more forts, leaving garrisons along the Appalachian spine as far as Chiaha in southeastern modern Tennessee.
Governor Pedro Menéndez Márquez conferred with the Council of the Indies in Seville (who received confirmation of St. Augustine's destruction by July) and King Philip II of Spain.
[9][10] A few missions to Native people living in the vicinity of Santa Elena were established from 1566 to 1570, including Escamau-Orista, Guatari, and Joadi.