The history of the city of Miami as we know it today is a fairly recent one, but the events that influenced certain groups of people to seek out fame, fortune, and in one case, eternal youth, stretch out centuries back, to the "discovery" of the New World. Follow suit, and learn about the hidden (and some say, the true) history of Miami. Miami is a city accustomed to change; its whole history is written in short paragraphs. Kindred history in Miami is no exception. The history of the Kindred in the south of Florida begins some four hundred years ago. Although there are unconfirmed reports that a Kindred sailed to the New World with Christopher Columbus in his first voyage, this has never been proven true and is thought to be mere myth by scholars. What is confirmed is that by the late 1500's a small population of Kindred, of varied clans, had already made the voyage to the New World and had established in different places throughout North, Central and South America and the Caribbean in the following years. The area of South Florida was, at the time, covered by the Everglades, a land unsuitable for Kindred lifestyle, and also under the control of the Garou. Eventually, waves of civilization drove both the Garou and the Everglades further back everyday; enough to colonize the land and begin the settlement of what would become the modern city of Miami. Miami's history begins somewhere in the 1800's, as the wave of humanity moved further south looking for new lands to develop and warmer climates. Life in south Florida was harsh and unforgiving for the first settlers, but eventually small communities formed and thrived, enough to encourage others to follow. It was in this wave that the first Kindred made their move to this part of the continent. Little is known of those days in respect to Kindred life. It is known that they managed to mingle in society but were hunted, as always, and when their myths grew too large for comfort, almost all decided to pack and leave for northern lands. Kindred history in Miami is unimportant until the late 1800's and early 1900's, when the boom in population hit Miami and the nearby area and wave upon wave of people made the trek south to the warm shores of south Florida. Records from this time were mostly destroyed during later events, but a few remain, placing two very influential Kindred right in the thick of things from the very beginning: a Spanish gentleman, owner of three small properties in booming Miami Beach, one Diego Jose Alcazar y Montoya, and a woman of society who would visit numerous times a year, Anastasia Taylor. Little did history know what role these two figures would play to this very day. Miami, for the most part, developed on it's own with little influence from Kindred in the city. Anastasia traveled back and forth to the city to supervise some of her under-the-table projects, such as Coral Gables and The Biltmore, as well as two clubs on Miami Beach, but did not make Miami her permanent home until sometime in the forties. Diego, along with his pack at the time, took control of the city for the Sabbat early on. Under his rule as Archbishop of Miami, the city prospered unmolested, mostly due to Diego's skills as Prince. It was because of this that Anastasia never saw the need to overthrow the Sabbat leader, something that appalled the Toreador's clanmates in other cities. The truth was, in Anastasia's eyes, that regardless of faction or personal belief, Diego had done a marvelous job of guiding the budding city. He allowed the presence of other Kindred in the city a long as they recognized his and the Sabbat's rule and they caused no problems. This policy suited Anastasia well, as it allowed her to work in peace while in the city. Next