Miniature Mare

The first Paleo-Indians reached the central Florida area near the end of the last ice age, as they followed big game south. As the ice melted and sea levels rose, these Native Americans ended up staying and thrived on the peninsula for thousands of years. By the time the first Spanish conquistadors arrived, there were over 250,000 Native Americans living on the peninsula. The Calusa were a historic tribe across the north central area of Florida, where Trenton later developed. Within 150 years, the majority of the pre-Columbian Native American peoples of Florida died of new infectious diseases or warfare, with their societies disrupted.