ANeww o m.»TheFountaino fYouth
T osixteenthcent u ry Europ eansAmerica wasa
land of m arvels. a place where nothing was
impossible. SOllieeven belie ved that therethey
mightdisco ver awayto regainth eirlo s t yout h.
Pon etode Leon was a Spanishconq u istad o rwho
cametoth eNewWorldw ithColu mb us 011 th e
explo rer'ssecondvoyage.liebecameth e go vern o r
ofth e Caribbean islan d ofPuerto Rico. The
Am erind ianpeo pleofPuerto Ricotold d e Leon
that to the northlay a land rich ingold. This
northe rnland.theysaid. alsohad alleven more
p recious treasure-afoun tainwho sewaters gave
cvcrlasnngyouth to all thosewho dr ank fro m it.
In th e spnngof15 J3 deLeon set ofTinsearcho f
the magic fo untain. Ill' landed ill prcsl'!Udav
Flor ida andsailedallround its co astsearching for
th e miraculo uswate rs.
Pon ce d e Leon never found the Fountain of
Youth. But he d idclaimFloridalorSpain. In 1565
Spani sh settlers foundedSt. Augu stine th er e.[he
firstpermanentEur op ean sctrlcmc n r on the main-
landofNorthAmerica.adventurers crossedtill'AtlanricO ceanto search for
more of th e pr eciousmetal.It wasJlustlorgold that
ledHern anC o rtestoco nq ucrtill'Aztecsin the
I520s.The Aztecs wereJw ealth y.city - bu ildi ng
Amcri ndiallpeo plewholivedin whatis today
M exi co .In the 1530srhc samclusrto rgoldcause d
Fran ciscoPizarr otoattac k theequallywealthy
em pireofrhclucasofPeru .A streamo f l oorcd
treasur e begantoflowacrossth e Atlantic to Spain
fromJnewempire built upbysuch conquerors -
"conquistadores"-inCentralandSou thA me rica.
In rhc yearsthatfollowed.other Spauivh
conquistadoresrook thesearchfo r gold to N or th
Amer ica.Bet we en1539 and 15 -1-31 lcrn an d odeSore
and Fran ciscoCoronado.worki ngseparate!v,
exp lored much of'rhcso ut hernpartofw hat is no w
theU nited Sran-s. Ill-Sorelandedin Florida from
Cuba.He led h is expeditionwestwa rd,discoveri ng
theM ississip piRiver and travelin gbeyond it into
Te xas andOklahoma .Coronadotravele d north from
M ex ico.searchingto r the"Seven CitiesofGold "
th atAmerin dianlegend s saidlayhiddensomewhere
IIIth e desert .He neverfou n dthem. Buthe andhis
nu-nbecamethefirstEuropeans to secth e Grand
Canyon of th eColoradoRiverand rhcvjourneyed as
fareast asKansasbeforereturning to Me xico.10
D isco v<'r y o f'thc
Mississippi. II
."m,mlich rJ
" i''''rcrillIt- lfill"ry
pll,,,ri".ebyWillillm
HP",nll.D r 5"1,,
II"Jhisj"II",nnlI'e
ll,,,..,,,Jilpillyin.e
Ihe;,(of''''''".",d
1/IT''Uto1/g'''"p
c>ffrightr1!ed
A ",nind;of'll.