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Welcome To My Page About Ponce De Leon
I have Made this page for your information. In this page I shall talk mainly about Juan Ponce De Leon's achivements and failures. He did some amazing things, not only did he discover Florida, but also the Yucatan Peninsula and Puerto Rico. And thats only some of the things he did. |
His Discovery of Puerto Rico
On November 19, 1493, Ponce de Leon was one of the first Europeans to see the small island of Borinquen, the Indian name for Puerto Rico. He sailed back to Puerto Rico in 1506 with 200 men and found out that it had rich gold deposits. The natives were friendly and helped his men establish a port on the island; they also gathered gold for Ponce de Leon. In return, he offered the natives protection from the Caribs who often attacked the native villages. |
Being Govenor
In 1508, Ponce de Leon left Puerto Rico and then returned with only 50 men. After he finally arrived in Puerto Rico he became the governor of the island and became very rich. In 1511 King Ferdinand ordered him to be replaced as governor by Diego Columbus. Life would have been very difficult in Puerto Rico if he had stayed, since most of his power was taken when he was replaced as governor.
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His Quest For The Fountain of Youth
It was at this time that Ponce de Leon started searching for the fountain of youth. “The specific reasons for Ponce de Leon’s search for the fountain of youth are unknown, however many historians feel that it was not only to discover the age restorative waters but also for the gold and silver that was supposed to be at the site of the fountain. Ponce de Leon explored many regions in his search for the fountain of youth, including the Bahamas and Bimini.”
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The Outcome of his search for the Fountian of Youth
He discovered many places that would later be invaded or attempted to be invaded by the Spanish. Some of these places you may have been to, like Florida, The Yucatan Peninsula and many islands in the Bahamas. In 1513 He left Puerto Rico with three ships. He landed in what is now St. Augustine in March 13th of the same year. There are two stories about why it was named Florida. The First is that he named it after Pascua Florida, a Spanish Easter holiday that took place around the time that he discovered it. The other story said that he named it Florida (which means flower in Spanish) because the land was full of flowers at the time when he landed. The natives were quite friendly, just like in Puerto Rico. After searching for gold, other riches and that reclusive fountain he decided to move on. Next he landed in the Yucatan Peninsula and called it Bimini after the land that the place that the fountain was supposed to be located. |
His Journey For The Fountian
The map (Above) shows what he found while searching for the fountian of youth. Orange is land he discovered, blue is pre-existing spanish land, purple is other land, and green is the path he took
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