Juan Ponce de LeÌ_n, Spanish Conquistador
Juan Ponce de LeÌ_n (1474 - July 1521) was a Spanish explorer and conquistador. In an effort to reward Ponce de LeÌ_n for his services, King Ferdinand urged him to seek these new lands. His fleet crossed open water until April 2, 1513, when they sighted land which Ponce de LeÌ_n believed was another island. He named it La Florida in recognition of the verdant landscape and because it was the Easter season, which the Spaniards called Pascua Florida (Festival of Flowers). According to a popular legend, Ponce de LeÌ_n discovered Florida while searching for the Fountain of Youth. In 1521 he organized a colonizing expedition on two ships. The expedition landed on the southwest coast of Florida and were soon attacked by Calusa braves. Ponce de LeÌ_n was injured when, historians believe, an arrow poisoned with the sap of the Manchineel tree struck his thigh. After this attack, he and the colonists sailed to Havana, Cuba, where he soon died of the wound.
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