Juan Ponce de Leon
(born 1460?, Santervas de Campos,
Valladolid
, Leon [Spain]?died 1521,
Havana
, Cuba) was a Spanish explorer who founded the first European settlement on
Puerto Rico
and who is
credited
with being the first European to reach
Florida
in 1513.
Born into a noble family, Ponce de Leon was a page in the royal court of
Aragon
and later fought in a campaign against the
Moors
in
Granada
. It is possible that he began his career of exploration in 1493 as part of
Christopher Columbus
’s second expedition to the New World. In 1502 he was in the
West Indies
as a captain serving under
Nicolas de Ovando
, governor of
Hispaniola
. As a reward for suppressing an Indian mutiny, Ponce de Leon was named by Ovando to be the provincial governor of the eastern part of Hispaniola. Hearing persistent reports of
gold
to be found on
Puerto Rico
, Ponce de Leon in 1508?09 explored and settled that island, founding the colony’s oldest settlement, Caparra, near what is now
San Juan
. He then returned to Hispaniola and was named governor of Puerto Rico but was soon displaced from the governorship through the political maneuvering of
rivals
.
Britannica Quiz
Exploration and Discovery
Juan Ponce de Leon
The expedition of Juan Ponce de Leon searching for the Fountain of Youth in Florida in 1513.
The Spanish crown encouraged Ponce de Leon to continue searching for new lands. Tradition holds that he had learned from Indians of an island called
Bimini
(in the Bahamas) on which there was a miraculous spring or fountain that could rejuvenate those who drank from it (the Fountain of Youth). Although the quest for this fabled site might have been a contributing influence to Ponce de Leon’s explorations, modern scholarship suggests that it was not the primary motive.
He led a privately outfitted
expedition
from Puerto Rico in March 1513 and in April of that year landed on the coast of Florida at a site between modern
Saint Augustine
and
Melbourne Beach
. At the time he did not realize that he was on the mainland of
North America
and instead supposed he had landed on an island. He named the region Florida because it was discovered at
Easter
time (Spanish: Pascua Florida) and because it abounded in lush, florid vegetation. He coasted southward, sailing through the
Florida Keys
and ending his search near
Charlotte Harbor
on Florida’s west coast. He then returned to Puerto Rico and thence to
Spain
, where he secured the title in 1514 of military governor of Bimini and Florida with permission to colonize those regions.
In 1521 Ponce de Leon sailed again for Florida, with two ships and 200 men, and landed near Charlotte Harbor. On this occasion he was
wounded
by an arrow during an Indian attack, and he died after being returned to
Cuba
. Puerto Rico’s third largest city, Ponce, is named in his honour.