Mesa free press., 1899-03-31
OUR OLDEST CITY.
The Honor Now Said to Belong to
Caparra, in Porto Rico.

The honor NOW Sa1Q TO bGlOnK Co
Caparra, in Porto Rico.
The settlement of Ponce de Leon at
Caparra, near the site Of Pueblo Viejo,
across San Juan Bay, is now, by more
than fifty-hve years, the first town es-
tablished within the present borders
of the United States. Historians, there
fore, must give the prestige of antiquity
not to the Spanish town of st. Angus
tine, Fla, of 1865, as formerly, but to
Caparra, founded in the year 1909.
DR.. M. w. Harrington, of the San
Juan weather Office, discovered the
exact location of the historical Caparra
Unexpectedly. On pleasure walk into
the country he happened to select the
road to Pueblo Viejo, and when talking
with the native residents learned their
traditions Of the first Spanish town in
Porto Rico. He accordingly procured
guide and made an examination Of
the nearly extinct ruins. Of his inter-
esting discovery DR.. Harrington says:
without doubt, the ruins 1 found
are those of the first settlement estab-
lished by the explorer and colonizer,
Ponce de Leon. Both local tradition
and history name Caparra as the ear
lest town on the island, and agree
moreover, on the same site near OLD
Village, or Pueblo Viejo, Even the ma
tive negroes, some of whom could
neither read nor write, knew the story
Of Caparra. My personal investigation
further satisfied me Of the correctness
of their tradition"
The only remains Of the original
town visible now are the ruins of a
church, hospital, and repaired lime
stone furnace. Most of the stone from
the. church, hospital and houses has
been used, according to the natives, in
the construction Of new highways. On
little elevation from the shore
swamps, the site Of Caparra is hidden
from San Juan Bay, three miles dis
tant, by a row of hills. Another his
torical landmark near by is the reputed
gold mine worked by the first Spanish
settlers. Ponce de Leon greatly en-
riched himself, say tradition and also
history, by the compulsory labor Of the
native Indians in the mines. Although
attacked by hordes of mosquitoes, the
gray-haired old warrior and explorer
remained in Caparra until 1912, and
then set sail for the miraculous foun-
tain Of youth. His voyage ended on
Easter Sunday, March 27, 1912, in the
discovery of the present peninsula Of
Florida. But the greater part of the
original colony stayed in Caparra un-
til compelled a few years later to aban-
don 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 Capar-
ra is told at length in '"The History Of
Porto Rico," published in 1866 by Fray
lingo Abbad y Lasierra and revised by
Jose Julian de Acosta Y Culbo. Under
the title of the 'First Colonizer," the
authors say: "When Ponce de Leon
was in possession Of the government of
the island he decided to establish a
town separate from the Indians. He
chose place near the mines they were
working and started to build town,
which he called Caparra. 1t was situ-
ated On the north coast, opposite the
sea of st. John, near Pueblo Viejo.
The ruins are seen in the vicinity of
the plantation of Don Manuel Diaz,
near the brook named Margarita, a
place surrounded by swamps. So diff
cult was the work Of bringing supplies
there from the ships in the bay, dis
tance of only league, that the cost
was more than that for getting them
from Spain to Porto Rico. But the op-
portunity this place gave the Spaniards
to satisfy their desire for gold made
light for them the hardships which
they endured in this town for ten years.
The historians Herrera and
Oviedo disagree about the year Of the
establishment Of Caparra, the former
saying in 1910 and the latter in 1909.
Porto Rico correspondence New York
Sun.