Balboa Discovers the Pacific

Timeline

1. 1513Santa María la Antigua del Darién · Darién ProvinceBalboa led 190 Spanish soldiers, over a thousand indigenous porters and guides, by small boats down the coast to the lands of Careta and Poncá, then pushed inland through the jungle toward the narrowest part of the isthmus, seeking the legendary mountain pass connecting to another ocean.
2. c. 1513Mountainous Chucunaque River basin · PanamaThe expedition followed the upper Chucunaque River over the mountains, fighting fierce battles with chiefs such as Torrecha along the way. Indigenous intelligence indicated that the ocean to the south could be seen from the ridge top, and Balboa led the vanguard onward upward.
3. 1513Darién ridge (today commonly called Balboa's viewpoint) · PanamaBalboa was first to reach the summit and sight the distant sea; the expedition's chaplain Andrés de Vela intoned the Te Deum, and soldiers marked the discovery with stone cairns and crosses cut into tree trunks. This was the first European confirmation of the Pacific's existence from the American side.
4. 1513Bay of San Miguel · PanamaOn the feast of Saint Michael, Balboa waded into the bay and, in the name of the King of Castile, declared sovereignty over the "South Sea" and its islands and coastal lands, sending Francisco Pizarro and others to scout before returning to the isthmus.
5. c. 1514Santa María la Antigua del Darién · Darién ProvinceThe expedition returned to Santa María in January 1514. News of the South Sea reached Spain by letter, and the crown subsequently granted Balboa titles such as "Adelantado of the South Sea," but also sent Pedrarias to take over as governor.