Editing Juan Ponce de León (section)

===First voyage to Florida in 1513===
{{Spanish colonization of the Americas|boxwidth=100px}}
Rumors of undiscovered islands to the northwest of [[Hispaniola]] had reached Spain by 1511, and [[Ferdinand II of Aragon|Ferdinand]] was interested in forestalling further exploration and discovery by Colón. In an effort to reward Ponce de León for his services, Ferdinand urged him to seek these new lands outside the authority of Colón. Ponce de León readily agreed to a new venture, and in February 1512 a royal contract was dispatched outlining his rights and authorities to search for "the Islands of Beniny".{{sfn|Fuson|2000|pp=88–91}}

The contract stipulated that Ponce de León held exclusive rights to the discovery of Beniny and neighboring islands for the next three years. He would be governor for life of any lands he discovered, but he was expected to finance all costs of exploration and settlement himself. In addition, the contract gave specific instructions for the distribution of gold, Native Americans, and other profits extracted from the new lands; the contract made no mention  of a rejuvenating fountain.{{sfn|Weddle|1985|p=40}}{{sfn|Fuson|2000|pp=92–95}}{{sfn|Lawson|1946|pp=84–88}}

Ponce de León equipped three ships with at least 200 men, including several Africans, at his own expense and set out from Puerto Rico on 4 March 1513.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |last2= |first2= |title=African Americans in St. Augustine 1565-1821 - Castillo de San Marcos National Monument (U.S. National Park Service) |url=https://www.nps.gov/casa/learn/historyculture/african-americans-in-st-augustine-1565-1821.htm |access-date=2024-12-04 |website=www.nps.gov |language=en}}</ref> The only near contemporary description known for this expedition comes from [[Antonio de Herrera y Tordesillas]], a Spanish historian who apparently had access to the original ships' logs or related secondary sources from which he created a summary of the voyage published in 1601.{{sfn|Fuson|2000|pp=99–103}}{{sfn|Weddle|1985|p=51}}{{sfn|Fuson|2000|pp=103–115}} The brevity of the account and occasional gaps in the record have led historians to speculate and dispute many details of the voyage.

The three ships in this small fleet were the ''Santiago'', the ''San Cristobal'' and the ''Santa Maria de la Consolacion''. Anton de Alaminos was their chief pilot. He was already an experienced sailor, and would become one of the most respected pilots in the region. After leaving Puerto Rico, they sailed northwest along the great chain of Bahama Islands, known then as the Lucayos.{{sfn|Turner|2012|p=5}}

Herrera wrote that on 27 March 1513, Easter Sunday, they sighted land he described as an island that was unfamiliar to the sailors on the expedition. Because many Spanish seamen were acquainted with the Bahamas, which had been depopulated by slaving ventures, some scholars believe that this "island" was actually Florida, as it was thought to be an island for several years after its formal discovery.{{sfn|Turner|2012|p=5}} Historian and marine archeologist Samuel Turner says that Ponce de León sighted the Florida coast on Easter Sunday of 1513, and that many historians have misinterpreted Herrera's text by claiming it was one of the Bahama Islands Ponce saw on that date. Turner writes that because Beimini is described as an island, they assume that Herrera refers to one of the Bahama Islands, variously proposing that this "island" was [[Eleuthera]],  [[Man-O-War Cay]], [[Great Abaco]],{{sfn|Weddle|1985|pp=40–41}} or [[Grand Bahama]].{{sfn|Turner|2013|pp=8–9}}

For the next several days the fleet crossed open water until [[Timeline of Florida History|2 April]], when they sighted land which Ponce de León believed was another island. He named it ''[[Spanish Florida|La Florida]]'' in recognition of the verdant landscape and because it was the [[Easter]] season, which the Spaniards called ''[[Pascua Florida]]'' (Festival of Flowers). The following day they came ashore to seek information and take possession of this new land.{{sfn|Morison|1974|p=507}}{{sfn|Steigman|2005|p=33}}

