Black River (settlement)
Encyclopedia
The Black River settlement was a British
settlement on the Mosquito Coast
of present-day Honduras
. It was established in 1732 by a British colonist named William Pitt (likely a distant relative of contemporary British politician, William Pitt the Elder). The settlement, made on territory claimed but never really controlled by Spain
, was evacuated in 1787 pursuant to terms of the Anglo-Spanish Convention of 1786. The Spanish then attempted to colonize the area, but the local Miskitos massacred most its inhabitants on September 4, 1800. The settlement was abandoned, and its remains are near the village of Palacios in the Honduran
department of Gracias a Diós.
of present-day Honduras
and Nicaragua
was a tropical tangle of swamps and lagoons in the 18th century, much as it still is today. The area was first explored by Christopher Columbus
in 1502. The area where this settlement was established is a lagoon near the mouth of what was then called the Black River, Río Negro, or Río Tinto, but is now known as the Sico River
(or Río Sico). The lagoon is in the northwestern corner of the Honduran department of Gracias a Dios, between the Caratasca Lagoon
and the present-day port city of Trujillo, which was then the site of a small Spanish settlement.
At the time of its settlement, the sand bar at the river mouth was sufficiently high to prevent the passage of most ocean-going ships of the time, a feature that significantly aided the settlement's defence and longevity.
contacts in the area were in 1633 by colonists of the Providence Company who had settled the islands of San Andrés
and Providencia
. Since they were principally interested in trade with the natives, the Miskitos reacted more favorably to them. On the capture of those islands by the Spanish in 1641, some of the colonists probably fled to the shore and were taken in by the natives. The region was also a stopping point for pirates
, and its population became somewhat more mixed when a slave ship
foundered in the area, eventually resulting in a mixed-race zambo
population.
An informal relationship was established between Miskito rulers and British colonial administrators in Jamaica
, in which Miskito leaders traveled to Jamaica or even England to receive education and have their status confirmed. In the late 17th century, British pioneers began logging in the area that is now Belize
, to the great annoyance of Spanish authorities, who made numerous largely fruitless attempts to evict British settlers from that area. During the War of the Spanish Succession
early in the 18th century, there were reports of British settlers living on the Mosquito Coast.
During the 1720s the Spanish made numerous attempts to eliminate the British presence on the Belize shore. Many of the settlers retreated, either inland, or to the Mosquito Coast, when the Spanish came in force, and generally returned after the Spanish left. In 1732, one of these British loggers, William Pitt, decided to stay. Pitt's exact lineage is uncertain, but he was probably descended from Thomas Pitt
, whose descendants also include William Pitt the Elder, a contemporary of the settlement's founder.
led Jamaica's military governor to request Pitt's assistance in gaining Miskito support in the event of military action, sending Lieutenant Colonel Robert Hodgson to negotiate an agreement with them. Hodgson used Black River as a base for raids against Spanish settlements during the war.
The settlement received a more permanent British military presence in 1744 after the war widened into the War of the Austrian Succession
. It remained untouched during the war, despite demands from King Philip
for its removal. The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle
in 1748, which ended the hostilities, specified that colonial territories should be restored to the status quo ante bellum
. Spain interpreted this to include the abandonment of British settlements on all of its claimed territory in Central America, while the British claimed that, since Spain had never controlled the area, it was not Spanish territory to return. The British military fortified the lagoon entrance and maintained a small company of infantry at the settlement, but withdrew it in 1751 due to a lack of manpower.
broke out in 1756, Hodgson was sent back to Black River, and its fortifications were beefed up. According to a Spanish report, the settlement had 213 palm-thatched houses, 100 white inhabitants, 600 slaves, and 3,000 armed Miskito and zambos living nearby, along with 30 British regulars. A report prepared by Hodgson in 1757 numbered the white British population of the entire coast at more than 1,000. In the same report, he valued that year's exports from the coast at £25,000, and described the community as an effective entrepôt
for direct trade with the natives, and also indirect trade with the Spanish, all supplied by cargos whose origins were sometimes of dubious legality.
