Juan Ponce De Leon

Juan Ponce De Leon, born in Spain in 1460, served as governor of San Juan, now Puerto Rico, from 1509 to 1511. He made the first recorded sea voyage to what is now the United States of North America, making his first landing in the vicinity of Saint Augustine, the first permanent European settlement in the U.S.A. Oviedo wrote that he had known Juan Ponce de Leon well, that he was a good man and nobleman, and that he was among those who came to these parts with Christopher Columbus on his second voyage to the Indies. Oviedo also wrote that Juan Ponce de Leon went to discover and searched for the fabulous fountain that Indians said turned old men young. He named this land, first seen here, La Florida, or Land of Flowers; this name later embraced all of what is now the United States and is still retained by the State of Florida.

St. Augustine, Florida · United States