The Spaniards chose the site of Santo Cerro because it provided a clear view of the Cibao Valley below and because it was relatively easy to defend. It is a high, steep mountain on the northern edge of the vast chain called the Cordillera Central. What a sight awaited Columbus and his men as they looked down upon the valley in the early light of dawn. Witnesses later testified that there were Indians as far as the eye could see. Outnumbered and out fought, the Spaniards were beaten back and back, up the steep mountain.
Sources vary about how many days the battle lasted.
That night, said the witnesses, the Spaniards wailed and prayed, dreading the dawn and the deaths that they were certain awaited them. Certain defeat was avoided by a series of miracles that occurred during the night, or so eyewitnesses reported. In the early hours after nightfall, enemy Indians tried to burn down the Spaniards cross, but they could only scorch it, despite all the dry firewood they piled around it. Unsuccessful in burning down the hated Christian symbol, they tried to pull the cross down, using thick vines of the bejuco plant, but couldn t pull it down. Frustrated, they tried to chop the cross down with their stone axes, but were also unsuccessful.