Wanderlust World Wanderlust World Vasco Núñez de Balboa (1475–1519) was a Spanish conquistador and explorer best known for leading the first European expedition to sight the Pacific Ocean from the American mainland. Born in Jerez de los Caballeros, Spain, he first sailed to the Americas in 1500 as part of an expedition to the coast of present-day Colombia.
After arriving in the New World, Balboa participated in several voyages along the Caribbean coast and settled for a time on Hispaniola. He later joined an expedition led by Alonso de Ojeda to the Gulf of Urabá in 1509, where he gained experience in the region's geography and indigenous peoples.
In 1510, Balboa stowed away on a supply ship bound for the settlement of San Sebastián de Urabá. Finding the colony abandoned, he convinced the survivors to relocate to the western side of the Gulf of Urabá, where they founded Santa María la Antigua del Darién—the first stable European settlement on the mainland of the Americas. Balboa quickly emerged as the settlement's leader.
Hearing rumors from local inhabitants of a "great sea" to the south rich in gold, Balboa organized an expedition across the Isthmus of Panama. On September 25, 1513, after a grueling trek through dense jungle and mountainous terrain, Balboa and his men reached a summit from which they beheld the Pacific Ocean. He claimed the "South Sea" and all its shores for the Spanish Crown.
Balboa continued to explore the Pacific coast of Panama and planned further expeditions. However, political rivalry with the newly appointed governor Pedrarias Dávila led to his arrest on charges of treason. After a summary trial, Vasco Núñez de Balboa was beheaded in Acla, Panama, in January 1519.