In
1500, Balboa sailed with Rodrigo de Bastidas from Spain to Colombia, South
America. They searched for treasures (pearls and gold) along the northern
coast of South America and in the Gulf of Uraba (near San Sebastian). They
were forced to abandon their leaky ship in Hispaniola (present
day Dominican Republic and Haiti).
The penniless Balboa tried, unsuccessfully, to farm for a living.
To
escape his creditors there, Balboa stowed away on a voyage to Panama in
1510.Balboa
and his dog Leoncico 
stowed
away on a boat going from Santo Domingo to San Sebastian. When they arrived
at San Sebastian, they discovered that it had been burned to the ground.
Balboa convinced the others to travel southwest with him to a spot he had
seen on his earlier expedition. In 1511, Balboa founded a colony, the first
European settlement in South America - the town of Santa Maria de la Antigua
del Darien. There
were, at that time, about 800 Spaniards living on the isthmus, whose numbers
were soon down to 60; due to the perils of jungle life.
Balboa married the daughter of Careta, the local Indian chief.
On
Sept. 1, 1513 Balboa set out on his quest to discover this great sea, taking
with him 190 Spaniards (one of whom was Francisco Pizarro, who was to later
conquer the Inca Empire in Peru), a pack of dogs and 1,000 Indian slaves.
It took 25 days of hacking their way through the dense jungles of Panama
before they gazed upon the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean. Clad in full
armor, Balboa waded into the water and claimed the sea and all the shores
on which it washed for his God and his king.
Balboa, gave the ocean he discovered the name of "Mar del Sur" (South
Sea), because he had traveled south, across the isthmus to find it.
In January 1514,
Balboa returned to Antigua to find his enemies had denounced him in the
Spanish court, and King Ferdinand had appointed a new governor for the
Colony. The new governor was Pedro Arias de Avila, who became known throughout
Panama as "Pedrarias the Cruel."
In 1517, Pedriarias charged Balboa with treason. Balboa
was arrested and executed in "Acla" (an old Spanish settlement on the north
coast of Panama, almost to the Colombian border).
Balboa's tombstone is located in Havana, Cuba
