by Andrew Rowen | Jan 21, 2022 | New York City
After crossing Puerto de los Hidalgos, Alonso de Hojeda’s expedition descended south into the great valley of the modern Dominican Republic that Columbus would name La Vega Real (the Royal Plain). Journeying for two weeks, the men forded the Yaque River (which retains...
by Andrew Rowen | Jan 7, 2022 | New York City
Columbus lost no time searching for the gold he’d promised Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand. On January 7, 1494, 528 years ago, he dispatched an expedition of over thirty lightly armed soldiers to find it in the island’s mountainous interior, led by the man who would...
by Andrew Rowen | Jan 6, 2022 | New York City
As depicted in Columbus and Caonabó, a third of the voyagers—some four hundred men—were beset with fevers, headaches, vomiting, and diarrhea within days of debarking on the promontory. Modern epidemiologists speculate that the causes included dysentery from the...
by Andrew Rowen | Jan 1, 2022 | New York City
As depicted in Columbus and Caonabó, in December 1493 fierce easterly trade winds and harsh winter storms severely impeded Columbus’s journey east to select a permanent site to initiate the island’s conquest. When he finally anchored in the inlet at Río de Gracia,...
by Andrew Rowen | Dec 3, 2021 | New York City
Departing Chief Guacanagarí and the ruins of Navidad, in December 1493 Columbus’s fleet sailed back east along “Española’s” northern coast, searching for the optimal site to establish a permanent coastal base from which to launch the island’s invasion and conquest. He...
