**THE SOLE PURPOSE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO INFORM STUDENTS OF A SMALL PIECE OF OUR GREAT NATIONS HERITAGE.**

My first instinct upon hearing the name Ponce de León was, Florida! But that’s not all he is known for. In fact he may be one of thee most important people in the settling of America. Although he was not the first person to inhabit the country he was the first foreign explorer to record the finding. In fact he first thought that Florida was an Island but after exploring what they could of the peninsula they realized that there was a lot more land connected to Florida and that it actually wasn’t an Island. But before I get too far into the future for that time period let me tell you a little about Juan Ponce de León. (CITE 1 & 3)

Juan Ponce de León born in what some historians believe was Palencia in the year of 1460. Not much is known about his life up until the late 1480’s when he became a Conquistador or an explorer. In 1493 León accompanied Christopher Columbus on Christopher’s 2^nd voyage to the America’s. He and his family settled on the Island of Hispañola (Dominican Republic). While on the Island they found large deposits of gold. After the discovery the left the Island, and then set sail back to Spain, and later got commissioned to colonize the Island of Puerto Rico. (Cite 1,2, & 4)

          After 2 years León’s son became king taking his place, at the request of the King of Spain. After being overthrown León continued his journey to America. He reached the coast of Florida approximately where St. Augustine is today. While there they set up camp and set out exploring the land. They came upon very unfriendly inhabitants named the Calusa Indians who launched an attack on the explorers. León was shot in the thigh by an arrow and they abandoned the settlement and headed for Habanna, Cuba where he later died as the result of the shot, at the age of 61. (CITE 2 & 4)

Juan Ponce de León was always remembered for his ways of conquering land, which they had found. Another thing he was also remembered for was the “Mythical Fountain of Youth,” (CITE 2 & 4)

  ↓ Links to Web Sites Relating with Juan Ponce de León ↓

1) http://fcit.coedi.usf.edu/florida/lessons/de_leon/de_leon1.htm

2) http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Rhodes/4462/deleon.html

3) http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761562257/Ponce_de_León_juan.html

4) http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761595536/Spanish_Empire.html

Vocabulario

Conquistador- Explorer

España- Spain

Descubrir- to discover

Pascua Florida – Flowery Easter

Gobernador/a- governor

Conquistar- to Explore

Florida- Place of flowers