Travels with Christopher Columbus Juan de la Cosa sailed with
Christopher Columbus on his first three voyages to the New World. He owned and was
master of the
Santa María (second-in-command to Columbus), flagship of
Columbus's first voyage in 1492. The vessel shipwrecked that year on the night of 24–25 December off the present-day site of
Cap-Haïtien, Haiti. De la Cosa, in a notable act of cowardice (or treason, in Columbus's documented opinion), fled the sinking Santa Maria (his partial ownership of the vessel notwithstanding) in the flagship's boat, rather than endeavor to assist Columbus in kedging the stricken vessel from off the coral reef on which it had run aground. He and a handful of loyals made for
La Nina, waiting a few hundred yards astern of the flagship, but they were turned back by
La Nina's captain Vicente Yanez. On
Columbus's second voyage, in 1493, de la Cosa was mariner and cartographer on the ship
Colina. On Columbus' third voyage, in 1498, de la Cosa was on the ship
La Niña. Some historians believe de la Cosa did not participate in this voyage. In 1494 de la Cosa received compensation from the Spanish monarchs for the sinking of his ship on his first voyage. He was awarded the right to transport
docientos cahíces de trigo ("two hundred cahices of flour") from
Andalucia to
Biscay, and was exempted from certain duties.
First voyage with de Ojeda On his fourth voyage, in 1499, de la Cosa was the first pilot for the expedition of
Alonso de Ojeda and
Amerigo Vespucci, and with them was among the first to set foot on the South American mainland on the
Gulf of Paria. At the same time they explored the coast from
Essequibo River to
Cape Vela. In spite of not receiving much remuneration, De la Cosa had benefited considerably, having mapped in detail the coast of the region he explored, information he would use to create his famous map. On the fifth voyage, in 1500, de la Cosa,
Rodrigo de Bastidas, and
Vasco Núñez de Balboa explored the lands of present-day Colombia and Panama. He explored further along the South American coast to the
isthmus of Panama, and returned to Haiti in 1502. When the Spanish court found soon afterwards that the Portuguese had made several incursions into the newly discovered country, Queen
Isabella sent Juan de la Cosa at the head of a delegation to Portugal to protest this incursion. De la Cosa was arrested and incarcerated, liberated only with the help of Queen Isabella.
First independent voyage De la Cosa was nominated an
alguazil, and in 1504–1505(?) (or 1506) was commander of an expedition to the
Pearl Islands and the
Gulf of Urabá to found settlements there. At the same time, he visited Jamaica and Haiti.
Second voyage with de Ojeda and de la Cosa's death In 1509 Juan de la Cosa set out for the seventh and last time for the New World. He carried two hundred colonists on three ships, and on reaching Haiti placed himself under the command of Alonso de Ojeda, who added another ship with one hundred settlers to the expedition. After having settled an old border dispute between Alonso de Ojeda and
Diego de Nicuesa, they went with
Francisco Pizarro into de Ojeda's territory and landed at the future site of
Cartagena. This was against the warnings of de la Cosa, who proposed they disembark on the more peaceful coast of the Gulf of Urabá. When the Spanish came ashore, they got in a fight with the natives on the
Bay of Calamar, and drove them off. Emboldened by the Spanish victory, de Ojeda decided to go further into the forest, to the native village at the future site of
Turbaco. When they arrived at the town, they were attacked by the natives, and de la Cosa was shot with poison arrows and killed. De Ojeda escaped and fled to the coast. Another Spanish expedition passed by, and de Ojeda told them of the murderous natives. The men of the other expedition joined de Ojeda for a punitive attack on that village, killing all of its inhabitants to avenge de la Cosa's death. De la Cosa's widow received 45,000
maravedís and all the natives he had in his possession as indemnity for services rendered. == Cartography ==