Juan Ponce de Leon was the first European to explore what is now the state of Florida. He was searching for the Fountain of Youth when he happened upon the now state in the United States of America. <\/p>\n
1.\tShipmate of Christopher Columbus<\/strong><\/p>\n After sailing with Christopher Columbus on his second voyage to the New World in 1493, Ponce de Leon remained in Santo Domingo, an island south of Florida, to search for the fountain that was said to produce a liquid that when drunk would allow a person to never grow old. <\/p>\n 2.\tSearch for the Fountain of Youth<\/strong><\/p>\n The “Fountain of Youth” was supposed to be in Bimini, an island of the Bahamas. Leon was allowed to first go to and search this island and was financed as a reward for his services to Spain. Ponce de Leon organized the expedition to search for the Fountain of Youth and landed near the city that is now known as St. Augustine, in Florida. He didn’t realize that he was on the North American continent and named the land Florida, which means flowery in Spanish. After leaving Florida and sailing through the Florida Keys to Cuba, he returned to Spain without finding the Fountain of Youth. <\/p>\n 3.\tSecond search for the Fountain of Youth<\/strong><\/p>\n Five years after his first quest for the Fountain of Youth, Leon sailed back on another voyage in 1521. A group of Native Americans attacked the men when they landed on the west coast of Florida. Leon was shot by an arrow and taken back to the ship for treatment. Then they sailed for Cuba where Leon died of his wounds in 1521. <\/p>\n 4.\tFirst Governor of Puerto Rico<\/strong><\/p>\n Ponce de Leon was the first Governor of Puerto Rico and was appointed to the post by the Spanish Crown. Previous voyages of Ponce de Leon showed that there was gold in Puerto Rico and this gave him some favor with the Spanish Crown. Because of the great success of the voyage to Puerto Rico, which the Spanish then called San Juan Bautista, Leon was named governor of the land. <\/p>\n 5.\tDiscovery of Florida<\/strong><\/p>\n Ponce de Leon was said to have discovered Florida by accident. Many before Leon undertook the search for the Fountain of Youth, but his search led him to Florida and he didn’t even know he had discovered it. He thought he was on an island. <\/p>\n 6.\tDiscovery of the Gulf Stream<\/strong><\/p>\n The discovery of Florida also lead to the discovery of the Gulf Stream which made voyages to and from Spain faster and easier. While de Leon didn’t discover it himself, he was instrumental in the discovery because of the voyage he was on. <\/p>\n