Florida Senate - 2013 (NP) SR 1872 By Senator Soto 14-04056-13 20131872__ 1 Senate Resolution 2 A resolution recognizing Juan Ponce de Leon and 3 celebrating the quincentennial of his landing in 4 Florida. 5 6 WHEREAS, Juan Ponce de Leon was born into a noble family 7 around 1474 in the village of Santervas de Campos in the 8 province of Leon, Spain; became a page to the prince of Castile, 9 who later became King Ferdinand of Castile; received education 10 in fighting skills, manners, and religion while serving a knight 11 named Pedro Nunez de Guzman; and later assisted in the 10-year 12 conquest of the Muslim kingdom of Granada in southern Spain, and 13 WHEREAS, hearing stories of Christopher Columbus’s 14 discovery of a new world, Juan Ponce de Leon began his 15 exploration after the war with the Moors and became a soldier in 16 the colony on the island of Hispaniola, and 17 WHEREAS, Juan Ponce de Leon spent most of the early 1500s 18 in Hispaniola, building farms, distributing land rights, helping 19 construct buildings to aid defense, and working to set up an 20 island economy that would include a system of production, 21 distribution, and use of goods and services, and 22 WHEREAS, after helping defeat an Indian uprising in the 23 eastern province of Hispaniola, Juan Ponce de Leon was named 24 Deputy Governor of the island by Governor Nicolas de Ovando in 25 1504, and he married and fathered four children during this 26 time, and 27 WHEREAS, Juan Ponce de Leon led an expedition on Borinquen, 28 a neighboring island to the east now known as Puerto Rico, 29 taking 50 soldiers with him on a single ship, settling near what 30 is now San Juan, where he discovered gold, and within a year 31 conquered the island for Spain, and 32 WHEREAS, as a result of his gold discovery, Juan Ponce de 33 Leon became one of the richest men in the New World, and King 34 Ferdinand of Spain appointed him as the island’s first governor, 35 and 36 WHEREAS, Juan Ponce de Leon founded Puerto Rico’s first 37 European settlement, Caparra, and, a year later, returned to 38 Hispaniola, having found much gold but running low on supplies, 39 and 40 WHEREAS, Juan Ponce de Leon was instructed to return to the 41 island of Puerto Rico and continue the settlement of the island 42 and to increase his gold mining efforts, and he returned, 43 bringing his wife and children along, and 44 WHEREAS, the Spanish Crown encouraged Juan Ponce de Leon to 45 continue searching for new lands, in hopes of finding more gold 46 and expanding the Spanish empire, but, due to political reasons, 47 he was relieved of his governorship, and 48 WHEREAS, Juan Ponce de Leon immediately applied for a royal 49 grant from the king to settle on an unknown island called 50 Bimini, where it was rumored that miraculous waters could 51 rejuvenate those who drank from them, and 52 WHEREAS, upon receiving permission on March 3, 1513, Juan 53 Ponce de Leon left Puerto Rico with three ships and, by March 54 27, saw the mainland of Florida, where he then landed on April 55 2, and 56 WHEREAS, impressed with its many beautiful flowers, Juan 57 Ponce de Leon renamed the area “La Florida” in honor of finding 58 the area on Easter Sunday, called “Pascua Florida” in Spanish, 59 and 60 WHEREAS, Juan Ponce de Leon continued to explore, sailing 61 along Florida’s east coast and discovering the Bahama Channel, 62 which later became the route of the treasure ships on their 63 return voyage to Spain, and sailed through the Florida Keys, 64 which he dubbed “the Martyrs” (“Los Martires”), saying that the 65 islands looked like suffering men from a distance, and 66 WHEREAS, Juan Ponce de Leon then sailed up the Gulf Coast 67 to Pensacola Bay and along the southwest coast, coming to an 68 island he named Tortugas, known today as the Dry Tortugas 69 because of the nesting turtles found there, and 70 WHEREAS, on September 21, 1513, Juan Ponce de Leon returned 71 to Puerto Rico and then to Spain, where he was knighted, given a 72 personal coat of arms, and granted a royal patent to colonize 73 the islands of Bimini and Florida, and 74 WHEREAS, in 1521, Juan Ponce de Leon returned to the west 75 coast of Florida with 200 men and enough supplies to establish a 76 colony as the king had ordered, but a fierce attack by Native 77 Americans caused them to abandon the settlement, and 78 WHEREAS, Juan Ponce de Leon, wounded in the battle, died a 79 few days later after returning to Cuba and was buried in Puerto 80 Rico, and 81 WHEREAS, the words on his gravestone read, “Here rest the 82 bones of a valiant lion, mightier in deeds than in name,” NOW, 83 THEREFORE, 84 85 Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida: 86 87 That we honor and recognize the 500th anniversary of Juan 88 Ponce de Leon’s historic journey, his discovery of our great 89 state, his undeniable valor, and his service as the first 90 governor of Puerto Rico.