La Navidad: First European Settlement in the New World

Most people don't know this, but in many ways, Columbus' 1492 voyage of discovery was a fiasco. He didn't find a new way to India like he said he would, he did not bring back much gold and he lost his flagship, the Santa María, when it ran aground on a sand bar. He was forced to leave behind 39 sailors from the sunken ship on Hispaniola at a settlement he called La Navidad, or Christmas, because the Santa María ran aground on the night of December 24-25. When he returned the following year, the men were all missing and the fort had been burned to the ground. What happened to La Navidad? Click above to find out!