Vasco Nuñez de Balboa, a Spanish conqueror and
explorer, was the first to see the coast of the
Pacific Ocean. He saw the ocean in September of 1513,
from the top of a mountain of what is now Panama. On
September 29, 1523, Balboa claimed it and all its
shores for Spain. His findings opened Spanish
explorations and conquests along the western coast of
South America began.
The Spanish called the ocean the South Sea because it
lay south of the isthmus of Panama. In 1520 a
Portuguese explorer named Ferdinand Magellan sailed
through it and named it the Pacific, meaning peaceful,
which until this day the name remains the same.
Balboa´s early life was a normal one. He was born in
Jerez de los Caballeros, Spain. His father, whom we
know little about, did not have influence or wealth.
When he was young, Vasco served in the household of a
rich nobleman in Moguer, one of Spain’s main ports.
After Christopher Columbus´ voyage in 1492, more
sailors were taken to the New World, and many sailor
stories could be heard throughout Spain about the new
lands across the ocean.
The opportunities attracted Balboa, who in 1501
joined a Spanish voyage to South America. They
explored the north coast of what is now Colombia.
There were not enough people to attempt a settlement.
In 1502 they sailed to the Hispanola, the main
Spanish base in America. Vasco had a very rough time
making a living on the island. For a time he even
raised pigs there.
Balboa´s rise to fame was one that happened little by
little. In 1509, the first expedition to colonize the
mainland of South America left Hispanola. Balboa
wanted to join this expedition, but he had fallen
heavily into debt, and he was prevented from leaving
Hispanola.
On the mainland, the Spaniards established the
settlement of San Sebastian along the eastern coast of
Uraba. In 1510, Vasco stowed away on a ship that
carried...
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