October 1492

In October 1492, the Taíno peoples of the Caribbean lived mostly in territory within modern Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, eastern Cuba, and Jamaica, and, to the north, the smaller islands of the Bahamas and the Turks & Caicos. Haiti was one of the...

Wednesday, December 5, 1492

The Guanahanían captives understood that Cuba was an island and told Columbus so. But, since early November, Columbus had believed Cuba was part of the Indies’ mainland. On December 5, the Santa María and Niña passed Cuba’s eastern tip, modern Punta de Maisí, sailing...

Saturday, December 15, 1492

Martín Alonso Pinzón and the Pinta sailed for Baneque (Great Iguana Island) after deserting the expedition in November (see November 21). There’s no preserved ship’s log recounting the route or what transpired, but the Pinta reached the Taíno Haiti’s northern coast...

Sunday, January 6, 1493

Guacanagarí had alerted Columbus that the Pinta had been sighted to the east, whereupon Columbus dispatched a letter borne by Guacanagarí’s subjects entreating Martín Alonso Pinzón to reunite with Columbus, but refraining from asserting that Pinzón’s separation had...

Thursday, January 10, 1493

Sailing east, Columbus anchored in the bay Martín Alonso Pinzón had named for himself, renaming it Río de Gracia (River of Grace) in reference to Columbus’s pardon for Martín’s desertion. But the bay still bore Martín’s name a century later (see sketch at December...