Laguna del Espiritu Santo or Lagoon of the Holy Spirit, was first mentioned in the annals of history in a story related during the early 16 century by Escalonte de Fontaneda. The Spaniard was captured by the Caloosa Indians and was held as a slave. He escaped after 17 years and claimed the natives had told him of a great lake.

In 1564, two Spaniards shipwrecked on the Gulf Coast of Florida were struggling through the uncharted wilderness of Florida's interior trying to make their way to St. Augustine. In their travels, they reported the sighting of a great lake of freshwater.

Lake Mayacco and Lake Macoco were other names applied over the years to the second largest freshwater lake in the United States. The "Big Water", which is the translation of Indian words "Oki" "Chobee", remained as her final name.. It measures 467,200 square acres which is an area large enough to hold 500,000 football fields!

The lake's existance remained shouded in mystery until the mid-1830's when the US Army pursued Indians to its shores during the Seminole Wars.

The backwaters	The shallows
Early morning on the lake	Marsh grass in the shallows

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