The Fountain of Youth

Ponce de Leon tried to find it here in Florida 500 years ago. What did he find? A bunch of angry natives who threw spears at him. Ponce De Leon had actually come over to the Americas with Christopher Columbus on Columbus’ second visit. Now, Columbus had actually landed on the islands between North and South America, and on South America itself, but not North America. In fact, De Leon did not know he had found an enormous continent when he stumbled upon the North America. He thought the Florida peninsula was just another island, in the “West Indies.” Although Columbus had originally thought he found the back door to India, they had figured out it wasn’t India, but maybe some islands off of it’s eastern coast.

Legends about a Fountain of Youth had long been espoused and some suspect the Native Americans of mentioning it to Europeans in order to get more European goods.

Explorers were eager to come to the “New World,” since Christopher Columbus was awarded governance and dominion over the lands he “discovered.” Ponce was also given governance over the islands he discovered (including Puerto Rico), but when he came to the mainland, he met with resistance. The South American natives and Cuban natives had been more friendly to Europeans.

After Queen Isabella died, King Ferdinand sponsored De Leon’s explorations, in hopes of finding the “fountain of youth.”

They never found it. And, in fact, De Leon died at age 47, from an infection from a wound inflicted by a Florida native’s arrow. He fled to Cuba and died there.

No one has found this legendary fountain (yet).