 In 1832 the Legislative Council of the Territory of Florida incorporated a company to dig a canal from the head of Matanzas Lagoon to Smith's Creek, a tributary of the Halifax River.With this act a memorial was presented to Congress seeking financial assistance and land grants; subsequently five sections were appropriated for the proposed canal.The company intended to commence the canal at "Mala Compra" plantation and dig it southward a distance of about 11 or 12 miles through a rich wet savanna, parallel with the coast, to Smith's Creek, about four miles north of John Bulow's plantation.