Spanish Conquistadors
From thousands of miles away King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella I divided up the new world among nobles, wealthy merchants, soldiers, lawyers, etc.
Captains Alonso de Ojeda and Don Diego Nicuesa are two of those who saddled up to the Catholic Monarchs and received commissions to conquer the new world.
Don Diego de Nicuesa received the east coast of modern Panama and Alonso de Ojeda the northern coast of Columbia.
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The Spanish monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella were reluctant to sponsor Christopher Columbus on his first expedition. I guess I didn’t find it surprising when that reluctance vanished immediately once they saw the riches available in the new world.
Once they got a taste of the sheer wealth the new world provided, they decided they owned the whole world. It was theirs for the taking. The problem was, despite the fact that Christopher Columbus was the discoverer, and he was given great titles, he wasn’t enough. He couldn’t conquer, pillage, and loot the new world fast enough for the two monarchs.
So what did they do? They unleashed an army of bloodthirsty, greedy, incompetent fleets on an unsuspecting world. A world they claimed was theirs, a world full of gold, silver, pearls, and slaves.
Two of the commanders of those countless conquering fleets were Alonso de Ojeda and Don Diego Nicuesa.
It’s important to realize most conquerors funded their own expeditions without help from the crown. Very few were funded like Columbus was. Explorers found partners who helped them acquire ships, provisions, and men. Investors were promised great plunder and titles, much like today. All risk was born by the explorers themselves. It was expected that the crown would receive one-fifth of the plunder. So with no risk of man or money, why wouldn’t the crown want countless armadas out pillaging and looting the new world?
So from thousands of miles away Ferdinand and Isabella divided up the new world among nobles, wealthy merchants, soldiers, lawyers, etc.
So now about Alonso de Ojeda and Don Diego Nicuesa.
Ferdinand gave Don Diego de Nicuesa the east coast of modern Panama and he gave Ojeda the northern coast of Columbia.
Ojeda and Nicuesa prepared for their expeditions in Santo Domingo. Nicuesa was wealthier than Ojeda and had more credit so he attracted about 800 men and seven ships along with lots of horses. Ojeda’s armada only had four ships and 300 or so men. Among Ojeda’s men however were two names you will recognize, Francisco Pizarro and Hernan Cortez. At the last minute, Cortez got sick and didn’t join the 1510 expedition, which of course was many years before Cortez conquered the Aztecs in Mexico and Pizarro conquered the Incas in Peru.
Ojeda was said to be slight of stature, clever, and handsome and was always to be the first to draw blood in any fight. All the particulars of favors and debts and intrigue that went on in the king’s courts to secure the rights to conquer and govern these new lands are probably worthy of a book by themselves but not here. Suffice it to say Ojeda Served the Duke of Medinacell in the conquest of Granada and earned some reputation.
Ojeda became partners with a lawyer named Martin Fernandez de Enciso and promised to make Enciso mayor of the new colony once it was established in what they called New Andalusia. Enciso’s job was to follow in a few months with a chartered ship and more provisions.
Just to be clear – This area of the new world has been called New Andalusia, Nueva Andalucia, Tierra Firma, New Castile, Tierra de Oro, Castile of Oro, etc.
Ojeda traveled along the coast of Nueva Andalucía toward the southwest. In January 1510 he founded the settlement of San Sebastián de Urabá, which in reality was little more than a fort.
However, the fort soon grew short of food, which exacerbated the problems caused by the unhealthy climate and the constant attacks by the local tribes.
Eight months after the Ojeda’s flotilla left Santo Domingo the assistance promised by his partner Enciso didn’t arrive. Ojeda put Francisco Pizarro in charge of the fort and ordered him to stay there for the fifty days that it would take for Ojeda to travel to and return from Santo Domingo. Except, Ojeda never returned to San Sebastian and after fifty days, Pizarro was forced to leave the colony in the two remaining brigs, along with the last 70 surviving colonists. One of the brigs hit a shoal and came apart. Pizarro didn’t return to save the survivors.
Some historians say Ojeda just disappeared, others say he gave up his position as governor and lived out his life in Santo Domingo where he died sick, poor, and didn’t have a cent to be buried.
In 1506, Don Diego de Nicuesa was given the job of governing Costa Rica but ran aground off the coast of Panama. He made his way north overland, against resistance from the native population. Between the natives and tropical disease, half his expedition died. So that governorship failed.
When Nicuesa received this new land grant to be the governor of Castilla de Oro, in what is now Panama, He missed again. Rather than establish one of the first Spanish settlements on the American mainland, he failed again.
He founded the colony of Nombre de Dios further north. The colony suffered from hunger, hostile natives, and illness, Where Enciso failed to help Ojeda, Nicuesa was ultimately saved by the arrival of his partner who did show up at Nombre de Dios with supplies. In the meantime, It was Balboa who settled the Panama area successfully.
Nicuesa and his few survivors abandoned their failed colony to sail to the more prosperous colony of Santa María la Antigua del Darién, which had been established by the conquistador Vasco Núñez de Balboa without the knowledge of Nicuesa.
When Nicuesa heard a successful new colony was established within the borders of his territory, he headed to the colony to punish the colonists and take possession of it. But the colonists of Santa Maria learned how brutal, unjust, and incompetent Nicuesa was, they denied him entry. They wouldn’t let him off the ship. While most of Nicuesa’s men were granted the right to stay in Balboa’s colony, Nicuesa and 17 loyal followers were put out to sea. Nicuesa headed for the Santo Domingo, but the ship disappeared, and he was never seen again.
