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| The first settlement of the new world | |
|  The area around La Isabela Bay offered favorable conditions for building a settlement. A river of crystal clear water flowed into the bay. There was an elevated outcrop to build on. Forests provided plenty of wood and a rocky cliff supplied the stone they needed to build with. And, not far a way was the promise of gold in the mountains of the Cibao. For the 1,200 men who had just spent 100 days crammed into 17 ships, suffering the stench and the perpetual motion of the sea -- this was Paradise!
With great enthusiasm they set to the task of building the first settlement of the New World, their ships peacefully anchored just offshore. Built first were the house for the Viceroy cum Admiral of All The Seas, a church, a warehouse and smaller houses for the nobles. On January 6, 1494, the settlers celebrated Mass for the very first time in the New World.
In March, Columbus set off with a group of soldiers over the mountains into the Cibao valley to find the gold that everyone dreamed of. The unfamiliar tropical climate and vegetation made it a strenuous trek.
To add insult to injury, gold was nowhere to be found. So Columbus left a group of 56 soldiers to continue the search under the command of one, Pedro Margarit, in a quickly erected fort named San Tomas, not far from todays town of Ja¡nico, near Santiago. Returning to La Isabela, Columbus sailed out to explore the South coast of Cuba.
While he was away, things got sticky in La Isabela. The nobles were discontented with the Indians, who seemed unable to live up to their expectations. Communication was a problem, supplies were short, and the tropical climate was causing unfamiliar fevers and disease. In their growing frustration, the nobles began to perceive the natives as wild and pagan subhumans.
Three months after leaving La Isabela, Columbus returned to chaos and revolt. A fire had destroyed many of the recently finished houses and a terrible storm had sunk two ships in the bay, the Mariagalante and the Gallega. Columbus quickly restores order by sending several of the troublemakers to the gallows and appointing his brother Bartolomo as mayor. After building a furnace to bake bricks and tiles, a wall was erected around the settlement. Alas, La Isabela seemed destined to be a settlement where the fastest growing subdivision was the cemetery; tropical fevers, goldrush fever and constant quarreling between each other and with the natives all prevented La Isabela from flourishing.
Anxious to get back to Spain, Columbus built a new ship with pieces left over from the wrecks. Christened the Santa Cruz and nicknamed La India, this was the first European-built ship of the New World.
On March 10, 1496, he sailed back to Spain on his beloved Nina, accompanied by the new La India. On board were 225 Spaniards and 30 Indian prisoners, including the legendary Chief Caonabo. Columbus left his brother Bartolomo in the bay of Puerto Plata with instructions to head for the South coast with men from La Isabela in order to look for gold and build a settlement.
In 1497, a supply fleet returned under the command of Captain Torres. Traveling with him were the first 30 Spanish women to settle in the New World. These women had to be tough to withstand the rigors of their undertaking. Most of them hailed from prisons and red light districts of Seville. For them, this was an honorable opportunity to regain their freedom, start new lives and perhaps even settle down with a family.
Most of the inhabitants remaining in La Isabela moved west to a place they named Puerto Real, not far from La Navidad. Here they received a cordial welcome from Taino Chief Guacanagarix and his tribe, the same Indians who helped when the Santa Maria ran aground. Today, Puerto Real exists only as a historical dig.
Abandoned less than ten years after being settled, the history of La Isabela remains brief. In the centuries that followed, it was used as a hideout for buccaneers, pirates and smugglers.
In the 1950s, dictator Rafael Trujillo, anticipating an important visit, sent orders by telegram to clean up the ruins of La Isabela. The tyrant dictators orders were followed to the letter: a bulldozer was used to push all the remaining structures over the cliff into the ocean, leaving La Isabela nice and clean.
Today, after years of extensive excavations, the foundations are again visible and many graves have been uncovered. A museum and church have been built. The fragments found here are worth gold to scientists, who have been able to find answers to many archaeological and historical questions.
Source: Tales of a Caribbean Isla, by HeinzMeder,
Courtesy of the German Consulate in Puerto Plata |
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