Daily independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 188?-1915, 1899-03-25
The settlement of Ponce de Leon at

a""sS San Juan bay, is now, by n..-e
than So years, the first town esIab-
listed within the present borders of
;he United States. Historians, there
fore. mLst give the pi.S...e of aEt:4ui-
y. lot to the Si-~n 81. town Of ~. Au-
g' ne, Fla, OF l:"3, as fOrmr: v. but
20 l~i"rra, FOUNDED: in the year I3u9.
DIR. NJ. w. IlarrlLrion. of the San
Juan weather office, discovered thc eN-
act location of the historical CaI."rra
unexpectedly. On Il pleasure walk into
the country two weeks ago he hap
pened to select the road to Puet,o
Eiejo, and when tulk::.-: with the native
resi.:"uts learned their ira,:.iionS of the
first S.'anish town in Iorto Rico. He
accorG.I -Iy procured guide and mn.e
IN examination of tie nearly extinct
ruins. or his interesting discovery DR..
Harrington SAYS:
without doubt, IT, ruins found are
those of the first settlement cstab-
lished by the explorer and color 'rr
Ponce &c Leon. Both local tra.:.l Ion
and history name Caparra as the carli-
ST town Oh the island, and agree. more
over. on this same site near Old Village.
or Pueblo Viejo. Even the native ne
.roCs, some of whom could neither
read nor write, knew the story Of Ca
para. My personal investigation
further satisfied! me of the correctness
of their tradii.oI."
The only remains of the original
town visible now are the ruins of a
church, hospital, and repaired lime
stone furnace. Most Of Inc stone from
the church, hospital. and houses has
been used. according Ia IT,, Eu,ivcS. in
the construction OF Few ii : ..way@. On
u little elevation frOrl ;he shore
Swamps, the site of Cap:irra is hi..ucn
from San Juan lay. three miles dis, nHt.
by a row of hills. Another histriigu,
landmark near by is the rrrut,t. geld
mine worked by the first SJ:n;.,. set
Tiers. Ponce de Leon greatly enriched
himself, says tradition and also history.
hr the compulsory labor of the native
Indians in the mines. Although at
tackled by hordcs Of mosquitoes. the
gray haired old warrior and explorer
remained in Caparra until 1912. and
then set sail for the miraculous ;oun-
;ain of youth. His voyage ended on
Easter Sunday, March 81. 1912, in the
discovery of the present peninsula of
t4orldn. But the greater part Of the
original colony stayed in Caparra until
compelled few years later to abandon
the town in order to escape the hot
fever weather and an army of mos
quitoes. The final evacuation is said
to have been in 1862.
The story of the foundation Of Ca
para is told at length in 1.-The History
OF Porto Rico" published in 1866 by
Fray lingo Abbad Lasierra, and re-
Nised by Jose Julian de Acosta Cubic.
Under the title of the First Colonizer"
the authors say: when Ponce de
Leon was in possession of the govern
ment OF the island he decided to es-
tablish town separate from the In
dams. lie chose place near the mines
hey were working and started TO build
htown. which he called Caparra. 1t was
situated on the north coast, opposite
:he sea OF st. John, near Pueblo Nieio.
The ruins are seen in the vicinity Of ne
plantation Of Don Manuel Diaz. near
the brook named Margarita, Il place
surrounded by swamps. So difficult
was the work of bringing supplies
there from the ships in the bay, Il dis
iancc of only league. that the cost
was more than that Of getting them
from Spain TO Porto Rico. But the op.
portumiiy this place gave the Spariards
TO satisfy their desire for gold made
light Tor them the harGships which
they endured in this town for ten
years. The historians, Her.
rcra and Ovicdo, disagree about the
year of the establishment Of Caparra,
the former saying in 1910 and the lat
ter in 1907"
In "The Elementary Geography of
Porto Rico" the author'makes the fol-
lowing remarks concerning Caparra:
Ponce de Leon was the first coonizer
in 1909. The first settlement was the
city of Caparra. in the place named
Quebrada Margarita. near Pueblo Vieio,
and Of which town no more remains
han the ruins, worthy of worship as.
the cradle Of the Spanish race on the