The beginning of the Bahamas Islands came, as we know it, with Columbus in 1492. It is not know for sure which Bahamas island Columbus landed on. It was believed for some time that it was an island known as Guanahani by the local inhabitants who were Lucayans, a tribe of Arawak Indians. These were a peaceful people who welcomed the strangers and taught them a skill still seen up and down the east coast of the United States as well as the islands. That skill was the making of hammocks from heavy cotton. Columbus later renamed Guanahani, San Salvador. Recentely the idea of San Salvador being the landing place of Columbus has come under dispute, and research indicates that the first landing of Columbus was actually Samana Cay, which is actually about 65 miles southeast of San Salvador.
Unfortunately the kindness of the Lucayans was not repaid. The Spanish claimed the islands of the Bahamas for their king and queen. As for the Lucayans, at least 40,000 were rounded up and shipped off to other islands of the Spanish empire where they served as slaves diving for pearls or working in mines.
Now we jump ahead to 1513 and find Ponce de Leon arriving in his quest for the legendary “Fountain of Youth”. His journey did not provide the discovery of the fountain, however it did lead to the discovery of Florida and the Gulf Stream. The waters were known as the Little Bahama Bank and situated north of Grand Bahama. The original pronunciation by Ponce de Leon and his men was bahamar meaning shallow water. It is believed this is where the name Bahamas came from.
We find little mention again of the islands of the Bahamas until 1629 when they were claimed by England. However, it wasn’t until the 1640’s that the islands of the Bahamas began to be settled. Some of the islands of the Bahamas were initially settled by a group of dissidents from Bermuda who were seeking religious freedom. It was very difficult to survive and many left and returned to Bermuda. Enough remained, however that there was a settlement which survived on fish and what they could gather from shipwrecks. Others eventually followed, some from England and New Providence Island came to be in 1656. They turned to agriculture with crops of cotton, tobacco, and sugar cane. Charles town was established at the harbor of New Providence Island in honor of Charles the II. Later in the 17th century it would be renamed Nassau Bahamas in honor of King William the III, also known as the Prince of Nassau Bahamas. It was also the home of 1000 pirates!
