Juan Ponce de Leon came with his family to the Americas with Christopher Columbus. It was the second trip over for Columbus. De Leon was to colonize and explore Hispaniola (Dominican Republic). He became the governor for two years.
Next, De Leon was sent to explore other places. He was an explorer for Spain. He explored Florida and named it La Florida. This means ‘place of flowers.’ De Leon claimed Florida for Spain.
In his exploring De Leon looked for two things. He looked for gold and also the 'Fountain of Youth.' He did not find either one of them.
De Leon tried to colonize where he explored. He ran into the Calusa Indian tribe. They were not friendly. De Leon was wounded by an arrow in some of the fighting that took place. He took his colonists and left. The Calusa tribe lived where Florida is today.
http://fcit.usf.edu/florida/lessons/de_leon/de_leon1.htm
Ponce de León in Florida by "Poems for Christmas, Easter, and New Years"- Wikimedia Commons;
Juan Ponce de Leon- Wikimedia Commons;
Map of Ponce de Leon's explorations – Molumen World Map- Openclipart.org