The life, times and personal challenges of one of Spain's most famous explorers and conquistadors.
Early Years and Explorations
Vasco Nunez de Balboa was born in 1475 in Jerez de los Caalleros, Spain. In 1500, he sailed from Spain to South America with Rodrigo de Bastidas in search of pearls along the northern coast of Venezuela. Their expedition was aborted due to a leaky boat, which they were forced to abandon on the island of Hispanola. The governor confiscated whatever they goods they had amassed, and Balboa was left penniless. He tried unsuccessfully to farm for a living. In 1510, unable to pay his debts, Balboa stowed away with his pet dog on board a ship sailing from Santo Domingo to San Sebastian along the Isthmus of Panama. In 1511, Balboa founded the first European colony in South America, the town of Santa Maria de la Antigua del Darien.
The colony and Balboa thrived and he soon ventured into the neighboring region of Coiba where he was befriended by surrounding Indians and one local Indian chief in particular. Balboa married his daughter and an alliance was soon formed between the Spaniards and another powerful Indian chief, Comogre, who spoke of a land of great wealth on the other side of the mountains, which was probably the Incan Empire. Comogre offered to lead the Spaniards there in exchange for help in an Indian war. Balboa's men crossed through the densest rain forest in the world, fighting hostile tribes along the way.
Discovery of the The Pacific Ocean
In 1513, while crossing the Isthmus of Panama, Balboa became the first European to view the eastern part of the Pacific Ocean. He befriended those Indians who were amenable and captured, looted and tortured those who were not, amassing a substantial treasure of his own. Balboa erected a cross, claimed the ocean and all adjacent lands for Spain and christened the sea "Mar del Sur" (South Sea).
Return to Spain and Death
In 1514, Balboa became governor of the Mar del Sur and headed back to Spain. In his absence from Darien, which was now a crown colony, a new governor named Pedrarias had been assigned and the rivalry between the two men was evident from the start. Pedrarias, convinced that Balboa was trying to establish a government of his own on the west coast, had him arrested and tried for treason. On January 21, 1519, Balboa was convicted, and sentenced to death, and along with four other alleged accomplices, was beheaded.