The Spanish did not enter into the Seven Years' War until 1762. While King Charles
ordered the taking of Black River and Belize, the British capture of Havana effective scuttled the idea, and the Miskitos raided many Spanish settlements, ranging as far as Costa Rica
. While the 1763 Treaty of Paris
secured British logging rights in Belize, it contained language concerning the Mosquito Coast settlements similar to that in the 1748 treaty, setting the stage for further conflict. When a Spanish representative arrived to oversee what the Spanish believed to be the agreed destruction of Black River's fortifications, he was shown a letter from London
containing the British interpretation of the treaty language; only the intervention of Pitt and James Ottaway, the military commander, prevented his killing at the hands of the Miskitos.
While the land occupied was purchased from the Miskito, these new acquisitions led to grumbling among the Miskito about the fairness of the price they were getting for the land. This led the British superintendent, Robert Hodgson, Jr, (the son of Hodgson and Pitt's daughter Elizabeth), to attempt the establishment of a land title registry and political structures that other British colonies possessed. This led to internal divisions within the independent and free-spirited settlers, and demands for Hodgson's recall. The Jamaican governor delayed until increasing complaints about Hodgson, among them affidavits concerning his attempt to gain possession of Great Corn Island by driving out its settlers,* were reviewed and relayed to London that orders were issued in 1775 for his recall. *Ref. CO/137/66 p.92, British National Archives.
Settlers and natives participated in the British capture of Omoa
in October 1779, but Spanish colonial authorities recaptured the fort there after its garrison was reduced by tropical disease. Most of Black River's military garrison, and a large number of Miskito allies, were recruited to participate in Britain's disastrous 1780 expedition against Nicaragua
. The Spanish took advantage of the settlement's weakened defences to raid it, scattering its inhabitants and destroying some of its fortifications. While a large garrison was left at Black River upon the abandonment of the San Juan expedition, it was reduced in late 1781.
In March 1782, more than 1,300 Spanish troops led by Matías de Gálvez, the Captain General of Spanish Guatemala
arrived, overwhelming the British garrison that then numbered just 21 men. Lawrie resisted as best he could, but the arrival of even more Spanish troops, he abandoned the fortifications and fled with his men through the jungle to Cape Gracias a Dios. He was eventually able to regroup a force of about 800 locals. Combined with a supporting force from Jamaica led by Edward Marcus Despard
, he returned to Black River, where the Spanish garrison had been significantly reduced by disease. Lawrie and Despard regained control of Black River
, taking more than 700 Spanish prisoners.
that ended the war confirmed Spanish sovereignty over Belize, but again contained ambiguous language concerning the coastal settlements. This revived the old arguments that the settlements were not part of the "Spanish Continent" that the treaty referred to, and the British moved in 1785 to begin fortifying the area again. A strong show of force by the British moved the Spanish to request negotiations on the issue. In the Convention of London
, signed 14 July 1786, Britain agreed to evacuate the Mosquito Coast in exchange for an expansion of rights in Belize.
James Lawrie supervised the evacuation of the shore. A total of 2,650 people were evacuated from the shore. Most of whom went to Belize, but others went to Jamaica, Grand Cayman
, and Roatán
. Control of Black River was formally turned over to Spanish authorities on 29 August 1787 by his son (and grandson of founder William Pitt) William Pitt Lawrie.
to take over the settlement, but it was an economic failure. Spanish attempts to run the settlement on a purely legitimate basis (without the illicit trade that flourished under the British) were not successful, and their trade with the natives was hampered by not providing goods useful to the natives for trade or other purposes, and by ongoing British smuggling.
The settlement came to a final end when a band of Miskito warriors descended on the town on the morning of 4 September 1800, and slaughtered many of its inhabitants. Those that survived fled overland to Trujillo.
Kingdom of Great Britain
The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...
settlement on the Mosquito Coast
Mosquito Coast
The Caribbean Mosquito Coast historically consisted of an area along the Atlantic coast of present-day Nicaragua and Honduras, and part of the Western Caribbean Zone. It was named after the local Miskito Indians and long dominated by British interests...
of present-day Honduras
Honduras
Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...
