- La Isabela
La Isabela in the
Dominican Republic is considered the first formal European settlement in the New World. The first settlement regardless of other factors isLa Navidad in neighboringHaiti .It was founded byChristopher Columbus during his second voyage in 1493. This was after discovering that the fort ofLa Navidad , which he had constructed during his first trip, had been totally destroyed by the nativeTaino people. The settlement was established to search for precious metals [Cite journal
author =A. M. Thibodeau , D. J. Killick, J. Ruiz, J. T. Chesley, K. Deagan, J. M. Cruxent, and W. Lyman
title = The strange case of the earliest silver extraction by European colonists in the New World
journal =PNAS
month = February
year = 2007
url = http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/abstract/104/9/3663?etoc
volume = 104
issue = 9
pages = 3663–3666
doi = 10.1073/pnas.0607297104
format = abstract
pmid = 17360699] .Later discoveries proved that the
Vikings had established a settlement (Vinland ) in the province of Newfoundland, Canada, under the leadership ofLeif Erikson in the 11th century. However, this settlement was abandoned and destroyed shortly afterwards due most likely to fighting with theBeothuk tribe. Canada would not be visited again by Europeans untilJohn Cabot 's landing in 1497.References
External links
* http://www.puertoplataregion.com/isabela.htm
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
