PONCE DE LEÓN AND
“LA FLORIDA”
Desire for gold did not inspire every Spanish
expedition. Juan Ponce de León was a veteran
of Columbus’s second voyage and a deter-
mined soldier who had fought in the con-
quests of Hispaniola and Puerto Rico. After
serving as Puerto Rico’s governor and becom-
ing rich with gold mined by Indian slave labor,
Ponce got permission from King Ferdinand to
search for and settle the “Island of Bimini,”
alleged home of a mythical “fountain of
youth,” whose waters would restore the virility
of old men. Like all such royal grants, the
expedition was funded at Ponce de León’s
expense, not the Crown’s.
Ponce sailed from Puerto Rico in March
1513 with three ships. His flagship was piloted
by Antón de Alaminos, who had served as
Columbus’s pilot on his second voyage and
would guide other significant later expeditions.
The route took them past the eastern limits of
the Bahama Islands, sailing northwest. On
April 2 the fleet encountered what Ponce mis-
takenly thought was an island. Because they
arrived in the Easter season, which Spaniards
call La Pascua Florida, Ponce named the land
La Florida. They landed just south of present-
day Daytona Beach, on Florida’s northeastern
coast at a location known today as Ponce de
León Inlet.
As the ships sailed south along the coast,
they began to struggle against a powerfulA New W orld B 47