What led several early cartographers to shift Tampa?

As we have seen, Tampa was an important town of the Calusa Indians, perhaps their capital, in Charlotte Harbor.

In addition, many early seafarers considered as one body of water what we now treat separately as Carlos Bay, Pine Island Sound and Charlotte Harbor. The obvious entrance to this complex was through Carlos Bay, though deeper channels penetrated the outer island chain directly into Pine Island Sound and Charlotte Harbor.

Celi, for example, seems to have considered all this water as Carlos Bay. On his way north he noted Carlos Bay and Boca Grande Pass -- the latter being the real entrance into Charlotte Harbor -- but made no mention of what we now call Charlotte Harbor.

It was logical, therefore, for the commercial map makers back home to place Tampa farther up the coast in accordance with reports of that bay being the next north of Carlos Bay. Even so, Williams' map of 1827 still correctly places Toempe Island in the southern part of Charlotte Harbor.

Whatever Roman's understanding, Tampa as a place name moved north to supplant Celi's Spanish cognomen. Perhaps Romans found no existing name locally, or simply was looking for an opportunity to curry favor with his sovereigns. He named the large harbor which mixes its water with that of Carlos Bay after the Queen of England. And so it has remained.

WEST COAST DEPTHS

We have two references to depth in Roman's journal, "The Natural History of Florida." In a section headed "Instructions To Go To Pensacola" he writes:

"The safest way (from Dry Tortugas) is to run N 1/2E 35 leagues, by which means you will make the land in lat. 25 degrees 46N (actually 26 degrees 42 1/2); where is a large harbour called Charlotte Harbor. Here, in case of necessity, you may refresh, as it affords excellent water in many places, especially on a high island (Bokeelia?) whose north end is a broken bluff (a 50-foot shell mound) and which shows itself very remarkable as soon as you are well shot in.

"There are four or five inlets into this bay, but the one that lies in the above latitude (Boca Grande) is deepest. It has 15 or 16 feet of water on the bar. The southernmost is the next best and has

14 feet on its bar (Carlos). This lies in 26 degrees 30 minutes (actually 26° 261/2') and is remarkable for the coast taking a sudden turn from NNW to directly West, only for about nine or ten miles, when it again resumes its former direction.

"This nook in the land forms what the Spaniards call Ensenada de Carlos. The piece of coast that trends E and W is the beach of an island called Sanybel. This place is further remarkable for a great number of pine trees without tops standing at the bottom of the bay. There is no place like to it in the whole extent of this coast. The northernmost entrance is likewise remarkable for a singular hommock of pine trees, or a grove, standing very near the beach, than which there is none like it any where hereabouts."

The "pine trees without tops" probably were the remaining pilings of wharfs and sheds of the several "fisheries" located in this area. Christianized natives, often with a mixture of Spanish blood, operated several commercial fishing and drying camps in the area as early as 1574 to serve the large Cuban market.

In the section headed, "Directions to Sail Into Charlotte Harbor," Romans said:

"The northernmost inlet into this harbour is in latitude 26 degrees 46. The surest mark to find it by is the clump or hommock of pine trees standing near the north end of the island. Bring those trees to bear ESE and run in for them till you are in 15-foot water, which is the bar. Then, change your course to ENE and you will presently deepen your water to 4, 5, 6, and even 10 fathom, with working room between the banks for a fleet. Keep the north breaker on board, and run in close to the north shore, which is the south end of Gasparilla Island. When in you may pick your anchoring ground, but the bay is flat when in, and the further you go in the less water you will find."

It is interesting to note here another instance of name misplacement which may be related to the confusion of Tampa's location. On maps by Puente drawn in 1765 and 1768, the bay and island of Gasparilla (Spanish for "little Gaspar") is shown just north of the entrance to Tampa Bay.

ISLANDS AND PASSES

A map by Jose de Evia in 1783, however, shows "Boca de Fr. Gaspar" at the present location of Gasparilla Pass between Gasparilla and Little Gasparilla Islands just north of the Boca Grande entrance to Charlotte Harbor. It is ironic that the island named for some beloved friar