In 1510, Vasco de Balboa sailed to Columbia with Rodrigo de Bastidas from Spain. Balboa settled in Hispaniola as a farmer. He soon failed at farming, and hid on a boat sailing to San Sebastian. This boat was headed by Nicuesa and Enciso. When they got to San Sebastian they realized that it had been destroyed, so they kept sailing south west. In 1511 Nicuesa founded Santa Maria de la Antigua del Darien which was the first European settlement in South America. On September 1, 1513 Balboa sailed across the Gulf of Uraba to the Darien Peninsula. He was accompanied by Native Americans and Spaniards and Francisco Pizarro. On September 25, 1513 he became the first European to see the Pacific Ocean from a peak in Darien, Panama. He claimed the ocean as Spain's. Balboa spent a month collecting gold and pearls on the Pacific shore to bring back to Spain. He is most famous for crossing the Isthmus of Panama in 1513.
Alison Brown
Alison Brown