 In 1733, 19 ships of the Spanish treasure fleet were wrecked on the nearby Florida Reef by a hurricane; some of the survivors camped on Indian Key until they were rescued.Beginning in the 18th century, Bahamians and Cubans used Indian Key as a base for fishing, turtling, logging, and wrecking.Crews might stay on the island for months at a time, but there were no permanent settlers.