1493

Okay, where did we leave off?  Oh yes, Christopher Columbus is spending New Year's at his new New World pad.

Pop Quiz: What was the theme of the last sentence?

When we left off, Columbus had built up La Navidad (his home away from home...far, far, away from home) in what he called Hispaniola (modern-day Haiti).  He built up a stockade using wreckage from the Santa Maria, which had sank on Christmas Eve when it hit a reef.

On Monday night, December 31st, Columbus threw a massive New Year's Eve party, a party that the natives would talk about for centuries.  The next day he had a nasty hangover and wanted to die.  Okay, I just made that up.  It could have happened though.

Anyway, New Year's came and went and on Friday, January 4th, it was time to depart for Spain.  Apparently, Friday was Columbus's preferred travel day.  Pop Quiz #2:  What ship did Columbus leave in?
Answer:  There was only one ship left.  The Pinta was taken by Señor Pinzón to look for gold. The Santa Maria was now a stockade, so that leaves us with the Niña.  (Notice the accent I added to Pinzon and the squigly thing I added to Nina.  What is it called?  ....hold on....asking my wife....it's a....what?  an atildee?  how do you spell that?  Oh well, doesn't matter.  It does matter actually, but I don't feel like looking it up now).

Okay, so Columbus departs on January 4th in the Niña.  He left behind 39 of his men and took with him 10 to 25 natives (1).  (I'm not aware of any records of Columbus asking the natives for a show of hands of all those "who want to go to Spain").  Well, after two days, guess who shows up?  Yep, our man Pinzón.

Possible conversation between the two upon reuniting:
Columbus: "So, where's all your gold?"
Pinzón: "Shut up."

So, the Niña and now the Pinta head back to Spain.  They officially leave Hispaniola on January 16th and travel together until February 14th when a storm in the North Atlantic separated the two.  (Insert Valentine's Day joke here).  After a couple of stops in Portugal, he finally arrives at his home port of Palos on March 15th. (2)  Just a few hours later, the Pinzón and Pinta both arrive at the same dock. Sadly, Pinzón died just days later.


While back in Spain, Columbus met with the rulers of Spain (Ferdinand and Isabella).  "Columbus presents Isabella with " 'Indians,' parrots, strange animals, and some gold; he demands and receives the reward that rightfully belongs to the sailor Rodrigo de Triana of the Pinta, who first sighted land last year." (3)


Apparently Columbus's presentation made a considerable impression on Ferdinand and Isabella - so much so that they made him governor of the land he had discovered in the New World and sent him back this time with not 3 ships, not 4 ships, not 5 ships, not 10 ships, not 15 ships, but....17 ships!


Columbus hung out in Spain for 6 months before him and his 17-ship entourage departed on September 24th.  I looked it up and it was not a Friday.  It was a Tuesday.  They left from Cádiz on the 24th and according to answers.com they also left from the Canary Islands on October 13th.  I'm guessing they made a stop there.  I'm not a historian and so I'm allowed to not know some things. But I am going to look up October 13th.  Was it a Friday?  Was it a Friday?  No, it was a Sunday.


Okay, so exactly 3 weeks later Columbus and his approximately 1,500 men arrive on the other side of the Atlantic.  On November 3rd, Columbus began his Island Discovering-And-Naming Tour by naming Dominica.  The next day he arrived at a place soon to be known as Guadeloupe. 


Other tour stops included:

Montserrat
Antigua
Redonda
Nevis
Saint Kitts
Sint Eustatius
Saba
Saint Martin
Saint Croix
Virgin Gorda
Tortola
Peter Island
Islas de Santa Ursula y las Once Mil Virgenes.

The last one translates to Saint Ursula and the 11,000 Virgins.  It was a long name and according to http://www.christopher-columbus.eu/voyage-2.htm, only the first and last names (Islas Virgenes) were used......The Virgin Islands.

Now, while in Guadeloupe, Columbus rescued a couple of "Arawak tribespeople who have been taken by Caribs from the island of Boriquén, [and] agrees to return them to that island" (4).  After a number of stops, including many in the list above, Columbus reaches the aforementioned island on November 19th.  And while there, Columbus was unable to resist the urge to go ahead and name it.  What name did he give it?  San Juan Bautista.  Who did he name it after?  Well, San means Saint; Juan is Spanish for John; and Bautista translates to "Baptist".  John The Baptist.  You're thinking, "I've never heard of that island.  It must be a real small one."  No, you've heard of it.  It now goes by the name of Puerto Rico.

In music, a band will often end a tour at their home city.  Columbus arrived at Hispaniola on November 22nd, then made it home (his New World home, that is) on November 28th.  However, it was not a joyful homecoming as he reached La Navidad.  He arrived "only to find that the fort has been burned down and its garrison are all dead, some men having been killed in arguments over gold and women, others slain by natives in revenge for kidnapping their women." (5)

Not what Columbus wanted to find.  But, as they say in life, you gotta move on and that is what Columbus did.  Sailing eastward, he arrived at what would be his new home on December 8th.  He named it La Isabela. 


What did Columbus do the rest of the month?  I'm not sure, but I'm guessing he was building up his new settlement.  He didn't have a sunken ship to work with, so I'm not sure what materials he used.  I suppose I'll find out when I begin to check out.....1494.  Stay tuned...


(1) http://www.christopher-columbus.eu/voyage-2.htm 
(2) http://www.answers.com/topic/1493
(3) http://www.answers.com/topic/1493
(4) http://www.answers.com/topic/1493 
(5) http://www.answers.com/topic/1493