PONCE DE LEON'S SECOND VOYAGE AND ATTEMPT TO COLONIZE FLORIDA THE RECORDS Following his voyage of 1513 Ponce de Leon sailed for Spain where he seems to have given a favorable account of his discoveries, for on September 26 (or 27), 1514, the King issued a patent to hi to colonize Florida and Beniny, but first required his services against the Caribs, a fierce tribe of Indians inhabiting the Lesser Antilles. Returning to the west Indies Ponce de Leon proceeded against these Indians, but was severely repulsed by them. Mortified at his failure he returned to Porto Rico and remained in semi-retirement several years, apparently giving up the idea of colonizing Florida. In this period several expeditions visited the Florida west coast and one, that of Ayllon, discovered and partially explored what is now the Carolina coast. Juan Ponce was not roused by these more or less predatory expeditions, but when the fame of Cortes in Mexico began to spread through the west Indies he decided to take possession of Florida under the authority of his patent of 1514, issued by King Ferdinand, who had died, the Emperor Charles V being now on the Spanish throne. This patent is found in Documentos del Archivo de Indias, XXII. 33. A translation of this interesting document was published by Dr. L. D. Scisco in American Catholic Historical Society's Record for December, 1912. The Record has been discontinued and I have been unable to reach Dr. Scisco to ask him for the use of his translation; but anticipating his permission it is used here with full credit to both. THE PATENT LETTERS TO THE EMPEROR 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. Other Spanish historians of the 16th century, namely, Las Casas, Gomara, Torquemada, Garcilaso, and later Barcia, mentioned the voyage, but their accounts are extremely brief, often confused, and add nothing new to the subject. For these reasons they are not included here, except an item from Garcilaso. 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. These scholarly translations by Dr. Crow make available to students of Florida's history valuable historical information which has hitherto remained generally unknown to them. Oveido’s and Herrera’s Accounts GARCILASO DE LA VEGA, La Florida del Inca, Madrid, 1723, Book 6, Chapter 22, page 266: Text decidedly confused but from which may be gathered that in the battle with, the Indians at the time of the attempted settlement notes khan 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.] REVIEW PLACE OF THE ATTEMPTED SETTLEMENT. The clue to the coast of Florida on which Ponce de Leon attempted to plant his colony is found in his letter to Charles V: “And I intend to explore the coast of said island further, and see whether it connects with the land where Diego Velasquez is.... “ Juan Ponce had ranged the east coast of Florida throughout its length on his first voyage and it is evident that on this, second voyage, he intended to follow the coast line westward to Mexico, where Velasquez at the time was involved. For this purpose he would naturally select a place on the west coast to plant his settlement and proceed from there to examine the coast westward. Now where on the west coast did he attempt to plant his colony? Referring to the first voyage it was proven that the only place visited by. Ponce de Leon on the west coast was the Charlotte Harbor region. He remained there three weeks and examined the locality and its harbor, apparently with the thought of future settlement. There was the only place where he heard of gold. in Florida among the Indians a lure at which these early Spaniards never failed to bite, and a circumstance having a bearing on the question in hand. We know today-and the natural situation has not changed since Ponce de Leon's time-that the locality furnishes everything that could be required for a place of settlement such as he contemplated. With a situation fulfilling all requirements already known to him, is it reasonable to suppose that Juan Ponce, having a cargo a part of which required prompt landing, would spend time unnecessarily in looking for another location? And finally after he landed we see a strong similarity in the conduct of the Indians with that experienced by him with the Carlos Indians at Charlotte Harbor on the farst voyage. Oviedo's statement that Juan Ponce experienced a temperature different from that expected can be reconciled to the Charlotte Harbor section, for in the cool waves of early spring it is not unusual for the temperature to fall into the 40's Fhrt., which to one acclimated to the west Indies would be considered very cold-there were no thermometers in that day to determine the actual temperature. The direct evidence furnished by these records is not sufficient to permit the positive statement that Juan Ponce on his second voyage to Florida attempted to plant his colony at Charlotte Harbor; but it can be said that all inferences point that way. 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 Indians25; the first monks and priests assigned for permanent residence; and the first purposed agricultural, horticultural, and stock-raising enterprise. 25 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. PONCE DE LEON CHRONOLOGY FIRST VOYAGE, 1513 March 3: Embarked from Porto Rico. March 14: Arrived at San Salvador, Bahamas. March 27 (Easter Sunday) : Passed Abaco Island, Bahamas, sailing northwest. April 2 (Saturday): Discovered Florida in latitude 30°8'.(Approximately 18 miles south of mouth of St. Johns River.) April 2-8: Between these dates landed and took possession. (Somewhere on the 12-mile stretch of beach north of 30' 8.) April 9: Sailed south-southeasterly following coast line. April 20: Anchored off Indian town below Cape Canaveral. May 8: Off Palm Beach (Cape Corrientes). May 13: At Biscayne Bay (Chequescha). May 15: Along the Florida Keys (The Martires). May 18c: Passed The Tortugas, sailing northerly. May 23: Reached the west coast near Charlotte Harbor. May 24-June 15: At Charlotte Harbor and immediate vicinity. June 21-24: At The Tortugas again. June 26-July 1: Along the northern coast of Cuba. July 3: Along Florida Keys-to Biscayne Bay (Chequescha). July 18: At La Vieja (Old woman's I.), Bahamas. July 25-September 27: Among Bahamas in quest of Bimini. September 28c: Sailed for Porto Rico. October 19c: Arrived at Porto Rico. February 20, 1521*: Embarked from Porto Rico for Florida. This is the only date indicated in the records of the second voyage. Ponce de Leon's death apparently was in the following May or June. *Date as mentioned in the De la Gama letter, page 57. Whether the year corresponds to 1522 when considered in relation to our modern calendar depends upon the date from which the year was reckoned by the Spanish calendar at the time---a question that I have not been able to determine with historical certainty.