Juan Ponce de Leon was born into a poor family in Santervás de Campos, Spain in 1460. He was a page at the court of Aragon, and it was here he learned about social skills, religion, and military tactics. Ponce de Leon soon became a soldier and fought the Moors in Granada. Seeking wealth, he went with Columbus on his second voyage in 1493. He was able to use the skills he learned while in the military to control the natives. Juan Ponce de Leon will soon quench his thirst for fame and fortune. About a decade later, he was a captain in a force commanded by Nicolás de Ovando, who was Spain’s royal governor of Hispaniola at the time. Ponce de Leon is arguably one of the most important and influential conquistadors.
The Spanish kingdom heard of a rumor that gold can be found on the island of San Juan, today known as Puerto Rico. Juan Ponce de Leon was sent out to explore this island in 1508-9. He took fifty soldiers with him on one ship. They found a settlement at Caparra which is near what is now San Juan. Ponce de Leon returned to Hispaniola for supplies and was named governor. He is the first governor of Puerto Rico.
The Spanish people are…show more content… He hears rumors of an island called Bimini which houses the “fountain of youth”. This spring is supposed to make anyone who drinks of it, or bathes in it young again. He leaves Puerto Rico in March 1513 hoping for this magic spring and gold. He arrives in Florida, near present-day St. Augustine. Juan Ponce de Leon doesn’t know it, but he is the first European to set foot in Florida. He actually thought he just landed on an island, and not the actual mainland of North America. He named this place Florida because of the lush vegetation there, and because it was around the time of Easter which in Spanish is Pascua Florida. While exploring the area of the Florida Keys on his first , Juan Ponce de Leon discovered the Gulf Stream, which is the strong ocean current that actually explorers from Europe to return