. It was established in 1732 by a British colonist named William Pitt (likely a distant relative of contemporary British politician, William Pitt the Elder). The settlement, made on territory claimed but never really controlled by Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, was evacuated in 1787 pursuant to terms of the Anglo-Spanish Convention of 1786. The Spanish then attempted to colonize the area, but the local Miskitos massacred most its inhabitants on September 4, 1800. The settlement was abandoned, and its remains are near the village of Palacios in the Honduran
Honduras
Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...
department of Gracias a Diós.
Geography
The Mosquito CoastMosquito Coast
The Caribbean Mosquito Coast historically consisted of an area along the Atlantic coast of present-day Nicaragua and Honduras, and part of the Western Caribbean Zone. It was named after the local Miskito Indians and long dominated by British interests...
of present-day Honduras
Honduras
Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...
and Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
was a tropical tangle of swamps and lagoons in the 18th century, much as it still is today. The area was first explored by Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus was an explorer, colonizer, and navigator, born in the Republic of Genoa, in northwestern Italy. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European awareness of the American continents in the...
in 1502. The area where this settlement was established is a lagoon near the mouth of what was then called the Black River, Río Negro, or Río Tinto, but is now known as the Sico River
Sico River
-References:*Rand McNally, The New International Atlas, 1993.*CIA map: :Image:Honduras rel 1985.jpg*UN map: :Image:Un-honduras.png*...
(or Río Sico). The lagoon is in the northwestern corner of the Honduran department of Gracias a Dios, between the Caratasca Lagoon
Caratasca Lagoon
The Caratasca Lagoon is a large lagoon in the department of Gracias a Dios in northeastern Honduras. Puerto Lempira, the capital of the department, lies on its shores....
and the present-day port city of Trujillo, which was then the site of a small Spanish settlement.
At the time of its settlement, the sand bar at the river mouth was sufficiently high to prevent the passage of most ocean-going ships of the time, a feature that significantly aided the settlement's defence and longevity.
17th century
Early attempts by the Spanish to settle the area were frustrated by the terrain, tropical conditions, lack of valuable resources, and hostile natives, in particular the Miskito Indians. The first BritishKingdom of Great Britain
The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...
contacts in the area were in 1633 by colonists of the Providence Company who had settled the islands of San Andrés
San Andrés (island)
San Andrés is a coral island among the Colombian islands in the Caribbean Sea; it is the largest island of the southern group of islands. Together with the nearby island of Providencia and some smaller islands of the southern group of the Colombian archipelago, San Andrés forms the department of...
and Providencia
Providencia Island
Isla de Providencia or Old Providence is a mountainous Caribbean island. Though it is closer to Nicaragua, it is part of the Archipelago of San Andres, Providencia and Santa Catalina, a department of Colombia, lying midway between Costa Rica and Jamaica...
. Since they were principally interested in trade with the natives, the Miskitos reacted more favorably to them. On the capture of those islands by the Spanish in 1641, some of the colonists probably fled to the shore and were taken in by the natives. The region was also a stopping point for pirates
Piracy
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence at sea. The term can include acts committed on land, in the air, or in other major bodies of water or on a shore. It does not normally include crimes committed against persons traveling on the same vessel as the perpetrator...
, and its population became somewhat more mixed when a slave ship
Slave ship
Slave ships were large cargo ships specially converted for the purpose of transporting slaves, especially newly purchased African slaves to Americas....
foundered in the area, eventually resulting in a mixed-race zambo
Zambo
Zambo or Cafuzo are racial terms used in the Spanish and Portuguese Empires and occasionally today to identify individuals in the Americas who are of mixed African and Amerindian ancestry...
population.
An informal relationship was established between Miskito rulers and British colonial administrators in Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
, in which Miskito leaders traveled to Jamaica or even England to receive education and have their status confirmed. In the late 17th century, British pioneers began logging in the area that is now Belize
Belize
Belize is a constitutional monarchy and the northernmost country in Central America. Belize has a diverse society, comprising many cultures and languages. Even though Kriol and Spanish are spoken among the population, Belize is the only country in Central America where English is the official...
