The original inhabitants of the Pensacola
Bay area were Native American peoples. At the time of European contact, a
Muskogean-speaking tribe known to the Spanish as the Pensacola lived in the
region. This name is not recorded until 1677, but the tribe appears to be the
source of the name "Pensacola" for the bay and thence the city. The
area's recorded history begins in the 16th century, when the first European
explorers arrived. Pensacola Bay was visited by the expeditions of Pánfilo de
Narváez in 1528 and Hernando de Soto in 1539, at which time it was known as the
Bay of Ochuse.
