Juan Pardo (explorer)

Juan Pardo (explorer)

Juan Pardo was a Spanish explorer and conquistador who was active in the later half of the sixteenth century. He led a Spanish expedition through what is now North and South Carolina and into eastern Tennessee. He established Fort San Felipe, South Carolina (1566), and the village of Santa Elena on present-day Parris Island, the first Spanish settlements in South Carolina. While leading an expedition deeper in-country, Pardo founded Fort San Juan at Joara, the first Spanish settlement (1567–1568) in the interior of North Carolina.