Most history books have two main labels for Juan Ponce de Leon: explorer and the first Governor of Puerto Rico. In reality, he was much more interesting than that. First of all, the name ?Ponce de Leon? has roots in the Basque royal family. Juan Ponce de Leon grew up in the company of military men, and not uneducated grunt soldiers; great strategic men who were heroes to their fellow citizens. Rodrigo Ponce de Leon, the Marquis of Cadiz was a mentor to young Juan, and a champion of the Moorish wars. Pedro Nunez de Guzman, the Knight Commander of the Order of Calatrava appointed Juan Ponce de Leon as his squire, a prime position for becoming an experienced soldier in the re-conquest of Spain.
By the age of 18, Juan Ponce de Leon had already fought in Spanish campaigns defeating the Moors, the French and the English. Clearly, his teachings as a young man had served him well in battle. The young Juan was looking for adventure by 1493, when there were no ongoing wars to get involved with. He joined the 1200 other sailors Christopher Columbus had recruited for his second trip to the New World. The areas that are now known as Haiti and the Dominican Republic (on the island of Hispaniola), were at time, the destination point for the convoy.
The colony was in disarray. Laws were ignored, raids by indigenous peoples were frequent, and the Spanish struggled to control their own colonizers. In 1502 the new Governor, Nicolas de Ovando, was appointed with orders to quell all uprisings and instil stability. Juan Ponce de Leon was given the job (under the direction of Ovando), of crushing a Tainos rebellion that occurred two years later. He must have succeeded with great flair, as Juan's reward was a significant tract of land including salve labour.
Juan Ponce de Leon built a sort of miniature castle on his new land, and established a successful farming business. His military work, however, was not finished. Governor Ovando ordered Ponce de Leon to establish a town in the Higuey region and gain control of gold mining operations, which meant the displacement of several thousand Tainos. He, of course, succeeded. By 1508, the Ponce de Leon estate was exporting wood to Spain and home to Juan, his wife and their four children.
The Ponce de Leon estate still stands in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. It is now called the House Museum of Ponce de Leon, and holds military armour from the 16th century as well as several other artifacts. The construction of the castle itself was not particularly highly skilled, and it was built in a medieval style. Family secrets of Ponce de Leon seem to ooze and whisper from the walls.
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