Juan Ponce

Juan Ponce. . , Juan Ponce was born in 1460 in the village of San Cervas in the province of Campos in northern Spain. Historians agree on the place but not the date. Some claim it to be 1470, one believes it was 1474. He was trained as a soldier and fought against the Moors in southern Spain in the successful effort to drive them from Granada. , In 1493 he joined Christopher Columbus on his second voyage to the New World. He landed in Santa Domingo, Hispaniola (now the Dominican Republic). In the ensuing years he married an inn keeper's daughter named Leoner and they had 4 children , a son Luis and 3 daughters , Juana, Isabel and Maria. , In 1502, as the "Captain Of the people of war of Santo Domingo" he was successful in putting down an Indian revolt in what is now Haiti and was appointed Governor of Higuey Province. , In 1508 he was sent to the island of San Juan de Borinquen (now Puerto Rico) to explore and conquer it. He did such a good job he was appointed governor in 1509 but was soon removed by Diego Columbus who wanted the position for himself. In 1512 he was issued a permit by King Ferdinand to discover Bimini. , In 1513 at his own expense he hired 3 ships, The Santiago, The San Cristobel and The Santa Maria de La Consolacion and departed Puerto Rico on March 3rd. On March 27th, Easter Sunday, they sighted an island and continued north until they anchored offshore on April 2nd and came ashore here on April 3rd. He thought he had discovered an island, which he named La Florida, the flower. , He left here on April 8th and sailed south around the tip of Florida. He discovered the Gulf Stream which became very important to the Spanish Galleons of the treasure fleets on the voyage to Spain. This new route was weeks faster. , Historians think he landed again on May 23rd near Fort Myers even though no monuments have been discovered. His log mentions a bay, a river and some islands that seem to fit the area. He returned to Puerto Rico October 15th, 1513. , He hired two ships and February 26th, 1521 he left Puerto Rico on an expedition to explore more of La Florida's west coast, to see if it was an island or connected to the lands Cortez had discovered to the southwest (Mexico). He also intended to establish a colony near where he had landed in 1513 since he knew it was well supplied with fresh water.