Biography of Vasco Núñez De Balboa

            The 16th-century Spanish conquistador and explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa (1475-1519), helped establish the first stable settlement on the South American continent at Darién on the coast of the Isthmus of Panama. In 1513, while leading an expedition in search of gold, he sighted the Pacific Ocean. Balboa claimed the ocean and all of its shores for Spain, opening the way for later Spanish exploration and conquest along the western coast of South America. Vasco was indeed beneficial to mankind. He has made history and accomplished many achievements not just for himself but for others as well. Balboa was born in 1475 in Jerez de los Caballeros, a town in the impoverished Extremadura region of Spain. His father was believed to be a nobleman, but the family was not wealthy; like many of his class, Balboa decided to seek his fortune in the New World. Around 1500, he joined a Spanish expedition that explored the coast of present-day Colombia, then returned to the island of Hispaniola (present-day Haiti and the Dominican Republic) and sought to make his living as a farmer. After falling into debt, he fled his creditors by stowing away on an expedition carrying supplies to the colony of San Sebastian, located on the coast of Urabá (now Colombia), in 1510. The colony had been largely abandoned by the time they arrived, after local natives killed many of the colonists. .
             At Balboa's suggestion, they decided to move to the western side of the Gulf of Urabá, on the coast of the Isthmus of Panama, the small strip of land connecting Central and South America. In that region, the local Indians were more peaceful, and the new colony, Darién, would become the first stable Spanish settlement on the South American continent. By 1511, Balboa was acting as interim governor of Darién. Under his authority, the Spaniards dealt harshly with native inhabitants of the region in order to get gold and other riches; from some of these Indians, they learned that a wealthy empire lay to the south (possibly a reference to the Incas).