The Discovery of America

                            Pope Alexander VI,  Pope from 11 August 1492 - 18 August 1503

Wedding portrait of King Ferdinand II of Aragón and Queen Isabella of Castile.

Finally, at ten o'clock, p.m., 11 October 1492 Columbus himself  described a light which indicated land and was so recognized by the crew of his vessel. It reappeared several times, and Columbus felt sure that the shores so eagerly expected were near. At 2 a.m. on 12 October the land was seen plainly by one of the Pinta's crew, and in the forenoon Columbus landed on what is now called Watling's Island in the Bahama group, West Indies. The discoverers named the island San Salvador. The Indians inhabiting it belonged to the widespread Arawak stock and are said to have called the island Guanahani. Immediately after landing Columbus took possession of the island for the Spanish sovereigns and The Holy Roman Catholic Church.

The results of the first voyage, aside from the discovery of what the admiral regarded as being approaches to India and China, may be summed up as follows: partial recognition of the Bahamas; the discovery and exploration of a part of Cuba and the establishment of a Spanish settlement on the coast of what is now the Island of Haiti or Santo Domingo. Cuba Columbus named Juana and Santo Domingo, Hispaniola. It was on the northern coast of the large island of Santo Domingo that
Columbus met with the only serious mishap of the first voyage.

Having established the nucleus of the first permanent Spanish settlement in the Indies, he left about three score men to hold it. The vicinity was comparatively well peopled by natives Arawaks like those of the Bahamas but slightly more advanced in culture. A few days previous to the foundation Martin Alonso Pinzon disappeared with the caravel Pinta which he commanded and only rejoined the admiral on 6 January, 1493, an act, to say the least, of disobedience, if not of treachery.

The first settlement was officially established on Christmas Day 1492, and hence christened "La Navidad". On the same day the admiral's ship ran aground. It was a total loss, and Columbus was reduced for the time being to the Niña, as the Pinta had temporarily deserted. Happily the natives were friendly. After ensuring, as well as he might, the safety of the little colony by the establishment of friendly relations with the Indians, Columbus left for Spain, where, after weathering a frightful
storm during which he was again separated from the Pinta, he arrived at Palos, 15 March, 1493.

12 October 1492 – Christopher Columbus discovers The Americas for Spain, painting by John Vanderlyn