, to the great annoyance of Spanish authorities, who made numerous largely fruitless attempts to evict British settlers from that area. During the War of the Spanish Succession
War of the Spanish Succession
The War of the Spanish Succession was fought among several European powers, including a divided Spain, over the possible unification of the Kingdoms of Spain and France under one Bourbon monarch. As France and Spain were among the most powerful states of Europe, such a unification would have...
early in the 18th century, there were reports of British settlers living on the Mosquito Coast.
During the 1720s the Spanish made numerous attempts to eliminate the British presence on the Belize shore. Many of the settlers retreated, either inland, or to the Mosquito Coast, when the Spanish came in force, and generally returned after the Spanish left. In 1732, one of these British loggers, William Pitt, decided to stay. Pitt's exact lineage is uncertain, but he was probably descended from Thomas Pitt
Thomas Pitt
Thomas Pitt , born at Blandford Forum, Dorset, to a rector and his wife, was a British merchant involved in trade with India....
, whose descendants also include William Pitt the Elder, a contemporary of the settlement's founder.
British settlement
Pitt realized that the Black River area provided an ideal location for a settlement for several reasons. One was that the immediately surrounding land could be cultivated, providing crops for food and export, and there was a rich supply of jungle and sea product to export. The area had a number of water channels leading inland to facilitate (illegal, according to the Spanish) trade with the local natives. Finally, the entrance to the lagoon from the sea was a narrow channel blocked by a shifting sand bar, making a seaborne attack virtually impossible.Early years
By 1739 the settlement had grown to the point that Spanish authorities recognized it as a credible threat to their claims, and considered military action against it. Rising tensions between Britain and Spain that led to the War of Jenkins' EarWar of Jenkins' Ear
The War of Jenkins' Ear was a conflict between Great Britain and Spain that lasted from 1739 to 1748, with major operations largely ended by 1742. Its unusual name, coined by Thomas Carlyle in 1858, relates to Robert Jenkins, captain of a British merchant ship, who exhibited his severed ear in...
led Jamaica's military governor to request Pitt's assistance in gaining Miskito support in the event of military action, sending Lieutenant Colonel Robert Hodgson to negotiate an agreement with them. Hodgson used Black River as a base for raids against Spanish settlements during the war.
The settlement received a more permanent British military presence in 1744 after the war widened into the War of the Austrian Succession
War of the Austrian Succession
The War of the Austrian Succession – including King George's War in North America, the Anglo-Spanish War of Jenkins' Ear, and two of the three Silesian wars – involved most of the powers of Europe over the question of Maria Theresa's succession to the realms of the House of Habsburg.The...
. It remained untouched during the war, despite demands from King Philip
Philip V of Spain
Philip V was King of Spain from 15 November 1700 to 15 January 1724, when he abdicated in favor of his son Louis, and from 6 September 1724, when he assumed the throne again upon his son's death, to his death.Before his reign, Philip occupied an exalted place in the royal family of France as a...
for its removal. The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle
Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748)
The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle of 1748 ended the War of the Austrian Succession following a congress assembled at the Imperial Free City of Aachen—Aix-la-Chapelle in French—in the west of the Holy Roman Empire, on 24 April 1748...
in 1748, which ended the hostilities, specified that colonial territories should be restored to the status quo ante bellum
Status quo ante bellum
The term status quo ante bellum is Latin, meaning literally "the state in which things were before the war".The term was originally used in treaties to refer to the withdrawal of enemy troops and the restoration of prewar leadership. When used as such, it means that no side gains or loses...
. Spain interpreted this to include the abandonment of British settlements on all of its claimed territory in Central America, while the British claimed that, since Spain had never controlled the area, it was not Spanish territory to return. The British military fortified the lagoon entrance and maintained a small company of infantry at the settlement, but withdrew it in 1751 due to a lack of manpower.
