Mission San Luis

Mission San Luis, established by Spanish members of the Order of Friars Minor (the Franciscans), served the Apalachee Indians located in present day Leon and Jefferson Counties. Its name may have been a tribute to Luis Horruytiner, the governor who began the mission effort. San Luis was established shortly after 1633 at Xinayca near the present State Capitol and the Hernando de Soto winter campsite of 1539-40.

The mission was moved in 1656 to Talimali, an important Apalachee town. For three generations, Mission San Luis was the religious and military administrative center for the Apalachee region. In addition to 1500 Apalachees, the Mission was home to the Deputy Governor, soldiers, friars and Spanish settlers.

On July 31,1704, two days before Colonel James Moore and a column of Carolina militiamen and Creek warriors reached Talimali, the mission, town and fort were evacuated and burned to keep the enemy from using them. Colonel Moore destroyed many mission villages and enslaved thousands, forever ending Apalachee’s Fransiscan missions.

Apalachee descendants now live in Louisiana and remain Roman Catholic. The State of Florida purchased the Mission San Luis site in 1983 to protect it for future generations.