Ponce de Leon in Miami's B. bay..........................he was the 1st gov. (from Spain) of Puerto Rico..........do the toe the Conga Party line.........from San Juan.................Conga.........a song by the Miami Sound Machine.........Gloria Estefan........the lead singer..........a refugee from Cuba...........

They continued down the coast hugging the shore to avoid the strong head current. By May 4 the fleet reached and named Biscayne Bay and took on water at an island they named Santa Marta (now Key Biscayne) and explored the Tequesta Miami mound town at the mouth of the Miami River. The Tequesta did not engage the Spanish,they evacuated into the coastal woodlands. On May 15 they left Biscayne Bay and sailed along the Florida Keys, looking for a passage to head north and explore the west coast of the Florida peninsula. From a distance the Keys reminded Ponce de León of men who were suffering, so he named them Los Martires (the Martyrs).^[43][44] Eventually they found a gap in the reefs and sailed "to the north and other times to the northeast" until they reached the Florida mainland on May 23. Encountering the Calusa who refused to trade and drove off the Spanish ships by surrounding them with warriors in sea canoes armed with long bows.^[45][46]

Back of Ponce de León's statue in the Old San Juan,Puerto Rico The statue was made in New York in 1882 using the bronze from English cannons seized after the English attacked San Juan in 1792.^[47]

Again, the exact site of their landfall is controversial. The vicinity of Charlotte Harbor is the most commonly identified spot,^[43] while some assert a landing further north at Tampa Bay or even Pensacola.^[48] Other historians have argued the distances were too great to cover in the available time and the more likely location was Cape Romano or Cape Sable.^[48] Here Ponce de León anchored for several days to take on water and repair the ships. They were approached by Calusa, who might have been initially interested in trading but relations soon turned hostile.^[43] Several skirmishes followed with casualties on both sides and the Spaniards took eight Indians captive.,^[49] including one to become a translator.^[50] On the 4th of June, there was another encounter with natives near Sanibel Island and the Calusa in war canoes, with the Spanish sinking a fourth of them. An unsubstantiated claim to justify Spanish retreat.^[50]

On June 14 they set sail again looking for a chain of islands in the west that had been described by their captives. They reached the Dry Tortugas on June 21.^[50] There they captured giant sea turtles, Caribbean Monk Seals, and thousands ofseabirds. From these islands they sailed southwest in an apparent attempt to circle around Cuba and return home to Puerto Rico. Failing to take into account the powerful currents pushing them eastward, they struck the northeast shore of Cuba and were initially confused about their location.^[51]