the previous
d' Anghiera wrote: Ponce explored and investigated among the farthest countries
an island calledby us [Bimini] ; there is a fountain continuing throughout the year that is
so remarkable, that the water of this fountain being drunk makes old men young," Still, it
is not certain whether this fountain was originally one of the objects of Ponce's search and
thus a reason for his expedition, or whether he heard of the phenomenon in the course of
his voyage and reported its purposed existence afterward to his king.3
Juan Ponce de Leon was born in San Campos, Leon, in the year of 1460. His
mother was a daughter of Don Rodrigo Ponce de Leon, one of the heroes of the wars to
expel the Moors. Ponce de Leon is said to have resembled his grandfather in both
Ponce de Leon was the first explorer to claim a part of North America's mainland
for Spain. On his first voyage to the New World, he was accompanied by Christopher
Columbus. Ponce de Leon soon became a soldier in the Spanish settlement of Hispaniola
in the West Indies. From approximately 1502-1504, he led Spanish forces against the
brutal Indians in Higuey, the eastern province of Hispaniola. After they conquered them,
Juan Ponce de Leon was appointed governor as his reward. He left the island of
Hispaniola in 1508 to explore Puerto Rico and found gold on the island; furthermore, he
conquered the island within a year. Ponce de Leon became governor in 1509 and then
rose to be a very wealthy and powerful man. He governed Puerto Rico for about three
years. Political rivals removed him from office in 1512. This is when he received
permission from King Ferdinand to colonize the island of Bimini. In 1513, he led an
expedition to the various different areas of the Bahamas and other several unknown
islands. In April of 1513, Ponce de Leon found Florida. He claimed Florida part of Spain
and continued to...