Ponce

Ponce de Leon (1460-1521), a navigator and soldier, was the descendant of a noble family of Aragon, and in his youth was a court page. It is supposed that he accompanied Columbus in 1493 on his second voyage to Hispaniola, but there is some doubt about this. Obtaining permission to attempt the conquest of what is now Porto Rico, in 1508 be went there, and returned with samples of its gold; became governor of the island in 1510, and completely conquered it soon after. He was deprived of his post in 1512, and went on several expeditions, discovering Florida on one of his voyages. He tried to conquer it, but was defeated, and died of his wounds at Cuba, to which he had retired. There is a monument to him in Porto Rico.