Fountain of YouthĮncouraged by the Spanish crown to discover more lands, Ponce de León allegedly decided to follow rumors he had heard from local natives about an island called Bimini, home to a magical spring or fountain whose waters would rejuvenate those who drank from it. When he returned to Hispaniola for supplies, Ponce de León was named governor of Puerto Rico, though he had many rivals for influence and was soon displaced by Diego Columbus, the son of Christopher Columbus. On the official expedition, he took 50 soldiers and a single ship and founded a settlement at Caparra, near what is now San Juan. (He may have unofficially traveled there on his own before that.) The Spanish crown to give Ponce de León permission to explore the island in 1508-09. Rumors of a place called Boriquen - where large deposits of gold were to be found - led Ponce de León to the nearby island of San Juan Bautista, as Puerto Rico was then known.
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