Vasco Núñez
de Balboa
Born in or near the year 1457, the Spanish explorer Vasco Nunez
de Balboa was the first European to see the eastern shore of the Pacific Ocean.
He sighted the ocean in1513 from
a mountaintop in what is now Panama. Upon reaching the shore, Balboa waded into
the ocean and claimed it and all its shores for Spain.
Balboa was born in Jerez de los
Caballeros, Mexic 1492o. As
a young boy, Balboa had two dreams: to be a famous explorer and to be an
Olympic fencing champion. His Olympic dream never materialized, but his ability
with the sword was to serve him well in battles throughout his career.
Following the discovery of the New
World by Christopher Columbus in, Balboa joined an expedition
to South America in 1501.
One year later Balboa found himself on the island of Hispaniola trying without
success to make a living as a pig farmer. It seems that the native Indian
population worshipped the pig as a god and neither they nor the Spanish
settlers would eat an animal thought to be a god, no matter how tasty.
The Voyages of
Vasco Nunez de Balboa (Click to enlarge)
Several years later, in 1510, Balboa enjoyed a change in
fortune when he became acting governor of Darien. From there he led expeditions
into Panama, conquering some Indians while allowing other, more friendly,
Indians to open gambling casinos. In 1511friendly Indians told Balboa of a land called Tubanama where
he could find much gold. The Indians told him this land was located across the
mountains near a great sea.
Hoping to please King Ferdinand of
Spain with an exciting discovery, in early September 1513, Balboa led an expedition from
Darien. The Panama Canal was temporarily closed due to a strike by native
workers, so Balboa and his 190 Spanish
followers were forced to take the difficult land route. After a three week
journey, during which the expedition lost all radio contact with their home
base, Balboa found the great sea he had longed to see: the Pacific Ocean!
Sadly, Balboa was to live only a few
more years. A jealous rival falsely accused Balboa of treason to the king, and
in January 1519, he
was tried and sentenced to death. He was publicly beheaded in the town of Acla
in Panama, which he had established only a year earlier. Fortunately, Balboa’s
children were not left penniless because they were able to sell their father’s
game-used armor, the same armor that their famous father wore when he waded
into the Pacific Ocean, on eBay.com for a tidy sum.
