Maps/Mapas

Spanish Explorations

Contrary to the popular belief that most of the conquistadores traveled south, this map clearly shows that since 1513, many of them started in Santo Domingo - "America's Cradle" - and were northward bound.

Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo's route - 1542

Hernando de Soto expedition route

By the 1700s, Spain had established missions, forts and settlements from Florida to California and as far north as St. Louis.

St. Augustine:

Melbourne Beach:

La Florida

If we saw how "Florida" once covered a huge portion of the United States, perhaps we would give Ponce de Leon due credit for discovering our country.

On European maps in the 16th century, Florida extended throughout most of the North American territory. From the moment Ponce de León and his men first sighted the North American mainland on April 2, 1513, and first stepped ashore on April 3, European scholars and mapmakers used the word "Florida" to describe the territory now known as the United States. Yet nowadays, we limit their discovery only to the Florida peninsula. 

The Onate expedition