Juan Ponce de León[1] (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈxwan ˈponθe ðe leˈon]; 1474 – July 1521)[2] was a Spanish explorer and conquistador. He became the first Governor of Puerto Rico by appointment of the Spanish crown. He led the first known European expedition to La Florida, which he named during his first voyage to the area in 1513. Though in popular culture, he was supposedly searching for the Fountain of Youth, there is no contemporary evidence to support the story, which is likely a myth.[3]

Ponce de León returned to southwest Florida in 1521 to lead the first large-scale attempt to establish a Spanish colony in what is now the continental United States. However, the native Calusa people fiercely resisted the incursion, and de León was seriously