Summary: South Florida Sun-Sentinel com

MiamiDiario
The Crew of “Elcano” visits the Coast Guard

Why two? There's a bit of a brou ha-ha in La Florida about where the conquistador landed. The Florida Historical Society in Cocoa even staged and videotaped a courtroom drama, "Ponce de Leon Landed HERE!".

Tradition says he arrived first in what is now St. Augustine, America's oldest city, est. 1565, about a century before Jamestown, Vir. and Plymouth Rock, Mass.

But many historians think that de León landed about 140 miles south, around Cape Canaveral ("Cape of Currents" or "Cabo de los Corrientes"), which he named, say NASA and the National Park Service; or near what's now Melbourne Beach; or ...

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  Apr. 2 in Melbourne Beach, "The First Landing"
  

-- Landing re-enactment

-- Unveiling of 10-foot bronze Don Juan Ponce de Leon Statue

-- Flyover by U.S. Marine Corps

-- 21-gun salute by U.S. Navy.

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  Apr. 3, 6, and 7 in St. Augustine re-enactment and ceremonies
  

-- Firing of cannon from the Castillo de San Marcos

-- Speeches by St. Augustine Mayor Joseph Boles and Santiago Baeza Benavides, Mayor of Santervás, Spain, de León’s birthplace. Juan Ponce de León's birthplace, year of birth (1474?), and father are another point of controversy. He's thought to be one of 21 illegitimate children of a nobleman by the name of Juan Ponce de León.

-- On Apr. 3, U.S. Postal Service unveils four new La Florida stamps. The 46-cent Forever® stamps are by designed by the Postal Service's art director Ethel Kessler, with floral art by Steve Buchanan.

-- On Apr. 6 and 7, performances by Hispanic and historical dancers, a salsa guitar jam, and Latin food.

These events commemorate also the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act in 2013, and the 450th anniversary in 2015 of St. Augustine's founding by the Spanish.

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  Now through May 1, St. Augustine, "Picasso: Art & Arena"
  

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  May, Tall Ship Events in Cape Canaveral, and in Miami
  

-- From May 7-12, the Nao Victoria Galleon, a full replica of the 16th century ships that de Leon and other Spanish explorers sailed to Florida, will dock at Port Canaveral on Cape Canaveral, and can be toured.

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  Now through June 22, Gainesville "The Quest for the Fountain of Youth in Florida History, Mythology and Art"
  

Amid all these celebrations, it must be noted that when de Leon arrived in 1513, Florida was inhabited by Native Americans including Apalachees, Tianos, Timucuas, Tequestas, Calusas, and Ais, to name a few, dating back to about 10,000 B.C. Calusas shot poison-tipped arrows into de León when he returned to Florida in 1521 to colonize it for Spain. Mortally wounded, he sailed to Cuba, the closest Spanish settlement, where he died from the infected wound in his thigh.

His remains were reburied in Puerto Rico, where de León had been the first governor. His epitath, in the Cathedral of San Juan reads, "Here rest the bones of a Lion mightier in deeds than in name", written by 16th century poet, priest, and soldier Juan de Castellanos.

Amid Spanish rumors of La Florida's riches, ranging from an elusive mythical fountain of youth to gold, 16th-century Englishmen scoffed and termed it "Stolida, the Land of Fools" and "Sordida, the Land of Muckworms", according to the authoritative 1939 "WPA Guide to Florida", the Federal Writers' Project of FDR's Works Projects Administration.

The conqueror himself reported that the Indian name for the land was "Cautio" -- the loin cloth of palm leaves "to cover their secret parts", according to Spain's 16th century official historian of the Indies, Antonio de Herrera, quoted in a Florida Historical Society publication by Douglas T. Peck.

What's in a name? Some say Cautio, others say Stolida or Sordida, but Oliver Wendell Holmes in his 1873 poem "The Fountain of Youth" says this of "the land of flowers". "Here youth, unchanging blooms and smiles, Here dwells eternal spring..."

The Spanish Embassy is sponsoring the 500th anniversary events in Florida -- and also in Washington, D.C. (Apr. 3 at Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery) and many other U.S. cities, plus six cities in Canada. For a full list of events, click here.

Ponce de Leon never discovered the fountain of youth or gold. Qué lástima! But more important, he discovered "La Florida", land of flowers.

The events are not only in St. Augustine, FL, America's oldest city which celebrates its 450th anniversary in 2015, but also in Miami, Washington, and 20 other U.S. cities, plus six cities in Canada.