had been ordered to kill all Protestants he found in the New World. "Matanzas" means "killings" or "slaughters" in Spanish. Matanzas is thus the tenth-oldest surviving European place-name in the US. See also List of rivers of Florida List of rivers of the Americas by coastline References The Columbia Gazetteer of North America, 2000 Fort Matanzas National Monument at National Park Service Rivers of Florida Intracoastal Waterway Bodies of water of Flagler County, Florida Bodies of water of St. Johns County, Florida North Florida