Alonso de Ojeda

Alonso de Ojeda (c. 1466 – c. 1515) was a Spanish explorer, governor, and conquistador active in the early years of American colonization. He is best known for giving Venezuela its name during his first two expeditions, and for being the first European to set foot in Guyana, Curaçao, the La Guajira region of Colombia, and Lake Maracaibo. He later founded the settlement of Santa Cruz (La Guairita). His travels also took him to Trinidad, Tobago, and Aruba, sometimes alongside Amerigo Vespucci and Juan de la Cosa.

Early life

Ojeda was born around 1466 in Torrejoncillo del Rey, New Castile. His father, Rodrigo de Huete, was a minor noble who fought for Queen Isabella during the War of the Castilian Succession in 1474. Grateful for his support, Isabella took young Alonso under her protection.

As a youth, Ojeda served the Duke of Medinaceli, Luis de la Cerda, and distinguished himself in the conquest of Granada through his military skill, swordsmanship, and bravery. He was small in stature, clever, and handsome, and according to Bartolomé de las Casas, he combined all possible bodily perfections despite his size. It was said he was always the first to draw blood in a fight.

Arrival in Hispaniola

After Columbus’s first voyage, a second, larger fleet was organized by Juan Rodríguez de Fonseca. Medinaceli had been a patron to both Columbus and Ojeda, so Ojeda—still relatively young—was chosen to captain one of the ships. Fonseca was impressed with him and later became his most important patron.

The fleet sailed for Hispaniola in September 1493 and reached the Caribbean in November. At Guadalupe, a landing party went missing, and Columbus sent Ojeda ashore with armed men to search. The missing group returned on their own, but Ojeda’s search uncovered evidence that the Caribs on the island practiced cannibalism.

They reached Hispaniola at the end of November and found the fort of Navidad destroyed, with all the Spaniards left behind dead. Local natives blamed a cacique named Caonabo. The Spanish began exploring and built a settlement called Isabela. In January 1494, Columbus sent Ojeda with a small armed party to search for gold in the mountainous Cibao region.

Ojeda returned two weeks later with substantial gold nuggets and reported that the area held much gold. In March, Columbus led nearly 500 men to explore Cibao, but the hunt for gold was unsuccessful; however, natives brought gold to trade. Columbus built a fort, Santo Tomás, and left a nobleman from Aragon named de Margarit in command.

In April 1494, Columbus sent Ojeda with about 350 soldiers to relieve de Margarit. Columbus wanted de Margarit to take most of the soldiers to search for gold, seize food from natives, and capture Caonabo. At a river crossing controlled by a friendly tribe, Ojeda arrested the local cacique and other officials, accusing them of stealing clothes during an earlier expedition.

He cut the ears off one captive and sent the rest back to Isabela in chains. This brutal punishment turned the local people against the Spanish. When Ojeda reached the fort, de Margarit refused to follow Columbus’s orders and stayed put, later returning to Spain in disapproval of the chaotic situation and mistreatment of the Indians.

After de Margarit’s refusal, Columbus ordered Ojeda to capture Caonabo, the cacique blamed for destroying Navidad. According to Las Casas, Ojeda tricked Caonabo by presenting him with polished brass manacles and shackles, convincing him to wear them as a royal symbol. The ruse worked, and Ojeda brought the chief back to Columbus. Following Ojeda’s earlier mistreatment at the river, a fort had to be built to protect the crossing.

Late in 1494, the first Indian rebellion occurred there; the fort was destroyed and ten Spaniards killed. Columbus retaliated with a force of 500 led by Ojeda. The rebels were badly beaten, and about 1,500 were taken as slaves—600 shipped to Spain, the rest distributed on the island.

Ojeda also fought in the battle of Vega Real (or Jáquimo), where his command led the Spanish to victory. Las Casas claimed the native army numbered ten thousand warriors against only about four hundred Spanish soldiers, though these figures may be exaggerated. Ojeda returned to Spain in 1496.

First voyage to Venezuela

Back in Spain, the Catholic Monarchs commissioned Ojeda to sail for America again, without Columbus’s permission. He departed on 18 May 1499 with three caravels, accompanied by pilot and cartographer Juan de la Cosa and Italian navigator Amerigo Vespucci. Columbus had touched a small part of the Venezuelan coast in 1498, but it was only after this voyage that sustained exploration began.