After his voyage of 1513, Ponce de Leon sailed for Spain where he was favorably received by King Ferdinand who issued him a new patent to colonize Florida and Beniny, but he was told that he must first subjugate the Caribs, the fierce Indigenous tribe inhabiting the Lesser Antilles (Davis, 1935). The patent stated:
“Juan Ponce de Leon, for the expedition to colonize the island of Beniny and the island of Florida … to conduct at your cost and charge the vessels that you might wish”. He was to do all in his power to convert the local people “into the knowledge of Our Catholic Faith and should obey and serve as they are bound to do … and if after the aforesaid they do not wish to obey what is contained in the said summons, you can make war and seize them and carry them away for slaves; but if they do obey, give them the best treatment you can and endeavor, as is stated, by all the means at your disposal, to convert them to Our Holy Catholic Faith … “
Ponce did lead an expedition against the Caribs but was severely beaten. Mortified at this failure he returned to Puerto Rico and for several years gave up the idea of colonizing Florida. While Ponce was in retirement, several slave runners had visited the west coast of Florida, and one of them, Pedro de Salazar had taken 50 captives on what is now the Carolina coast between 1517-1518. These activities and the growing fame of Hernán Cortés in Mexico finally got to Ponce and he decided to go back and take full possession of Florida under the authority of his patent of 1514. King Ferdinand had recently died and he felt that he needed to swing into action while the getting was still good.
There is no official report or detailed account of Ponce de Leon’s second voyage to Florida. The fullest account is contained in Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo’s (1478-1557) La Natural hystoria de las Indias, which was published first in 1526. Oviedo was in the West Indies just after the second voyage of Ponce “and although a memory record, it has every appearance of being reasonable and authentic” (Davis, 1935).
Oviedo’s account of Ponce’s second mission is brief:
“… not exhausted by his outlays and labors, he [Johan Ponce] fitted out anew with more care and at greater expense, and equipped and put in order certain ships, 21 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 [probably Charlotte Harbor]. 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 …. 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. 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 belligerent and fierce … 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.”
Ponce had completely underestimated the strength and resolve of the Calusa. Turner (2013: 31) puts it thus:
“These were not Taino, whose culture Ponce grasped. He understood the Tainos. He had language skills and an established record of vanquishing them in arms … The Calusas did not tolerate a settled Spanish presence in the heart of their territory. It would seem that besides suffering at the hands of Spanish slavers they had also been warned by other Indians about what Spanish colonial settlement meant. Indians from the Lucayos and Espanola, and most likely Cuba and possibly even Puerto Rico, found themselves, like the Calusas, fleeing a Spanish enemy who seemingly could not be stopped.”
While Ponce’s second mission was a total failure, Davis (1935) suggests that:
“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 enterprises.”
Illustration: Final battle of Ponce de Leon (source unknown)
Bibliography:
Davis, T. F. (1935) Ponce de Leon’s second voyage and attempt to colonize Florida. Florida Historical Society Quarterly 14: 52-69.
Turner, S. (2013) Juan Ponce de Leon and the discovery of Florida reconsidered. Florida Historical Quarterly 92 (1): 1 -31.
Catalysts of trade and exploration 