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Juan Ponce de Leon wass born in Santervás de Campos, Spain, in 1474.
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Ponce de Leon sailed the seas as a privateer, attacking ships that belonged to the Moors.
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On Columbus's second voyage, Ponce de Leon went with him and about 1500 other men on 16 ships from Cadiz, to explore the Americas.
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Ponce de Leon explores Hispaniola (Jamaica) with Columbus and his men, and encounters the hostile Carib and Arawak native Indians.
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Ponce de Leon, alongside Columbus, establishes a Spanish settlement in Haiti and searches for gold.
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Christopher Columbus returns to Spain but Juan Ponce de Leon stays in Santo Domingo (now called the Dominican Republic).
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In 1502 Poncede Leon was rewarded by Nicolás de Ovando, governor of Hispaniola, for suppressing an Indian mutiny, Ponce de León was named to be the governor of eastern Hispaniola.
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Ponce de Leon founded the first settlement in Puerto Rico, Caparra (later relocated to San Juan). He did this using only a few troops and one greyhound that was used to scared the natives.
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Charles V grants Juan Ponce de Leon a patent authorizing him to people the Island of Bimini (in the Bahamas).
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Ponce sets out from (Puerto Rico) with three ships, paid for himself.
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Ponce de Leon reaches Guanahani, San Salvador, where Christopher Columbus first sighted land.
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Juan Ponce de Leon comes within sight of the east coast of Florida.
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Juan Ponce de Leon took possession of the land he found, which he named "Pascua de Florida", or "Feast of Flowers", because they spotted land on Palm Sunday.
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Ponce de Leon scoures the "island" of Florida in search of The Fountain of Youth.
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Juan Ponce de Leon searched for the Fountain of Youth in St. Augustine, Florida for years, but never discovered it. Some believe that it doesn't exist, and that's why he never found it. Others believe he was searching for gold instead.
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Juan Ponce de Leon returned to Puerto Rico, returning to land that he had earlier claimed.
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From a friend of his, Pedro Nunez de Guzman, he secured a second grant giving him power to settle the Island of Florida (at this point in time Florida was thought to be just an island).
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Juan Ponce de Leon set out with two ships from Puerto Rico, ready to colonize Florida.
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While building houses Ponce de Leon and his party were attacked by a tribe of the Calusa (on Pine Island). He was hit by a poisoned arrow, and was gravely injured.
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Juan Ponce de Leon returned to Havana, Cuba, where he died of his wounds.