the legend
The Fountain of Youth is a legendary spring that reputedly restores the youth of anyone who drinks or bathes in its waters. Tales of such a fountain have been recounted across the world for thousands of years. The legend became particularly prominent in the 16th century, when it became attached to the Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León, first Governor of Puerto Rico. According to an apocryphal combination of New World and Eurasian elements, Ponce de León was searching for the Fountain of Youth when he traveled to what is now Florida in 1513. It was on that trip that the land was named "Florida" by Ponce himself, because of the flowers there and the fact that it was near Easter time when he and his shipmates first saw it. Ponce de León was awarded the rights to settle Florida. He returned in 1521 with a group of settlers, but they were driven off by angry natives and Ponce de León was wounded by a poisoned arrow. He died shortly thereafter.
Any records that Ponce de León kept of his two voyages have been long since lost to history. The best information concerning his journeys comes to us from the writings of Antonio de Herrera y Tordesillas, who was appointed Chief Historian of the Indies in 1596, decades after Ponce de Leon's journeys. Herrera mentions the Fountain of Youth in reference to Ponce's first voyage to Florida in 1513. Here's what Herrera had to say about Ponce de León and the Fountain of Youth:
"Juan Ponce overhauled his ships, and although it seemed to him that he had worked hard he decided to send out a ship to identify the Isla de Bimini even though he did not want to, for he wanted to do that himself. He had an account of the wealth of this island (Bimini) and especially that singular Fountain that the Indians spoke of, that turned men from old men into boys. He had not been able to find it because of the shoals and currents and contrary weather. He sent, then, Juan Pérez de Ortubia as captain of the ship and Anton de Alaminos as pilot. They took two Indians to guide them over the shoals…The other ship arrived and reported that Bimini had been found, but not the Fountain."
Any records that Ponce de León kept of his two voyages have been long since lost to history. The best information concerning his journeys comes to us from the writings of Antonio de Herrera y Tordesillas, who was appointed Chief Historian of the Indies in 1596, decades after Ponce de Leon's journeys. Herrera mentions the Fountain of Youth in reference to Ponce's first voyage to Florida in 1513. Here's what Herrera had to say about Ponce de León and the Fountain of Youth:
"Juan Ponce overhauled his ships, and although it seemed to him that he had worked hard he decided to send out a ship to identify the Isla de Bimini even though he did not want to, for he wanted to do that himself. He had an account of the wealth of this island (Bimini) and especially that singular Fountain that the Indians spoke of, that turned men from old men into boys. He had not been able to find it because of the shoals and currents and contrary weather. He sent, then, Juan Pérez de Ortubia as captain of the ship and Anton de Alaminos as pilot. They took two Indians to guide them over the shoals…The other ship arrived and reported that Bimini had been found, but not the Fountain."