Historic Prints
1513 signing of the Panama Contract
Wikipedia writes: In September 1510,
the first permanent European
settlement, Santa María la Antigua
del Darién on the Americas mainland
was founded. Vasco Nuñez de Balboa
and Martin de Enciso agreed on the
site near the mouth of the Tarena
River on the Atlantic. Balboa
maneuvered and was appointed Mayor
on the first official cabildo
abierto (municipal council) held on
the mainland. On August 28, 1513,
the Santa María de La Antigua del
Darién mission was erected with Fray
Juan de Quevedo as the first
Catholic Bishop in the continental
Americas.
On September 25,
1513 the Balboa expedition verified
claims by indigenous people that the
Panama isthmus had another coast to
the southwest along another ocean.
Balboa was the first known European
to see the Pacific Ocean, which he
named the South Sea.
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