Columbus In His Own Words

We’ve all heard the rhyme, but still most have never read Columbus in his own words.

So to honor the day Rodrigo de Triana alleged to have first spotted land somewhere near Hispaniola (i.e., Columbus Day), Patch has decided to take note of the personal notes Christopher Columbus took that fateful day, almost 519 years ago.

It was approximately 2 a.m. on October 12, 1492.

Triana, who was aboard the Pinta—the swiftest ship in the squadron—spotted land, shouting, "Tierra! Tierra!" which was Spanish for “Oh my god, he was right!"

Upon confirmation of Triana's claim, Juan Alonso Pinzón, captain of the Pinta, rang the alarm, firing a lombard into an otherwise quiet night for 'the admiral,' which was what they called Columbus, who was sailing on the Santa Maria. 

They'd then take in sail to arrive at the island under the sunlight of that next day.

"At daybreak great multitudes of men came to the shore, young and of fine shapes. They were straight-limbed without exception, and not with prominent bellies," Columbus would write in his journal upon first glance of the Islanders.

Describing an incredibly amiable first meeting, he’d record how the natives rowed out to his ships in canoes made from single trunk trees, some of which, were large enough to hold up to 45 men.

"They came loaded with balls of cotton, parrots, javelins, and other things too numerous to mention," he'd write about their welcome. 

In fact, the Islanders would exchange all that they had on them for trinkets like red caps, strings of beads and hawk's bells.

Then at night, they all boarded the canoes and went ashore.

Sadly it’s at this point where the legacy of Columbus is painted—albeit using his own words—with the broad stroke of imperialism and scandal that it assumes today.

“The natives are an inoffensive people… and would be good servants,” he’d write adding, “I am of opinion that they would very readily become Christians… more easily converted to our holy faith by gentle means than by force.”

Obviously, these words do little to help displace this legacy.

Still the story of Christopher Columbus could quite possibly be an outline for the course of most American history, in that, it’s complicated.

Now just over 500 years later, while all regard Columbus as a critical figure in western colonial history, some hold him as a hero, while others, not so much.

But regardless of where you fall on this issue, Christopher Columbus was first an explorer who risked everything for the betterment of the world.

Maybe that’s what’s worth remembering.