How did Vasco Nunez de Balboa explore the Pacific Ocean, found a colony, come close to becoming the first European to meet the Inca Empire, and befriend several native tribes in only 19 years?  Balboa was born in Jerez de los Caballeros, Spain around 1475 A.D.  Christopher Columbus’s exploits inspired 17 year-old Balboa to explore the world.  In 1500 A.D., Balboa arrived in the New World.  Thirteen years later, Balboa became the first European to sight the Pacific Ocean.  In 1519, Balboa was convicted of murdering a Spanish noble and executed.  Balboa’s accomplishments led up to his demise through Enciso’s faults, Davila’s greed, and untimely incidents including a whale tossing Balboa’s ship.
    Balboa’s early years as an explorer were filled with miseries and problems that he overcame.  Balboa came to the New World in 1500 on a ship headed for the Pearl Coast. The captain, Don Rodrigo de Bastidas, owned two ships and a license from King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain.  The main object of the voyage was to find gold and pearls.  The license stated that when the expedition arrived in the New World, they could take any types of metal, jewels, pearls, slaves, spices, drugs, and animals, as long as they gave one fifth of this amount to Spain.  About one half mile away from Hispaniola, sea worms bore into Bastidas’s ships.  The expedition was forced to wade to shore.  When Bastidas and Balboa arrived in Hispaniola, they traveled to Santo Domingo. There, Bastidas was thrown in jail for illegally trading with natives.  He was sent back to Spain, put on trial, and found innocent.  Although these events in Balboa’s life did not directly cause Balboa’s demise, maybe if Balboa had gotten a better start in the New World, his demise would not have been so tragic.
    Balboa spent eight years in Hispaniola as an unsuccessful farmer.  He was constantly in debt and knew that he needed to leave Hispaniola immediately because he could not pay the debts, although it was illegal to leave the island without paying the debts.  One of Balboa’s friends heard of a ship that was leaving Hispaniola bound for part of the Gulf of Uraba as a relief effort for a colony founded by Alonso de Ojeda.  The captain of the relief effort’s ship was named Martin Fernandez de Enciso, a grumpy Spanish lawyer.  It was Balboa’s only chance to leave Hispaniola.  Because Balboa had not earned any money from farming, he chose to stowaway on Enciso’s ship.  When they were far out to sea, Balboa and his bloodhound Leoncico climbed out of the barrel that they had hidden in, and met Enciso, who became extremely angry with them.  At first, Enciso planned to throw Balboa off the ship, but realized that some of the crewmembers knew Balboa, and would probably start a mutiny against him.  When the relief effort arrived near Ojeda’s settlement, San Sebastian, they found that 35 out of Ojeda’s 300 men were alive. The survivors told Enciso that natives had burned down San Sebastian.  Enciso did not believe this and forced the survivors and relief efforts back to San Sebastian.  When they arrived, Enciso saw that the survivors told the truth.  Enciso became furious but asked every man what they thought they should do.  Balboa suggested that the expedition travel to a different part of the Gulf of Uraba where there was more food and the natives did not have poisonous arrows.  At this point, Enciso became angry because, it seemed to him, that Balboa was taking over the expedition.  Enciso’s falsifications about Balboa contributed to Balboa’s death.
    Balboa soon became the leader of Enciso’s expedition.  Once they arrived in a more peaceful part of the gulf, they skirmished with the natives and then made peace. The expedition named the new colony Santa Maria de la Antigua del Darien, or Darien for short.  They found gold and food.  Everything was peaceful until Enciso made a law stating that only he could trade with the natives for gold.  The men thought the law violated a law signed by King Ferdinand of Spain stating that Ojeda and Enciso owned all the land east of a boundary line through the Gulf of Uraba.  Nicuesa, another Spaniard, owned all of the land west of the boundary line.  The small colony of Darien was in Nicuesa’s territory, so Enciso had no control over his expedition.  When Balboa announced this to Enciso, he became even more furious with Balboa.  Nine years later, Enciso told King Ferdinand of Spain this exact story from his point of view, leading up to Balboa’s demise.  Nicuesa arrived in Darien during the dispute between Enciso and Balboa.  Balboa and the expedition voted to not let Nicuesa become the rightful governor of Darien after seeing Nicuesa’s poor leadership of his own men.  Nicuesa was forced upon a ship with seven companions and seven sailors that disappeared forever.  At this same time, Enciso boarded a ship and sailed for Spain.  Some years later, Balboa was accused of Nicuesa’s murder or disappearance.  This accusation became a reason for Balboa’s execution.
