PORTO RICO was one of Columbus's discoveries. He landed there on his second voyage in 1493, and named the island San Juan Bautista. With Columbus on this trip was the great soldier of fortune, Juan Ponce de Leon, who looked with a speculative eye on the possibilities in the new found island of deposits of gold. In 1508 the gallant adventurer visited the island of Porto Rico and explored it. 1n 1509, he was appointed by King Ferdinand of Spain governor of the island, and he settled there with a considerable military force. For several years thereafter he was engaged in securing control of the island, and in ridding it of the hostile tribes. He had his troubles-not only with the natives, but with a rival governor, Jean Ceron, who was appointed by Diego Columbus over Ponce de Leon's head. In 1513 Ponce set off to explore Florida. When he returned, he was kept busy for several years in guarding and exterminating the Carib Indians, who were overrunning Porto Rico. It was not until 1521 that he was ready to set out for Florida again, and that trip finished his adventurous career, for he was wounded and taken over to Cuba, where he died.

After his death, Porto Rico had a quiet, uneventful history under Spanish rule for nearly two hundred years. Pirates visited the island at various times, and. there were occasional assaults during the seventeenth century by English and Dutch fleets. The fortifications of San Juan were held, however, and the invaders were repulsed.

During all these years the population of the island had been growing, and changing in character. Negro slaves had been introduced, and colonists had come from Spain, so that, by 1780, there were nearly 80,000 inhabitants. At the beginning of the nineteenth century this population was further increased by a large number of refugees who had fled from the revolutions of South America. It was, in comparison with other nations of the Western Hemisphere, a peace-loving population. Revolutions found no great encouragement in the island.

When the Spanish-American War broke out in 1898, Porto Rico was strongly garrisoned by Spain, but the old fortifications were obsolete and antiquated. The American forces found no difficulty in invading the island in July. General Nelson A. Miles landed on the 25th of that month on the southern shore, with about 3,400 troops, and when he entered the town of Ponce he was received with demonstrations of joy by the inhabitants. After reinforcements that brought the American army of invasion up to about 10,000 men, General Miles advanced across the island in four columns. At every point a cordial welcome was given to the invaders. For a military campaign it was a joke. By November the Spaniards had evacuated most of the island, and, on the 18th of October, Porto Rico was turned over to the American forces, and the United States flag was raised at San Juan. The Treaty of Paris, signed on December 10, 1898, gave Porto Rico to the United States.