The precise location of their landing on the Florida coast has been disputed for many years. Some historians believe it occurred at or near [[St. Augustine, Florida|St. Augustine]],{{sfn|Lawson|1946|pp=29–32}} but others prefer a more southerly landing at a small harbor now called [[Ponce de León Inlet]].{{sfn|Morison|1974|p=507}} Some believe that Ponce came ashore even farther south near the present location of [[Melbourne Beach, Florida|Melbourne Beach]],{{sfn|Peck|1993|p=39}}<ref name=BBN>Datzman, Ken. "Did the famous explorer Ponce de León first hit Melbourne Beach", ''[[Brevard Business News]]'', vol 30, no. 1 (Melbourne, Florida: 2 January 2012), pp. 1 and 19.</ref> a hypothesis first proposed by Douglas Peck, an amateur historian who attempted to reconstruct the track of the voyage sailing in his 33-foot [[Bermuda rig|Bermuda-rigged]] sailboat. Samuel Turner dismisses this theory,{{sfn|Turner|2013|p=15}} pointing out that Ponce's fleet encountered a storm on 30 March, sailing in it for two days, with no indication in Herrera of the wind direction or how strong it was, and that this fact complicates any attempt to reconstruct the voyage (not to mention that Peck's boat was nothing like the Spanish ships). On 2 April, after the weather improved, Ponce's pilot Anton de Alaminos took a [[Celestial navigation|navigational fix]] by the sun at noon in nine fathoms of water with a [[Quadrant (instrument)|quadrant]] or a [[mariner's astrolabe]], and obtained a reading of 30 degrees, 8 minutes of latitude, the coordinate recorded in the ship's log when it was closest to the landing site, as reported by Herrera (who had the original logbook) in 1601.{{sfn|Turner|2012|p=5}}{{sfn|Turner|2013|pp=9–15}} This latitude corresponds to a spot north of St. Augustine between what is now the [[Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve]] and [[Ponte Vedra Beach]].{{sfn|Turner|2012|p=5}}{{sfn|Turner|2013|pp=14–15}} The expedition sailed north for the remainder of the day before anchoring for the night and rowing ashore the next morning.

After remaining in the area of their first landing for about five days, the ships turned south for further exploration of the coast. On 8 April they encountered a current so strong that it pushed them backwards and forced them to seek anchorage. The smallest ship, the ''San Cristobal'', was carried out of sight and lost for two days. This was the first known encounter by Europeans with the [[Gulf Stream]], occurring where it reaches maximum force between the Florida coast and the Bahamas. Because of the powerful boost provided by the current, it would soon become the primary route for eastbound ships leaving the Spanish West Indies bound for Europe.{{sfn|Weddle|1985|p=42}}

They continued down the coast hugging the shore to avoid the strong head current. By 4 May the fleet reached and named [[Biscayne Bay]]. They took on water at an island they named Santa Marta (now [[Key Biscayne]]) and explored the [[Tequesta]] Miami mound town at the mouth of the Miami River. The Tequesta people did not engage the Spanish, but instead evacuated into the coastal woodlands. On 15 May they left Biscayne Bay and sailed along the [[Florida Keys]], looking for a passage to head north and explore the west coast of the Florida peninsula.{{sfn|Weddle|1985|p=42}}

From a distance the Keys reminded Ponce de León of men who were suffering, so he named them ''Los Martires'' (the Martyrs).{{sfn|Weddle|1985|p=42}} Eventually they found a gap in the reefs and sailed "to the north and other times to the northeast" until they reached the Florida mainland on 23 May, where they encountered the [[Calusa]], who refused to trade and drove off the Spanish ships by surrounding them with warriors in sea canoes armed with long bows.{{sfn|Weddle|1985|pp=43–44}}
[[File:DSC0018a.jpg|thumb|180px|[[Statue of Juan Ponce de León|Ponce de León's statue]] in Plaza San José, San Juan, Puerto Rico<ref>[http://www.lmsj.org/sitios.htm San Juan municipality] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100902090750/http://lmsj.org/sitios.htm |date=2 September 2010 }}</ref>]]

Again, the exact site of their landfall is controversial.  The vicinity of [[Charlotte Harbor, Florida|Charlotte Harbor]] is the most commonly identified spot, while some assert a landing further north at [[Tampa Bay]] or even [[Pensacola, Florida|Pensacola]].<ref name=Allen97>Allen, pp. 215–216.</ref> Other historians have argued the distances were too great to cover in the available time and the more likely location was [[Cape Romano]] or [[Cape Sable]].<ref name=Allen97/> Here Ponce de León anchored for several days to take on water and repair the ships. They were approached by [[Calusa]], who initially indicated an interest in trading, but relations soon turned hostile.{{sfn|Weddle|1985|pp=43–45}}{{sfn|Fuson|2000|pp=108–110}}

Several skirmishes followed with casualties on both sides. The Spaniards captured eight Calusa (four men and four women) and seized five war canoes abandoned by the retreating warriors. On 5 June, a final confrontation occurred when some 80 Calusa warriors attacked a party of eleven Spanish sailors. The result was a standoff with neither party willing to come within striking distance of their opponents' weapons.{{sfn|Weddle|1985|pp=43–45}}{{sfn|Fuson|2000|pp=108–110}}

