Born 1460,
Tierra de Campos Palencia, Spain
Died July 1521,
Havana, Cuba
Juan Ponce de León was born in the village of Tierra de Campos Palencia in Spain. As a boy he was a page in the royal court of Aragon; later he served in various military campaigns against the Muslims in southern Spain until, in 1492, they were driven out of Granada. After sailing with Christopher Columbus (see entry) in 1493 on his second voyage to the New World, Ponce de León remained in Santo Domingo, which is the present-day Dominican Republic.
In 1504 Ponce de León took part in a campaign against Native Americans in the Dominican province of Higüey in the northern part of the island. As a reward for Ponce de León’s role in suppressing an insurrection, the governor of Hispaniola named him provincial governor of the eastern part of Hispaniola. In 1508 a Native American from the neighboring island of Borinquen, which was later named Puerto Rico by the Spanish, arrived in Santo Domingo with a large nugget of gold. Since Europeans were always interested in gold, Ponce de León led an expedition to Puerto Rico. After finding traces of gold, he returned to the island in 1509 with settlers and founded Capara, the colony’s oldest settlement, near presentday San Juan. Following his conquest Ponce de León was named governor of the new Spanish possession.
During the takeover of Puerto Rico, Ponce de León had been so ruthless in his treatment of the Native Americans that reports of his behavior were sent back to Spain. He was removed from office when Columbus’s son Diego was confirmed as Spanish viceroy in the Caribbean with the power to make all appointments. By the time Ponce de León left Puerto Rico, however, he was a wealthy man.
In order to make up for his loss, Ponce de León was given the right to find and take possession of Bimini, which is today one of the islands in the Bahamas. In the early sixteenth century it was the name for a vague region north of Santo Domingo and Cuba that contained “the fountain of youth.” According to myth, anyone who drank from the fountain would have eternal youth. Ponce de León is generally believed to have organized an expedition at his own expense for the purpose of finding the fountain; however, many historians contend that he was more interested in the tales of wealth in the new land.
Whatever his intent, Ponce de León left the port of San Germain, Puerto Rico, with three ships in March 1513. They sailed northwest, stopping at Grand Turk Island and then at San Salvador, the first place sighted by Columbus, where they stayed for a few days. They continued sailing northwest until they sighted land on April 2, which was Palm Sunday. Ponce de León landed on the mainland of North America, near the site of modern-day St. Augustine, Florida; at the time he did not realize he had landed on the continent, instead thinking he had found an island. He named the new land Florida, perhaps because of the flowers he saw—florida means flowery in Spanish—or as a remembrance of Easter, which is la pascua florida in Spanish. The next day Ponce de León took possession of Florida in the name of the king of Spain.
On April 8 Ponce de León and his party sailed south; however, they were slowed down by a heavy current, the Gulf Stream, which Ponce de León is credited with discovering and which opened a new route for travel from Spain to North America. As the Spaniards were sailing along the shore some Native Americans signaled for them to land; as the party came ashore the Native Americans tried to take their boat. Fighting erupted, and two Spaniards were wounded. Farther south, at a place called Santa Cruz, which is now probably Jupiter Inlet, Ponce de León seized a Native American as a hostage who also served as pilot.
Still searching for Bimini, the Spanish ships sailed through the Florida Keys and the Dry Tortugas to Cuba and back to Florida. Having no luck, they sailed back to Spain via the Bahamas; one of the ships went off to continue the search for Bimini and found Andros Island.
Ponce de León returned to Puerto Rico, where he once again became involved in putting down Native American rebellions. After order had been restored he went back to Spain to report on his Florida expedition to King Ferdinand. The king named him captain-general in September 1514 and commissioned him to continue the search for Bimini. On his return to the Caribbean, Ponce de León led an unsuccessful campaign against the Caribs in the islands south of Puerto Rico. He remained in Puerto Rico for five years before leaving on a voyage to find Bimini.
Ponce de León left Puerto Rico in February 1521 with two ships and 200 men. The party landed on the west coast of Florida, probably near present-day Charlotte Harbor. When they went ashore they were met by a large force of Native Americans who shot a volley of arrows at the intruders. Hit by one of the arrows, Ponce de León was taken aboard the flagship and transported to Cuba. When he died in July 1521 he was buried under the main altar of the Dominican church in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The inscription on his tomb reads: “Beneath this stone repose the bones of the valiant Lion [the León in his name means “lion”] whose deeds surpassed the greatness of his name.”
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