Tuesday, November 6, 1492

by | | Cuba

Columbus’s embassy to seek out the local Cuban ruler returned late Monday evening to report that the territory’s king had warmly received them and that the local people harvested great quantities of cotton. The locals also farmed a crop unknown in Europe they called...

Thursday, November 8, 1492

by | | Cuba, Spain

Columbus’s daily ship’s log of the voyage was presented to Queen Isabella when he returned to Spain in 1493 and has been lost since her death. Isabella had a copy made and given to Columbus in 1493, which has been lost since the 16th century. Before the copy vanished,...

Sunday, November 11, 1492

by | | Cuba

Columbus decides that Cuban captives should be taken to Castile for training in language, faith, and custom so they might be resettled in Cuba, much as the Portuguese had done with African captives in their African trading posts. He orders the seizure of five young...

Wednesday, November 14, 1492

by | | Cuba

The captains of the Pinta and Niña were two brothers from Palos, Spain, Martín Alonso Pinzón and the younger Vicente Yáñez Pinzón. Martín was the most reputed mariner of the Palos region, and his participation on the voyage had been essential for convincing seamen to...

Saturday, November 17, 1492

by | | Cuba

Two Cuban captives escape. Rather than sailing to Baneque—as Martín Alonso Pinzón wished—Columbus had continued to explore Cuba for a few days, reconnoitering its future subjugation. He completed this exercise by the 17th, but chose not to sail for Baneque the...