THE JEAGA INDIANS
It is not known whether the Jeaga were the descendants of the earlier prehistoric occupants of the site or later intruders into the area. In any case, by mid-18th century they were gone, victims of European diseases and wars and possibly of Indian groups pushing into Florida from the north, who may also have assimilated the last remaining Jeaga..
Painting available at www.floridalosttribes.com
JOBE INDIANS
After returning from St. Augustine, Juan Ponce De Leon turned into the Jupiter Inlet and met the fierce and hostile Jobe Indians. At first the Indians appeared to be friendly and called the Spanish sailors to shore. When Juan Ponce De Leon went ashore, the Jobe Indians immediately “tried to take his boat, the oars, and their weapons.” After a short fight, Juan Ponce De Leon escaped.
Painting available at www.floridalosttribes.com
SHELL MOUNDS
The large shell mound on which the DuBois House sits is the most prominent surface feature of the Jupiter Inlet. It is one of the last remnant coastal shell mounds in southeast Florida. Large shell mounds along coasts, rivers, and estuaries represent accumulations of years of consumption of shellfish, fish, and turtles by Native American inhabitants.
FIRST EUROPEANS
After Ponce De Leon's visit in 1513 there were no more visitors until 1565 when Pedro Menendez de Avilas left a small garrison in the inlet. A year later the outpost was abandoned, after the starving and terrified soldiers mutinied. Then in 1696 John Dickinson and his party were shipwrecked on Jupiter Island and held captive for three days by the Hobe Indians.
DISCOVERIES
Characteristic Archaic period artifacts, dating to about 5,000-500 B.C., such as large chert (flint) dart points, polished greenstone celts (small ax heads) and plummets, and fiber-tempered pottery (some of which are now in the Museum's permanent collection), were collected during mining operations at the eastern mound.