The Tequesta were the first indigenous people in South Florida. Oldest Tequesta sites put them living in the area from 2,000 BC.
Archaeology in Fort Lauderdale
Indians lived at the mouth of the Miami River for more than 15 centuries before White men came. The principal town of the Tequesta Indians, including six mounds used for dwelling, burial, and religious rites, was discovered in the Miami area by the Spaniards. They built in it the earliest White settlement in SE Florida a fort and Jesuit mission in 1567. When the British obtained Florida in 1763, most of the Tequestas departed with the Spaniards to Havana and there after vanished as a tribe.
Seminole War
The Second Seminole War began in Fort Lauderdale in 1836, tensions between Seminoles and Pioneers were high when two men were accused of murdering a Seminole chief. The men were arrested but were released. This resulted in the Seminoles attacking settlers along the New River and Miami River.
