Iron County register., 1899-03-02
CAPARRA, PORTO RICO.
HOW Has the Distinction of BEING
the Oldest City in the United
States.

Caparra, near the site of Pueblo Viejo.
across San Juan bay, is now, by more
than 55 years, the first town estab-
ished within the present borders of
the United States. Historians, there
fore, must give the prestige of antiqu;-
ty, not TO the Spanish town of st. Au-
gustine. Fla, of 1865, as formerly, but
TO Caparra, founded in the year 1869.
DR.. M. W. Harrington, of the San
Juan weather office, discovered the ex-
act location of the historical Caparra
unexpectedly. On pleasure walk into
the country two weeks ago he hap
pened 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 interesting discovery DIR.
Harrington says:
without doubt, the ruins found are
those of the first settlement estab-
lished by the explorer and eolonizer
Ponce de Leon. Both local tradition
and history name Caparra as the earli-
est town on the island, and agree, more
over, on this same site near Old Village,
or Pueblo Viejo. Even the native ne
groes, 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 tradition"
The only remains of the original
town visible now are the ruins of a
church, hospital, and a 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 distant,
| by a row of hills. Another historical
I landmark near by is the reputed gold
! mine worked by the first Spanish set
! tiers. Ponce de Leon greatly enriched
! himself, says tradition and also history
/ by the compulsory labor of the native
| Indians in the mines. Although at
| tackled by hordes of mosquitoes. the
| gray-haired old warrior and explorer
| remained in Caparra until 1872 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 until
! compelled a 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 1852.
The story of the foundation of Ca
! para is told at length in The History
| of Porto Rico" published in 1866 by
| Fray lingo Abbad Lasierra, and re-
! vised by Jose Julian de Acosta Culbo.
| Under the title of the First Colonizer'
| the authors say: when Ponce de
Leon was in possession of the govern
nent of the island he decided to es-
! tablish town separate from the In
! dians. He chose place near the mines
they were working and started to build
a town, which he called Caparra. 1t was
situated on the north coast, opposite
| the sea of ST. John, near Pueblo Niejo.
| The ruins are seen in the vicinity of the
| plantation of Don Manuel DiaZ, near
the brook named Margarita, place
| surrounded by swamps. So difficult
was the work of bringing supplies
| there from the ships in the bay, dis
| tance of only a league. that the cost
was more than that of getting them
| from Spain to Porto Rico. But the OPP
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
ho iS+n
! rera and Oyiedo, 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 colonizer
| IN 1909. The first settlement was the
| city of Caparra. in the place named
| Quebrada Margarita, near Pueblo Viejo,
| and of which town no more remains
| than the ruins, worthy of worship as
! the cradle of the Spanish race on the
! island. The city was abandoned in
| 1852"
DR.. Harrington has already called the
attention of educators in the United
states ~ "a III lAS IOJC VI
the ruins from further destruction.
| Such historical settlement he thinks
at least ought to be marked by a monu-
ment. Even thus early the American
| relic hunters have begun to chip off
! pieces of the church foundation stones
for souvenirs.-N. Y. Sun.
The Best Way to Cook Spinach.
To cook spinach, wash and pick the
leaves from half a peck of spinach.
Have ready a large kettle, throw in
the spinach, sprinkle over teaspoon
full of salt and not more than half u
pint of water. Stand the kettle over a
brisk fire; shake or sort of toss the
spinach almost continually for ten min
utes; drain and chop very fine. You
may then press il through colander
or use it simply chopped. Put it into
saucepan; add TWO tablespoonfuls of
butter, two tablespoonfuls of cream,
half a teaspoonful of salt and a dash
of pepper, and stir continually until
smoking hot. Dish in a hot vegetable
dish, cover with small squares of toast
ed bread, and serve at once. or. when
you return the spinach to the fire to
reheat, you may add two tablespoon
fuls of stock, two tablespoonfuls of
butter. tablespoonful of vinegar, and
garnish the spinach with hard-boiled