COLUMBUS

The Pinta, the Nina, and the Santa Maria were outfitted in the minor port of Palos. Columbus was aided in recruiting a crew by two brothers--Martin Alonzo Pinzon, who received command of the Pinta, and his younger brother Vicente Yanez Pinzon, who commanded the Nina. They left Palos on Aug. 3, 1492, rerigged the Nina in the Canaries, and sailed to the west. A landfall was made on the morning of Oct. 12, 1492, at an island in the Bahamas, which Columbus named San Salvador.

The landing was met by Arawak, a friendly local population that Columbus called Indians. Some days later the expedition sailed on to Cuba, where delegations were landed to seek the court of the Mongol emperor of China and gold. In December they sailed east to Hispaniola, where, at Christmas, the Santa Maria was wrecked near Cap-Haitien. Columbus got his men ashore. The Indians seemed friendly; so 39 men were left on the island at the settlement of Navidad while Columbus returned to Spain on the Nina. He had sailed due west from the Canaries with favorable winds; now he sailed north before heading east and so again found favorable winds. Martin Alonzo Pinzon, who had explored on his own with the Pinta, rejoined Columbus, but the ships were separated at sea. Columbus finally landed (March 1493) in Lisbon and was interviewed by John II. Then he went to Palos and across Spain to Barcelona, where he was welcomed by Isabella and her husband, Ferdinand II of Aragon. Columbus claimed to have reached islands just off the coast of Asia and brought with him artifacts, Indians, and some gold.