Seven Years' War
When the Seven Years' WarSeven Years' War
The Seven Years' War was a global military war between 1756 and 1763, involving most of the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines...
broke out in 1756, Hodgson was sent back to Black River, and its fortifications were beefed up. According to a Spanish report, the settlement had 213 palm-thatched houses, 100 white inhabitants, 600 slaves, and 3,000 armed Miskito and zambos living nearby, along with 30 British regulars. A report prepared by Hodgson in 1757 numbered the white British population of the entire coast at more than 1,000. In the same report, he valued that year's exports from the coast at £25,000, and described the community as an effective entrepôt
Entrepôt
An entrepôt is a trading post where merchandise can be imported and exported without paying import duties, often at a profit. This profit is possible because of trade conditions, for example, the reluctance of ships to travel the entire length of a long trading route, and selling to the entrepôt...
for direct trade with the natives, and also indirect trade with the Spanish, all supplied by cargos whose origins were sometimes of dubious legality.
The Spanish did not enter into the Seven Years' War until 1762. While King Charles
Charles III of Spain
Charles III was the King of Spain and the Spanish Indies from 1759 to 1788. He was the eldest son of Philip V of Spain and his second wife, the Princess Elisabeth Farnese...
ordered the taking of Black River and Belize, the British capture of Havana effective scuttled the idea, and the Miskitos raided many Spanish settlements, ranging as far as Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
. While the 1763 Treaty of Paris
Treaty of Paris (1763)
The Treaty of Paris, often called the Peace of Paris, or the Treaty of 1763, was signed on 10 February 1763, by the kingdoms of Great Britain, France and Spain, with Portugal in agreement. It ended the French and Indian War/Seven Years' War...
secured British logging rights in Belize, it contained language concerning the Mosquito Coast settlements similar to that in the 1748 treaty, setting the stage for further conflict. When a Spanish representative arrived to oversee what the Spanish believed to be the agreed destruction of Black River's fortifications, he was shown a letter from London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
containing the British interpretation of the treaty language; only the intervention of Pitt and James Ottaway, the military commander, prevented his killing at the hands of the Miskitos.
Prosperity and internal friction
Over the following years the settlement continued to grow and prosper. Trade (legal and illegal) flourished, and plantations grew around the town. A 1771 report put the coast's white population around 200, with 90 of those at Black River. There were about 900 slaves, and more than 100 people of mixed blood, and the settlements documented exports had risen substantially since the 1757 report. The settlement began to expand more rapidly in the 1771 with major investments led by James Lawrie, a British captain who had been posted to the coast several times.While the land occupied was purchased from the Miskito, these new acquisitions led to grumbling among the Miskito about the fairness of the price they were getting for the land. This led the British superintendent, Robert Hodgson, Jr, (the son of Hodgson and Pitt's daughter Elizabeth), to attempt the establishment of a land title registry and political structures that other British colonies possessed. This led to internal divisions within the independent and free-spirited settlers, and demands for Hodgson's recall. The Jamaican governor delayed until increasing complaints about Hodgson, among them affidavits concerning his attempt to gain possession of Great Corn Island by driving out its settlers,* were reviewed and relayed to London that orders were issued in 1775 for his recall. *Ref. CO/137/66 p.92, British National Archives.
Later years
James Lawrie was appointed the settlement's superintendent in 1776, and governed it until its final evacuation in 1787. A Spanish captain reported in that year that the town, which he was able to see from his ship, had four wood-construction houses with shingled roofs, a hospital, and an active sawmill and shipyard. Black River continued to be the economic center of the shore, which, although it was still economically viable, had suffered somewhat from a decline in the value of its exports. The ongoing uncertainty over its legal status was also becoming of increasing concern to politicians in London, especially when Spain entered the War of American Independence in 1779, citing among other reasons the British failure to evacuate the coastal settlements in 1763.Settlers and natives participated in the British capture of Omoa
Battle of San Fernando de Omoa
The Battle of San Fernando de Omoa was a short siege and battle between British and Spanish forces fought not long after Spain entered the American Revolutionary War on the American side...
in October 1779, but Spanish colonial authorities recaptured the fort there after its garrison was reduced by tropical disease. Most of Black River's military garrison, and a large number of Miskito allies, were recruited to participate in Britain's disastrous 1780 expedition against Nicaragua
San Juan Expedition
right|Route of the San Juan Expedition through UtahThe San Juan Expedition was a group of Mormon settlers intent on establishing a colony in what is now southeastern Utah, in the western United States...
