The Old Spanish Trail is celebrated in poem by Brogan. The Trail was established in St. Augustine, Florida, with the arrival of Ponce de Leon in Tampa Bay in 1539, searching for the mythical Fountain of Youth. Shortly thereafter, Franciscans Friars who accompanied the Spaniards founded their first mission at St. Augustine. Spreading generally westward in their efforts to convert the native, the Franciscans unwittingly founded the Old Spanish Trail. The Trail became a critical trade route, particularly in the far West. Most early settlers from the East coast followed a more-Northern route since New England and states such as Virginia were more populated than, say, Florida. Also, much of the beginning of the Spanish Trail ran through the swamps of places like New Orleans; not exactly conducive to wagon trains.