On October 12, 1492, Columbus and a handful of the excited but weary voyagers set
foot on land
after 36 days of sailing. Columbus raised the royal standard, claiming the land for Spain, and two of
the captains carried banners decorated with green crosses and letters representing King Ferdinand
and his queen, Isabella. Soon the curious islanders, with some trepidation, came out of their hiding
places and greeted the visitors.
The location of the actual landfall site is still in question. Called Guanahaní by
the Taínos, the
island was renamed San Salvador ("Holy Savior") by Columbus, but no one today knows for sure
which island it was. Most favor either Watling Island (renamed San Salvador in 1926 to honor
Columbus's discovery) or Samana Cay in the Bahamas. Ten or more islands in the Bahamas fit the
physical description as recorded by Columbus in his journal, which described the island simply as
large and flat, with bright green trees and a great deal of water.
The islanders were friendly and open to trade with the sailors. They traded anything
for anything:
balls of spun cotton, parrots, and spears for the sailors' glass beads, red caps, and trinkets. Called
Taínos by the Spaniards, the islanders belonged to a larger language family called the Arawak. The
Taínos showed neither fear nor knowledge of Spanish swords and cut themselves while examining
the weapons. Most interesting to the explorers, however, was the fact that the islanders had small
pieces of gold pierced in their noses. In addition, they told Columbus that the inhabitants of other
islands wore gold bands around their arms and legs. They also described countless islands, all like
theirs. The Spaniards, believing that they had arrived in the Indies, soon called all islanders
"Indians."
On the third day, Columbus, accompanied by several Taíno guides, left San Salvador
to explore
other islands. By the end of October, Columbus reached the coast of Cuba. After sailing north and
then south along its coast, he was convinced that it was one of the lands described by Marco Polo.
Despite the fact that the local pilots told him it was an island, Columbus convinced himself that
Cuba was a promontory of China. Shortly after this event, Martín Alonso Pinzón suddenly sailed off
in the Pinta without leave. Although historians disagree on the reasons why, many suspect that
Pinzón, disgruntled with the lack of riches that had been discovered to that point, went off in search
of gold.
Crossing the Windward Passage to the east of Cuba, Columbus sailed to another large
island,
which he called La Isla Española ("The Spanish Island," modern Hispaniola). For a month he
cruised the coast, stopping occasionally to inspect the land and the people. On one of these
excursions, Columbus met and befriended a young Taíno chief by the name of Guacanagarí. After a
brief meeting aboard ship, arrangements were made for another meeting, this one on Christmas
Day, December 25, at the chief's residence in a nearby village. Before the meeting could take
place, however, the Santa María struck a reef off the coast and grounded. Over the next few days,
the crew of the two ships and Taínos in canoes sent by Guacanagarí removed everything that could
be salvaged. They constructed a fort out of the lumber of the ship and stored enough supplies to
last a year. Thirty-nine men stayed behind in the fort, the first European settlement in the Americas
since the Vikings had landed in what is now Newfoundland and Labrador some 500 years earlier.
But the settlement, named Villa de la Navidad ("Christmas Town"), would prove no more enduring
than had those of the Vikings.
Over the next decade, Columbus made three more voyages to the Caribbean opening up
this 'new
world' to European settlement and trade.
