On August 3rd, 1492, Christopher Columbus sailed from, Palos de la Frontera, with a total of 3 ships (one large and two smaller). The two smaller ships were of caravel design, making them light, small and easily maneuvered. They were named, Pinta and Santa Clara. The larger vessel was a Portuguese designed, carrack. A carrack has three or four masts, and although large, is designed to be stable in heavy seas but large enough to carry provisions on long voyages. These were the Cadillacs of the Spanish exploration of the New World in the 15th and 16th centuries. The ships, which belonged to Juan de la Cosa, were essentially "press-ganged" into use on the expedition by the monarchy.
Columbus's first stop on this historical journey was at the Castile owned, Canary Islands. There he took on provisions and made repairs. After a second stop at the smaller of the two Canary Islands, Gran Canaria, Columbus departed from San Sebastian de La Gomera, on Sept 6, 1492, on a voyage that would change the world forever..
Five weeks later, on October 12th, at 2 am in the morning, a lookout named Rodrigo de Triana, spotted land and alerted the crew. The captain of the Pinta, Juan Alonso Pinzon, confirmed the sighting and fired a lombard (primitive rifle) to alert Columbus. Later, Columbus, in a moment of opportunism, claimed that he had spotted a light on the land a few hours earlier. This ensured that he would receive his pension from Ferdinand and Isabella (the Spanish Monarchy) for being the first person to sight land.
The island spotted is now known as, The Bahamas. Columbus originally named it, San Salvador. The natives who lived there already had a name for it, Guanahani, but that didn't seem to matter. There is still much debate which island it actually was that was spotted by Columbus or Rodrigo de Triana. The main suspects are Samana Cay, Plana Cays, or the more recently named, San Salvador Island (which in 1925 was thought to be the island that Columbus had originally seen).
The native peoples of the islands were peaceful and consisted of the Lucayan, Taino and Arawak peoples. Columbus notes in his journal that many of these people had severe scars on their bodies. He was able to determine, through rudimentary hand gestures, that they were the result of raids by other native peoples. It was also noted by Columbus, much to the natives detriment, that these were not a heavily armed people and did not have the ability to make steel.
During this time, Columbus also explored the northeast coast of Cuba and the northern coast of La Hispaniola, home of the scenic Dominican Republic. It was on the coast of La Hispaniola that the Santa Maria ran aground on Christmas Day, 1492. The ship had to be abandoned, and when Columbus returned to Spain with the remaining ships, he was forced to leave 39 men behind at the newly founded settlement of, La Navidad.
Columbus' last stop before returning to Spain was at what is now known as, The Bay of Rincon, in the Samana Peninsula, Dominican Republic. Columbus originally called it, The Bay of Arrows (or Gulf of Arrows). The name came about because Columbus was met with a volley of arrows from the Ciguayos people, his first hostile reception in the New World. Undeterred, Columbus returned to Spain to petition the monarchy to fund another trip to the New World.
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