. The Spanish took advantage of the settlement's weakened defences to raid it, scattering its inhabitants and destroying some of its fortifications. While a large garrison was left at Black River upon the abandonment of the San Juan expedition, it was reduced in late 1781.
In March 1782, more than 1,300 Spanish troops led by Matías de Gálvez, the Captain General of Spanish Guatemala
Captaincy General of Guatemala
The Captaincy General of Guatemala , also known as the Kingdom of Guatemala , was an administrative division in Spanish America which covered much of Central America, including what are now the nations of Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, and the Mexican state of Chiapas...
arrived, overwhelming the British garrison that then numbered just 21 men. Lawrie resisted as best he could, but the arrival of even more Spanish troops, he abandoned the fortifications and fled with his men through the jungle to Cape Gracias a Dios. He was eventually able to regroup a force of about 800 locals. Combined with a supporting force from Jamaica led by Edward Marcus Despard
Edward Marcus Despard
Edward Marcus Despard was an Irish soldier who served in the British Army. During the American War of Independence. Despard led a force to victory at the Battle of the Black River, securing the British presence on the Mosquito Coast. Following the war Despard was appointed Superintendent of what...
, he returned to Black River, where the Spanish garrison had been significantly reduced by disease. Lawrie and Despard regained control of Black River
Battle of the Black River
The Battle of Black River was a series of conflicts between April and August 1782 during the American War of Independence. They were fought between British and Spanish forces for control of the Black River settlement, located on the Caribbean coast of present-day Honduras. Spanish forces forced...
, taking more than 700 Spanish prisoners.
End of British control
The 1783 Treaty of ParisTreaty of Paris (1783)
The Treaty of Paris, signed on September 3, 1783, ended the American Revolutionary War between Great Britain on the one hand and the United States of America and its allies on the other. The other combatant nations, France, Spain and the Dutch Republic had separate agreements; for details of...
that ended the war confirmed Spanish sovereignty over Belize, but again contained ambiguous language concerning the coastal settlements. This revived the old arguments that the settlements were not part of the "Spanish Continent" that the treaty referred to, and the British moved in 1785 to begin fortifying the area again. A strong show of force by the British moved the Spanish to request negotiations on the issue. In the Convention of London
Convention of London (1786)
The Convention of London, also known as the Anglo-Spanish Convention, was an agreement negotiated between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Spain concerning the status of British settlements on the Mosquito Coast of Central America...
, signed 14 July 1786, Britain agreed to evacuate the Mosquito Coast in exchange for an expansion of rights in Belize.
James Lawrie supervised the evacuation of the shore. A total of 2,650 people were evacuated from the shore. Most of whom went to Belize, but others went to Jamaica, Grand Cayman
Grand Cayman
Grand Cayman is the largest of the three Cayman Islands and the location of the nation's capital, George Town. In relation to the other two Cayman Islands, it is approximately 75 miles southwest of Little Cayman and 90 miles southwest of Cayman Brac.-Geography:Grand Cayman encompasses 76% of...
, and Roatán
Roatán
Roatán, located between the islands of Útila and Guanaja, is the largest of Honduras' Bay Islands. The island was formerly known as Ruatan and Rattan...
. Control of Black River was formally turned over to Spanish authorities on 29 August 1787 by his son (and grandson of founder William Pitt) William Pitt Lawrie.
Spanish settlement
The Spanish acquired a settlement with a main road about a mile in length, with plantations extending 15 miles (24.1 km) along the waterways in the area, and two sugar mills. They brought in settlers from the Canary IslandsCanary Islands
The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...
to take over the settlement, but it was an economic failure. Spanish attempts to run the settlement on a purely legitimate basis (without the illicit trade that flourished under the British) were not successful, and their trade with the natives was hampered by not providing goods useful to the natives for trade or other purposes, and by ongoing British smuggling.
The settlement came to a final end when a band of Miskito warriors descended on the town on the morning of 4 September 1800, and slaughtered many of its inhabitants. Those that survived fled overland to Trujillo.