Following the failed La Trinidad expedition, Don Luis went to live in Seville where he became a follower of the Jesuits. Despite the failed 1566 expedition, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés decided to authorize another expedition to find Don Luis’ hometown of Ajacán in the New World. This time, however, things were going to be different. The leader of the new expedition was Fray Juan Bautista de Segura. After being named Vice Provincial of La Florida in 1567, Fray de Segura sailed to St. Augustine in the following year.
When Pedro Menéndez told Fray de Segura of the new Ajacán mission, he was very enthusiastic about it, however, Fray de Segura told Menéndez that he wanted this expedition to have no soldiers with them since they may be tempted to commit sinful and immoral acts. While Menéndez did not agree, Fray de Segura’s wish was granted, and shortly thereafter, Fray de Segura alongside Don Luis, another Jesuit priest and a few other passengers, sailed from Spain to the island of Cuba. In August 1570, they sailed from Cuba to the Spanish settlement at Santa Elena (on today’s Parris Island, South Carolina) where they stocked up on religious items and were joined by several Jesuits living there who decided to join them on their new expedition. One of them included a 13-year old altar boy named Alonso “Alonsito” de Olmos. From Santa Elena, they launched towards Ajacán. On September 10, 1570, they found land not too far from where the British settlement of Jamestown would later be founded.
As they were following Don Luis in locating his home village of Kiskiack, the Jesuits set up camp along the way where they built a small wooden hut and a chapel. In the first two days, things appeared to be normal. The local cacique, or chief, enjoyed hearing the missionaries preach the Gospel, and Don Luis served his purpose as an interpreter between the missionaries and the locals. When the ship left, however, things began to take a turn for the worst. The area was going through a draught and food sources were hard to come by. To make things worse, Don Luis’ behavior began to change, and he began isolating himself more and more from the missionaries including adopting the custom of polygamy, common amongst his people, which displeased the missionaries.
Don Luis then went to Fray de Segura and asked if he could go visit his uncle, the head Chief, with the excuse that he was going to find more Indians to evangelize as well as food sources for the mission. Fray de Segura granted his request, and Don Luis, under the guise of using them to gather natural resources, took all of the mission’s tools and axes with him. A few days had passed, and there was no word of Don Luis. Meanwhile, life on the mission was not easy, and missionaries had to survive on roots and local berries, and weather became much colder by the time winter came. Fray Luis Francisco de Quiros, another one of the Jesuit priests at the mission, requested Spanish authorities send them grain to grow food, but his requests were never timely fulfilled.
In February 1571, Fray de Segura sent Fray de Quiros and two others to locate Don Luis. Along the way, Don Luis and several Powhatan Indians encountered the trio and slaughtered them. They then made their way to the mission site where they slaughtered the remaining missionaries. The only survivor of the mission was “Alonsito” de Olmos, who was spared because of his youth. Don Luis and his men wanted to kill Aloncito, but the young boy escaped to a rival Indian chief near the coast of the Chesapeake Bay where he found refuge. When the Spanish sent the requested supply ship to Ajacán later that year, the Spanish were attacked by Powhatan Indians dressed in the clothing of the dead missionaries. Unlike the previous ship, however, Spanish soldiers were present on-board and two Chiefs were captured. After interrogation by the Spanish, they divulged that “Alonsito” de Olmos was the only survivor and that he was still alive.
When Pedro Menéndez de Avilés heard of this, he ordered yet another ship to return to Ajacán to rescue the boy. In August 1572, four Spanish warships manned by around 150 soldiers arrived in Ajacán, and they killed around twenty Powhatan Indians in the ensuing battle, with nine of their corpses being hung from the ship’s rigging. “Alonsito” de Olmos was saved and taken to safety at Santa Elena. Don Luis, however, was never found or heard of ever again. Today, nobody knows exactly where the site of the Santa Maria de Ajacán mission was located in Virginia, but the story of the Jesuits who died at this early mission and of "Don Luis" who betrayed them are forever engrained in the Virginia soil.
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