    After Enciso and Nicuesa left for Spain, Darien became even more peaceful than before.  The settlers and natives passed much of their time together.  Balboa even married the Indian chief’s daughter as a symbol of peace and respect.  Balboa became the governor of Darien and decided to meet other Indian tribes.  In order to do this, Balboa fought battles and then made friends with the defeated tribes.  One of these tribes informed Balboa of a gargantuan sea with several gold mines nearby.  This tribe told Balboa that he would need to take 1000 men on the journey, plus some Indian guides.  At once, Balboa started to recruit as many men as possible.  He sent the news of the expedition to Hispaniola and other neighboring islands.  At the end of this search, Balboa had only recruited 200 men.  Balboa told them that each one would have to be as strong and brave as five men put together.  Perhaps Balboa expected and demanded too much from each man.  In the end, some of Balboa’s own companions turned against him because of his attitude.  Had Balboa’s companions not turned against him because of his headstrong manner, perhaps he might not have been executed.
    Balboa and his men left on their expedition thinking that they were prepared for any disaster.  The men certainly were not ready for the swamps, one and two miles wide. Nor were they ready for the heat, swarms of insects trailing them their whole journey, or yellow fever.  The few men that contracted the fever almost never survived.  The expedition was forced to kill any recipient of the fever, for they were contagious and too weak to continue the journey.  The party was always prepared to fight the natives.  In the end, the Spaniards always won and befriended the defeated tribes, receiving gold and making more allies.  In 1513, Balboa told his expedition to stop at the foot of a hill.  Balboa ascended its peak and from there, became the first European to sight the Pacific Ocean.  Balboa waded into the ocean and claimed it for Spain.  Balboa and the expedition decided to take a different route homewards in order to meet new Indian tribes.  By meeting new Indian tribes, Balboa received more gold as a welcoming salutation.  The route homewards was even more treacherous.  The swamps were larger, the swarms of insects thicker, and the natives more dangerous.  The expedition arrived in Darien.  Although few men died, many were weakened from the journey.  At the end of Balboa’s life, his comrades were so jealous of his exploits and wealth, that they did not support him when his life was at risk during a vital trial.
    Around the time that Balboa’s expedition arrived back in Darien, Enciso had arrived in Spain and was discussing his case with King Ferdinand.  Enciso told the King that Balboa was an evil man and had murdered Nicuesa.  The King, who thought highly of Balboa, decided to send a spy to Darien to make sure Balboa was being kind and fair to the settlers.  A trusted advisor of the King, Arbolancha, arrived in Darien disguised as a fur trader.  Arbolancha noted Balboa’s fairness.  Balboa always divided the gold equally among the men and set aside one fifth of it for the King.  Back in Spain, Enciso continued discussing his case with King Ferdinand.  The King became convinced that Balboa was not doing his job.  The King decided to send a new governor to Darien, a man named Pedrarias Davila, sometimes known as Pedro Arias de Avila.  He was a cruel man, jealous of anyone else better than himself.  Davila was glad that the King had chosen him to take over Darien.  This gave him a chance to kill Balboa.  This fact contributed to Balboa’s demise, also.  About four weeks before Davila sailed from Spain, Arbolancha sailed for Spain in order to tell the King of Balboa’s good deeds.  Arbolancha did not arrive in Spain soon enough to prevent Davila from performing an evil and untimely act: Balboa’s execution.
Balboa returned to Darien and was planning another expedition to Peru to meet a powerful civilization, the Inca, whom he had heard about from an Indian tribe.  The expedition had already begun and was using the Pearl Islands as their base.  They built two sailing vessels and set out for Peru. About a day into the voyage, the ships were tossed by gigantic whales and had to turn back for repairs.  Balboa sent a man named Garabito to send a message to Davila, saying that they were traveling to Peru.  Balboa did not realize that Garabito was a traitor.  He, too, was jealous of Balboa’s exploits, fame, and fortune.  Davila sent another messenger back to Balboa saying that they needed to discuss the details of the expedition to Peru in a small town called Acla.  Balboa arrived promptly.  When Balboa entered the small house in which he was to stay at, some of his old colleagues grabbed him and took him to prison.  Apparently, Davila had persuaded some of Balboa’s old colleagues, such as Francisco Pizarro to follow Davila, the cruel governor of Darien.  Balboa soon caught on to Davila’s plan.  The following day, there was a rapid trial in which Davila was the judge and Balboa was not allowed to defend himself.  Balboa was convicted and found guilty of, although he did not do it, murdering Nicuesa.  The next morning at sunrise, Davila executed Balboa, one of the world’s greatest and most accomplished explorers.
    Although Balboa was one of the world’s most renowned explorers, founding a colony, sighting the Pacific Ocean, and befriending several Natives, his accomplishments and some untimely incidents did lead to his demise.  In 1519, Balboa was convicted of murdering a Spanish noble and executed.  Because Enciso strongly disliked Balboa, Enciso felt it necessary to get rid of him.  Nicuesa’s death and disappearance was blamed on Balboa.  Arbolancha did not arrive back in Spain in time to inform the King and Davila of Balboa’s good actions.  Davila and Garabito were jealous of Balboa’s fame and fortune and this too led up to his demise.  Imagine how betrayed and Balboa must have felt when his old companions suddenly tried to defeat and kill him after he had discovered so much and brought them wealth.