Juan Ponce De Leon stood at a towering 4 feet 11 inches. He was born in the village of Santervas de Campos, Spain, 1747. His primary goal was to find gold and colonize land for Spain. He was the very first European known to have visited the America, known as present day United States in 1513. He also discovered Florida and the Bahama Channel, and was ordered to colonize Puerto Rico.
He was born into a poor yet noble family. Ponce De Leon’s parents have never been revealed, they were never considered as “Upper class”. He was always socially awkward in his childhood. He served as a page at the court of Aragon, where he learned his religion, military tactics, and his social skills. Ponce De Leon soon became a soldier and fought against the Moors in Granada. Just like many other conquistadores, Ponce De Leon soon earned fame
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As he and his men searched the inland for fresh water and wood, they spotted the Calusa tribal village at Mound Key. They realized the Calusa tribe was a very unfriendly tribe. The explorers scrambled back to their ships and decided quickly to leave the area and sail back to Puerto Rico.
In the year of 1521, Ponce De Leon was ordered to return to Florida to form another colony. He then landed on the beaches between Estero Bay and Charlotte Harbor with over 200 settlers, tools, seeds, and horses. His plan was to form a farming colony. As they went deeper in Florida for fresh water, the Calusa indian tribe ambushed them. Ponce De Leon was struck in the thigh by an arrow and was seriously injured. All the settlers decided to abandon their small settlement and sail their way back to Cuba.
In Conclusion, sadly, by the result of Ponce De Leon’s injury he died at the age of 61 in Cuba. He will always be remembered as the brave Spanish Conquistador who first explored many areas of Florida and searched for gold, and the mythical fountain of