Exploration

Juan Ponce de León

once de León was born in 1460 in San Servos, León. At the age of 33 he accompanied Christopher Columbus on his second voyage to America. A few years later, from 1510 to 1512, he was governor of the island Boriquen (now Puerto Rico), which he conquered.

As time went by, Ponce de León come to hear that on an island known as Bimini, which lay north of Cuba, lay a fountain of youth (able to restore lost youthfulness). As he believed these tales of the Native Americans, he appealed to the Spanish court, and in 1512 got royal approval to find, annex and colonize the island. In 1513 Ponce de León se sail from Puerto Rico, leading an expedition, and in late March of that year land was sighted. It was believed to be the shore of the legendary Bimini, but it actually was the Eastern Shore of present day Florida. He had landed just north of what is today known as St. Augustine. On April 2nd 1513 he landed just north of what is today known as St. Augustine. He named the region Florida, as he found it on Easter Sunday, in Spain known as "flowery Easter", or" Pascua Florida".

Still believing Florida to be an island, he attempted to sail around it; first south to present-day Key West, then north up the west coast, and then south again.

In 1513 Ponce de León arrived back in Puerto Rico, and from 1515 to 1521 he attempted to subdue the restless Native Americans. In 1521 he left Puerto Rico with 200 people and numerous domestic animals to colonize Florida. Upon landing on Florida's Western Coast, Native Americans attacked the expedition, and Ponce de León seriously wounded. The mission withdrew swiftly and headed for Cuba. Unfortunately Ponce de León died in 1521 shortly after their arrival.