Juan Ponce de León
Spain 1474 - 1521
Juan Ponce de León sailed with Christopher
Columbus on Columbus’ second
voyage to the “New World”. Juan was a Spanish soldier
in Hispañola. In 1508 Juan Ponce de León left Hispañola
to explore Puerto Rico. He discovered gold there. He was one
of the people that conquered Puerto Rico for Spain.
In 1512 the
King of Spain told Juan Ponce de León to explore
and settle an island named Bimini (north of Puerto Rico). Native
people had told Ponce de León that he could find gold
and silver there.
Ponce
de León
left Puerto Rico to search for Bimini in 1513. Juan Ponce de
León visited many islands
that Europeans did not even know existed! In late March 1513,
he landed on Florida’s
northeastern coast near St. Augustine. He didn’t know he
landed in Florida, he thought he was on another island! When
he came ashore, he claimed the land for Spain and said it now
belonged
to the Spanish king.
In 1521 the King of Spain told Juan
Ponce de León to return
to Florida to build a town. The Native People got very angry
at Juan for trying to build a town on their land. The natives
attacked
Juan’s settlement. Juan Ponce de León was shot in
the chest with an arrow and died. He was buried in Puerto Rico.
The
United States Yesterday and Today
Authors:
Timothy Helmus, Edgar Toppin, Norman Pounds, Val Arnsdorf
Silver
Burdett & Ginn Inc, 1990
(Chapter 4: Exploration
and Discovery page 98)
Back
to Geography and Explorers
|
