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Originally Posted by Hillbilly
First off, San Cristobal has little or nothing to do with the Admiral of the same name. The Saint was, before the revisions of Vatican II, the Patron saint of all travellers--as witnessed by the many statues and medallions on sunvisors and dashboards all over the US, in particular.
The first landfall that the Admiral made on the island now called Hispañola was near what is now Cap Haitian. The wreakage salvaged from the Santa María was used to make an improvised fort, called Navidad because of the feastday. It was peopled by those crew members that could not fit on the Pinta or the Niña. According to excavations at the site they lived a harsh existance until their poor manners caused the locals to wipe them out
FYI, these were very small caravels, perhaps, according to some estimates less than 70 feet.
From there, he worked his way eastward, against the tradwinds, noticing El Morro and dropping anchor at what is now known as La Isabela, at the mouth of the Bajabonico River to replenish water supplies. He looked into Luperón Bay, making favorable comments in his journal, but the one he really liked was POP Bay. He said that the bay could hold the entire Spanish fleet. Because of the stong headwinds the Admiral continued eastward for a few more days before heading north towards the lattitudes of North Carolina and the winds that would take him back to Portugal and Spain.
On his second trip he established a town at La Isabela and erected buildings there. The first Mass was said there on January 6th. You can still see where the stones for the town were cut for transport to the site. The quarry is right there next to the road..
HB 
I probably should have checked my sources, but off the top of my head, this is what I have. |
The first voyage was 1492-1493, and the second voyage was 1493-1496.
On the second voyage Isabella was founded.
The first voyage started from Spain (port of Palos in South Spain ) Aug 3 1492. He visited Canary Islands, Bahamas and Cuba before arriving to what today is the Dominican Republic.
While sailing north of Cuba on November 22, Martín Alonso Pinzón, captain of the Pinta, left the other two ships without permission and sailed on his own in search of an island called "Babeque," where he had been told by his native guides that there was much gold. Columbus continued with the Santa Maria and Niña eastward, and arrived at Hispaniola on December 5.
The flagship Santa Maria grounded on a reef on Christmas Eve and sank the next day. Columbus used the remains of the ship to build a fort on shore, which he named La Navidad (Christmas). But the tiny Niña could not hold all of the remaining crew, so Columbus was forced to leave about 40 men at La Navidad to await his return from Spain. Columbus departed from La Navidad on January 2, 1493.
Now down to just one ship, Columbus continued eastward along the coast of Hispaniola, and was surprised when he came upon the Pinta on January 6. Columbus's anger at Pinzón was eased by his relief at having another ship for his return to Spain.
The two ships departed Hispaniola from Samana Bay (in the modern Dominican Republic) on January 16, but were again separated by a fierce storm in the North Atlantic on February 14; Columbus and Pinzón each believed that the other had perished. Columbus sighted the island of Santa Maria in the Azores the next day. After a run-in with the local governor, he arrived at Lisbon on March 4, and finally made it back to his home port of Palos on March 15, 1493.
Meanwhile, Pinzón and the Pinta had missed the Azores and arrived at the port of Bayona in northern Spain. After a stop to repair the damaged ship, the Pinta limped into Palos just hours after the Niña. Pinzón had expected to be proclaimed a hero, but the honor had already been given to Columbus. Pinzón died a few days later.
On his second trip he arrived to Hispanola on November 22.
Returning to his fortress at Navidad on November 28, Columbus found that the fort had been burned and that the men he had left there on the first voyage were dead.
According to the account of Guacanagari, the local chief who had befriended Columbus on the first voyage, the men at Navidad had fallen to arguing among themselves over women and gold.
Some of the men had abandonded the fort in the intervening months, and some of the rest had raided an inland tribe and kidnapped their women.
The men of that tribe retaliated by destroying Navidad and killing the few remaining Spaniards.
Columbus then sailed eastward along the coast of Hispaniola, looking for a place to found a new colony. On December 8, he anchored at a good spot and founded a new town he named La Isabela, after the Spanish queen. The next several months were spent in establishing the colony and exploring the interior of Hispaniola.
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First european visitor
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I don't know why I didnt' know.....it's close to us here in POP and I've even been there!.................