On 14 June they set sail again looking for a chain of islands in the west that had been described by their captives. They reached the [[Dry Tortugas]] on 21 June.{{sfn|Marley|2008|pp=9–11}} There they captured giant sea turtles, [[Caribbean monk seal]]s, and thousands of seabirds. From these islands they sailed southwest in an apparent attempt to circle around Cuba and return home to Puerto Rico. Failing to take into account the powerful currents pushing them eastward, they struck the northeast shore of Cuba and were initially confused about their location.{{sfn|Weddle|1985|p=45}}

Once they regained their bearings, the fleet retraced their route east along the Florida Keys and around the Florida peninsula, reaching [[Grand Bahama]] on 8 July. They were surprised to come across another Spanish ship, piloted by [[Diego Miruelo]], who was either on a slaving voyage or had been sent by [[Diego Colón]] to spy on Ponce de León. Shortly thereafter Miruelo's ship was wrecked in a storm and Ponce de León rescued the stranded crew.

From here the little fleet disbanded. Ponce de León tasked the ''Santa Maria'' with further exploration while he returned home with the rest of crew. Ponce de León reached Puerto Rico on 19 October 1513 after having been away for almost eight months. The other ship, after further explorations returned safely on 20 February 1514.{{sfn|Weddle|1985|pp=46–47}}

Although Ponce de León is widely credited with the discovery of Florida, he almost certainly was not the first European to reach the peninsula. Spanish slave expeditions had been regularly raiding the Bahamas since 1494 and there is some evidence that one or more of these slavers made it as far as the shores of Florida.{{sfn|Fuson|2000|pp=88–89}} Another piece of evidence that others came before Ponce de León is the [[Cantino planisphere|Cantino Map]] from 1502, which shows a peninsula near Cuba that looks like Florida's and includes characteristic place names.

====Fountain of Youth====
{{main|Fountain of Youth}}

According to a popular legend, Ponce de León discovered Florida while searching for the Fountain of Youth. Though stories of vitality-restoring waters were known on both sides of the Atlantic long before Ponce de León, the story of his searching for them was not attached to him until after his death. In his ''Historia general y natural de las Indias'' of 1535, [[Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés]] wrote that Ponce de León was looking for the waters of ''Bimini''.{{sfn|Oviedo|1851|p=482}}

A similar account appears in [[Francisco López de Gómara]]'s ''Historia general de las Indias'' of 1551.<ref>Francisco López de Gómara. ''Historia General de las Indias'', second part.</ref> Then in 1575, [[Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda]], a shipwreck survivor who had lived with the Native Americans of Florida for 17 years, published his memoir in which he locates the waters called the River Jordan (flowing out of Eden) in Florida,<ref name="Gruman2003">{{cite book |last1=Gruman |first1=Gerald Joseph |title=A History of Ideas About the Prolongation of Life |year=2003 |publisher=Springer Publishing Company |isbn=978-0-8261-1875-2 |page=35 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1NllD8F_dfcC&pg=PA35 |quote=Juan Ponz [''sic''] de León... went from Florida in search of the River Jordan... that he might become young from bathing in such a stream.}}</ref> and says that Ponce de León was supposed to have looked for them there.<ref>[http://www.keyshistory.org/Fontenada.html "Fontaneda's Memoir"]. Translation by Buckingham Smith, 1854. From keyshistory.org. Retrieved 28 March 2007.</ref>

Though Fontaneda doubted that Ponce de León had really gone to Florida looking for the waters, the account was included in the ''Historia general de los hechos de los castellanos'' of [[Antonio de Herrera y Tordesillas]] of 1615. Most historians hold that the search for [[gold]] and the expansion of the [[Spanish Empire]] were far more imperative than any potential search for such a fountain.<ref name="Douglas">{{cite book|author=Douglas, Marjory Stoneman|year=1947|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sPjDLXqemQ0C&q=Did+Juan+Ponce+de+Le%C3%B3n+actually+land+in+Florida%3F&pg=PA99|title=The Everglades: River of Grass|publisher=[[Pineapple Press]]|access-date=30 March 2008|isbn=9781561641352}}</ref><ref name="Sauer1975">{{cite book|author=Carl Ortwin Sauer|title=Sixteenth Century North America: The Land and the People as Seen by the Europeans|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EWXU6sjN9ZUC&pg=PA26|year=1975|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-02777-0|page=26}}</ref>