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Puerto Rico—Riches in the SunAwake!—2008 | October
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Puerto Rico—Riches in the Sun
ON November 19, 1493, Christopher Columbus, with a flotilla of Spanish ships, arrived in the bay of a lush Caribbean island. While there, he named the island San Juan Bautista (St. John the Baptist).
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Puerto Rico—Riches in the SunAwake!—2008 | October
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Ponce de León, a Spaniard who some say accompanied Columbus on that voyage, resolved to go back to the island, which was known by its natives as Boriquén. Having heard reports of gold ornaments owned by the natives, he believed the island’s hills harbored gold. Fifteen years later he returned to stake his claim. In 1521 the Spaniards established their principal settlement on the northern coast of the island. Ponce de León called the new town Puerto Rico, meaning “Rich Port,” in anticipation of a rich bounty.a
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Puerto Rico—Riches in the SunAwake!—2008 | October
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a Soon thereafter, a misunderstanding among cartographers led to the name of the island being confused with its principal settlement. Ever since, the island—rather than the capital, San Juan—has been known as Puerto Rico.
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