Byron Herder, who owns the Alapaha River Rise, just upstream from the Alapaha River on the Suwannee River, sent this:

I don’t think I can make it Saturday. Here is some history and data on the area of put in near Gibson. Was the capitol of Florida for thousands of years before Spanish contact. Largest pyramids in Florida. Was site of San Ugustin de Urihica for Spanish missionaries. First large battle in what is now US history called Napituca.

What’s happening Saturday is Gibson County Park to SRSP Paddle, Suwannee River 2026-06-27.

https://wwals.net/?p=70541

Some history and data on the Suwannee River near Gibson Park –Byron Herder 2026-06-25

Here are the images Byron sent, with sources for those that I could find.

Suwannee basin, Florida –Unknown source

Detail: Franquelin’s map of Louisiana, 1684, 2026-06-26 –Florida Center for Instructional Technology, College of Education, University of South Florida

Florida Center for Instructional Technology, College of Education, University of South Florida, Detail – Franquelin’s map of Louisiana, 1684

Title: Detail – Franquelin’s map of Louisiana
Projection: Unknown
Source Bounding Coordinates:
W: E: N: S:

Description: This detail is from a 1896 reproduction of a map originally printed in 1684 relating to a Jesuit Relationships manuscript. As noted by the Library of Congres, “Reduced facsimile of MS. copy (made in Paris for Francis Parkman), now in the Library of Harvard University. The original, formerly in the Archives de la Marine, Paris, has been lost.” The alternate title for this map is “Carte de la Louisiane ou des voyages du Sr. De La Salle.”
Place Names: Before 1700,
ISO Topic Categories: inlandWaters, oceans, society
Keywords: Detail – Franquelin’s map of Louisiana, physical, political, historical, physical features, major political subdivisions, inlandWaters, oceans, society, Unknown,1684
Source: Jean Baptiste Louis Franquelin, Jesuit Relations, vol. 63, frontispiece (, : , 1896)
Map Credit: Courtesy of the Geography and Map Division of the Library of Congress

Map: Detail of Detail: Franquelin’s map of Louisiana, 1684, 2026-06-26 –Florida Center for Instructional Technology, College of Education, University of South Florida

In which we see yet another name for the Suwannee River: Rio de Spiritu Sancte, which is French for River of the Holy Spirit.

Map: Indigenous Peoples Of Florida, 2023-06-08 –KiwiNova, Wikimedia Commons

FR

DATA AND CONCEPTUALIZATION EVALUATION OF The Alapaha River Sink Rise System, 2021-06-25, –Intera GEOSCIENCE & ENGINEERING SOLUTIONS for SRWMD
PDF

Figure 37: Swallet-derived Flow Contribution to the Alapaha Rise at Jasper. 2021-06-25, –Intera GEOSCIENCE & ENGINEERING SOLUTIONS for SRWMD
PDF

He also sent a sound snippet describing when De Soto came to the Suwannee River, ate local Timucua food, enslaved local people, and continued his depedations elsewhere. It’s from De Soto Versus the Mississippians – Chapter 13 of 24 of Ancient Civilizations of North America, in The Great Courses.

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can help with clean, swimmable, fishable, drinkable, water in the 10,000-square-mile Suwannee River Basin in Florida and Georgia by becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations/

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