The Fate of La Isabella

Christopher Columbus, Cristofo Colombo, Cristobal Colon

In 1492 Christopher Columbus, or Cristofo Colombo in his native Italian, set sail from Spain and landed just over a month later in what we now know as the Bahamas.  He continued on and landed at Hispaniola (the island now home to Haiti and the Dominican Republic).  There the ship Santa Maria foundered on a reef. Columbus established a fort or settlement there, christened it "Villa de la Navidad" and left just over 3 dozen men there.  Since he was convinced he had found Asia, Columbus returned to Spain.

Columbus' First Voyage.  Map by Keith Pickering.  Columbus' nomenclature in blue, modern names in black.

In 1493 Columbus left Spain a second time.  When he returned to Hispaniola, he found that Villa de la Navidad (in what is now Haiti) had been destroyed and several of the men massacred.  He sailed some 50 miles east along the northern coast and built a new settlement which he named La Isabella, which was located in the present-day Dominican Republic and was the first permanent non-native settlement in the Western Hemishpere.

Colombus' Second Voyage.  Map by Keith Pickering.  

Though established with in the vicinity of a 1000 settlers, La Isabella was abandoned within 4 years.  Disease and a hostile relationship with the local natives caused by Columbus' harsh treatment of them are believed to be the primary cause.  Some of the typical diseases are to blame:  malaria, smallpox, influenza.  But new evidence uncovered by forensic archaeology suggests that a previously-unsuspected condition may also have played a role:  scurvy.

The bones of crew and settlers indicate that many suffered from severe scurvy, a disease caused by vitamin C deficiency and common to sailors of the era.  Some of the scientists believe that being afflicted with scurvy at the time the settlement was established resulted in the settlers being more susceptible to other diseases, and that disease, privation, and poor morale all combined to destroy La Isabella.