FREE ESSAY ON PONCE DE LEON

PONCE DE LEON

Ponce de Leon was a sailor and explorer for Spain. He had been given governorship of
Hispaniola where he soon discovered that on Puerto Rico gold was found. He soon
conquered
the island and was given governorship of it. From the gold he became very wealthy. He
soon
learned of an Indian tale of an island called Bimini. On the Island There were supposedly
lots if
gold and pearls and a mystical fountain that could restore ones youth.
Ponce de Leon asked for and received permission to conquer and settle in the island of
Bimini. On March 3, 1513 he sailed from Puerto Rico with three ships. Sailing around the
northwest corner of Cuba, he then looked for Bimini among the Bahaman Islands. Finally,
on
Easter Sunday, March 13, he landed on the coast near present day St. Augustine. He called
the
land Pascua Florida. After searching a few days for gold, pearls, and that elusive
fountain, and
finding none of them, he turned south. 
Along the southeast coast of Florida near the Indian River, they met the Ais Indians.
The
Ais called out to Ponce de Leon, so he went ashore. They then tried to take the boat from
the
Spanish. In the ensuing fight, an Indian clubbed a Spaniard on the head, resulting in an
all day
battle between the two. From a captured Indian, they learned that the land was called
Cautio by
the Ais. Incidentally, the Bahaman Indians called the land, Canico or Cancio.
From there, the expedition sailed south around the Florida keys, and up the west coast
of
Florida to an area near the present-day Sanibel Island. There they battle with the Calusa
Indians,
led by their chief, Cacique Carlos. Again, there was an all day fight, which led to the
Spaniards
retreat. Turning southward across the Gulf of Mexico, the explorers came across a group
of
islands where they replenished their food supply with the turtles on the islands. They
named
them Tortugas, after the turtles. From there, they returned to Cuba, then back to the
Bahamas,
then Puerto Rico, seven months later. 
The King of Spain knighted Ponce de Leon and made him governor of Florida. He also
commanded him to settle the island and subdue the Carib Indians, who were raiding the
natives
of Puerto Rico. The Caribs were known for their maritime abilities, crossing the
Caribbean in
huge canoes with as many as 50 people in them. Their fierce fighting ability kept Ponce
de Leon
from returning to Florida until 1521. 
Ponce de Leon left Santa Domingo with two ships carrying two hundred colonist and all
kinds of domestic animals. They landed on the west coast of Florida near Charlotte
Harbor,
where the Calusa had driven them off before. Before they could erect buildings, they
were
attacked, and Ponce de Leon wounded with a poison arrow. The colonists got into their
ships and
left- one ship was blown to the coast of Mexico; the other, with Ponce de Leon, reached
Cuba
where he died of his wound.