Long before the Spaniards arrived in Florida, Alachua County's unique combination of fertile soil, broad prairies, clear lakes and abundant game had spawned a complex Indian Civilization called Timucuan. Throughout the sixteenth century Spanish explorers like DeSoto plundered the region, then Franciscan priests founded missions and finally ranchers established a large cattle ranch on Payne's Prairie. During the early 1700s the English and their Indian allies destroyed these missions and later the Seminole Indians made settlements around Micanopy.