Quotes About Calusa

Spanish observers reported a traditional practice: that on the death of a Calusa ruler, or of his principal wife, a certain quota of their subjects' sons and daughters had to be put to death. By most definitions, all this would make Carlos not just a king, but a sacred king, perhaps divine.

With the men standing between five feet eight and five feet ten, they were inches taller than the average Spanish soldier—taller than Cushing. The twice repulsion of a formidable conquistador and the dispossession of his dreams made the Calusa larger-than-life figures in European New World mythology.