ily:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
color:black;mso-themecolor:text1">Direct Spanish rule over the area having been
established, Ovando founded a settlement not far from the coast (west of
Etang
Saumâtre),
ironically named Santa Maria de la Paz Verdadera, which would be abandoned
several years later. Not long thereafter, Ovando founded Santa Maria del
Puerto. The latter was first burned by French explorers in 1535, then again
in 1592 by the English. These assaults proved to be too much for the Spanish
colonial administration, and in 1606, it decided to abandon the region.
For more than 50 years, the area that is
today
