Oviedo’s and Herrera’s Accounts of Ponce de Leon’s Second Voyage (1550?) Excerpted from Historia General y Natural de las Indias, published 1850’s By Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo (1478-1557) By way of “History of Juan Ponce de Leon’s Voyages to Florida: Source Records” By T. Frederick Davis AUTHORITIES ON THE VOYAGE There appears to have been no official report of Ponce de Leon's second voyage to Florida. For information concerning it we must turn to the accounts of the Spanish historians who were in a position to obtain their information first-hand from the survivors of the expedition. Of them only one offers details of the voyage, GONZALO FERNANDEZ DE OVIEDO (1478-1557), who was in the west Indies soon after the event collecting material for his history. His account was contemporaneous and though a “memory” record it has every appearance of being reasonable and authentic. His original manuscript was not published in full until the 1850's. Herrera, whose main dependence was official documentary evidence, did not give an extended account of this voyage; his record is contained in a summarized farewell to Ponce de Leon and is evidently based in part on Oviedo's account. FIRSTS OF HISTORY This voyage produced a number of “firsts” of history for the North American continent: The first attempt to plant a bona-fide self-sustaining colony; the first effort to implant the Christian religion among the Indians*; the first monks and priests assigned for permanent residence; and the first purposed agricultural, horticultural, and stock-raising enterprise. *Mexico excluded. Cortes was in Mexico at this time, but that expedition was one of exploration that developed into a military conquest which was still in progress; however, there were two ecclesiastics with the expedition. The translations of the Oviedo and Herrera records herein were rendered for and contributed to this work by Dr. C. L. Crow, Head of the Department of Spanish, University of Florida. Oviedo’s Account ...not exhausted by his outlays and labors, he [Johan Ponce] [Juan Ponce] fitted out anew with more care and at greater expense, and equipt and put in order certain ships*, so as to reach along the Mainland on the shores lying to the North, that coast and point which projects into the sea about a hundred leagues in length and fifty in breadth. *There were two main ships. And it seemed to him that in addition to what could be learned and known of the islands which are to be found there, also on the Mainland could be learned other secrets and important things, and [that] those peoples could be converted to God to the great profit of himself in particular and in general for all those who were accompanying him, for, as has been said, two hundred men and fifty horses were in the ships. And before placing this fleet in readiness, he spent much: and passed over to that land during the month of ... of the year one thousand and five hundred and twenty*: and as a good colonist, he took mares and heifers and swine and sheep and goats and all kinds of domestic animals (and) useful in the service of mankind: and also for the cultivation and tillage of the field[s] he was supplied, with all [kinds of ] seed, as if the business of colonization consisted of nothing more than to arrive and cultivate the land and pasture his livestock. *This is obviously a “memory” error in the year; the deletion of the month is in the original text. But the temperature of the region was very unsuitable and different from what he had imagined, and the natives of the land [were] a very austere and very savage and belligerous and fierce and untamed people and not accustomed to a peaceful existence nor to lay down their liberty so easily at the discretion or alien volition of other men, nor at the determination of those monks and priests by whom he was accompanied for the exercise of religious rites and the service of the church, nor even though they preached as much as they wished, could they be understood in as short a time as was imagined by them and by him who led them there, if God with his absolute power did not cause them to be understood by those very barbarous peoples and idolatrous savages (and) laden with sins and vices. I mean, that altho, as in truth all which seems difficult is easy for God to do, when it pleases him, it is well for us to reflect that we are not deserving of that facility, nor are those trout caught with so little effort: and he desires first the reformation of the fishermen, so that those who are to hear and follow them may come to a knowledge of the truth. Notwithstanding that with this captain went religious persons and [ones] of sound doctrine; but inasmuch as everything went wrong, and the fleet was lost* and the captain and the season and plantation jointly and within a few days, it is to be believed that God was not served nor the time come for the conversion of that land and province to our holy Catholic faith, since he permits the devil still to keep those Indians deceived and for his own, and the population of hell to be augmented with their souls. *Evidently after the arrival of the ship at Havana. It is said that one of the vessels made port at Vera Cruz, Mexico, but there are reasons for doubting the accuracy of this. (Read in connection with text paragraph following.) This fleet arrived at that land in the year that has been mentioned: and then the adelantado Johan [Juan] Ponce, when he disembarked, gave order, as a prudent man, that his men should rest: and when it seemed to him proper, he moved forward with his retinue and attacked by land and entered into a skirmish or battle with the Indians, as he was a valiant captain and was among the first, and not so adroit [in battle] in that land as on the islands, so many and such of the enemy charged, that his men and his courage did not suffice to withstand them. And finally they defeated him and killed a number of the Christians, and more than twice as many Indians died, and he escaped wounded grievously by an arrow; and he decided to go to the island of Cuba to be cured, if it were possible, and with a greater retinue and more strength to return to this conquest. And.so he embarked and arrived at the island [and] at the port of Havana, where after he had arrived, he lived a short time: but he died as a Catholic and after having received the sacraments, and also died others who were wounded, and others of illnesses. Herrera’s Account Excerpted from Historia General de los Hechos, 1601 …The reputation of Hernando Cortes kept spreading and his fame gaining more repute, which aroused the ambition of many of the foremost senior captains of the Indies to undertake deeds of daring; because they, being of the generation of Hernando Cortes, considered themselves as no less [worthy]. One of these was Governor General Juan Ponce de Leon, who from the year twelve, when he discovered Florida, and went seeking that sacred fountain, so renowned among the Indians, and the river, whose waters rejuvenated the aged: and after the Caribs of the island of Guadalupe treated him ill, had remained in retirement. Now he determined to fit out on the island of San Juan de Puerto-Rico, where he had his residence, two ships, on which he spent a large part of his fortune; went with them to Florida, which was still considered an island, in order to satisfy himself in passing, as to whether it was mainland, as he says in his letters, which he wrote this year* to the Emperor, to Cardinal Adriano, governor of these realms, at that time, and to Secretary Samano. And when he had set foot on land in Florida, after having suffered many hardships during the voyage, the Indians sallied out to oppose him, and fighting stubbornly against him, killed some** of his men, and he, wounded in a thigh, returned, with the survivors, to Cuba, where he ended his days, and the King, in consideration of his services, gave his jurisdiction, and the other concessions which he held, to his son, Luis Ponce de Leon. *The year is not stated in the text, but is given in a running head at the top of the page as 1521. **Per GARCILASO DE LA VEGA, La Florida del Inca, Madrid, 1723, at least eighty of Ponce de Leon's men were killed or died of their wounds. This indicates either an ambuscade or an overwhelming force of Indians.