Raymond Hartwell, aged 11, of Salt Lake City, Utah, for his question:
What was Balboa looking for when he discovered the Pacific Ocean?
Vasco Nunez de Balboa was a Spanish conquistador of over 400 years ago. He was a brave and energetic soldier for Spain's empire in the New World. But like LaSalle, who worked for France, and Sir Walter who worked for England, he received only treachery and betrayal for his labors.
Four hundred years ago the kingdoms of Europe were racing to stake out their claims in the New World. No one ?anew the true value or the full extent of the vast territories. The greedy eyes of Spain were bent on plunder. The ambitions of France and Britain were set on trade and colonization.
These expanding, power hungry nations depended upon adventurous men to develop their claims in the New World. Balboa was one who dedicated his work to the service of Ferdinand'. King of Spain. He came to the Americas in about 1500, when he was twenty fire years of age.
For some years he explored the island of Haiti. Later, he made several voyages around the southwestern area of the Caribbean Sea. He then tried his hand as a settler. He is believed to have been a planter on Haiti but not a good one,
In about 1510 we find Balboa fleeing his creditors to the mainland. The story goes that he hid in a barrel from his own farm labeled "produce". The barrel was hoisted aboard a ship carrying a company of colonizers.
When discovered, Balboa was pressed into service as a common soldier. This was more to his talents than was farming. He rose in rank and took part in deposing the leader of the expedition. He then took the colonists to settle the area of Darien in Central America.
Three years later, Balboa received a letter from Spain. It warned him that his king intended to punish him for deposing his commander. And Balboa decided to soften the blow by quick1y adding net^r glories to the throne.
On his travels he had heard of a great sea which could be reached over a narrow isthmus. He set out to claim this sea in 1513. On September 25 of that year we find him gazing from a mountain top at the great Pacific Ocean. Three days later, he walled into its water and claimed it and its lands for Spain. Balboa named his ocean the Agual del Sur, the Southern Sea. Seven years later Magellan named it the Pacific Ocean.
Balboa's clever endeavor did him little good with his king. He was given only empty titles and placed under the command of his mortal enemy who later betrayed and beheaded him.