Ponce de Leon and the Early Exploration of Florida
Juan Ponce de Leon was born in 1460, in Tierra de Campos Paleia, in Leon, Spain (Ponce, 1996).
He came from a noble family and entered the royal household as a page for Pedro Nunez de Guzman, at the
Court of Aragon. Later, young Ponce de Leon would become a solider for Spain and fight in the battles to
drive the Moors from Granada (Blassingame, 1991).
In 1493, Leon sailed with Christopher Columbus on his second voyage to America (Ponce, 1996).
He was a member of the forces that enslaved the Indians in Hispaniola.This was the European and Spanish
way. Few explores would look upon the natives they encountered as anything more than talking animals.
For the year of 1502 he was a captain under the governor of Hispaniola, Nicolas de Ovando (Thompson,
1990). During his time as captain he would suppress an Indian uprising. For this he was rewarded with the
governorship of Higuey (Blassingame, 1991).
Ponce de Leon would remain in Hispaniola until 1503. In this year he would be intrigued by the
tales of gold to be found in Borinquen, known as the modern Puerto Rico (Ponce, 1994). He sailed to
explore and settle the island. He landed on August 12, 1508 and soon conquered the island and was
granted governorship of the island. There he carved himself a large estate, where he built a castle
Ovanado was soon replaced with Diego Columbus, as governor of Hispaniola. And Columbus
placed Juna Ceron as the new governor of Puerto Rico. For two years Leon fought to keep his
governorship, but he was removed from the position. He was advised by King Ferdinand to find new land
The Indians of Hispaniola worked as slaves for the Europeans. They would tell great stories of a
place called Bimini. It was a land filled with great riches. Ponce de Leon heard a different story from an
old Indian woman. She added an interesting twist to ...