umbus.

[Illustration]

When Columbus discovered America on October 12, 1492, he began Spain's
most exciting period of history. The next century after Columbus was
called the Age of the Conquistadores. Conquistadores were adventurers
who set out to find and conquer new lands for Spain in the New World
which Columbus had discovered. Many of their conquests later became part
of the United States. For instance, De Soto claimed the Mississippi
River and all the rivers that run into it, as well as part of the land
that is now the American Southwest. Ponce de Leon, looking for a magic
fountain that would keep people young forever, discovered Florida and
claimed for Spain the land that is now the American southeast. Cortez,
who had conquered Mexico for Spain and had sent millions of dollars'
worth of gold and jewels back to his homeland, also traveled through the
Southwest and as far north as Colorado. The great Pacific Ocean, which
washes the western coast of both North and South America, was discovered
by a Spaniard named Balboa. One Spanish sailor, Juan Sebastian Elcano,
was the very first man to sail all the way around the world.

The Conquistadores sent back a huge treasure of gold, silver, copper and
jewels to Spain, and more than paid Queen Isabella and her family for
her faith in Columbus. In fact, Spain became one of the most important
countries in Europe. Her queens and kings and princesses married rulers
of other countries so that soon, in addition to being very rich and
owning many countries across the ocean, Spain owned most of Europe too.
She was sitting on top of the world. Only England had stood up against
the Spanish power. So in 1588, Spain sent a great fleet of warships,
called the Armada, to challenge England. England won.

Spain never recovered from this defeat by England. It became harder for
her to govern the lands she had conquered. Today only two places outside
the country are still Spanish. They are the Canary Islands out in the
Atlantic Ocean near the coast of Africa, and the Balearic Islands in the
Mediterranean.

At the same time that Spain was losing lands she had conquered, her own
lovely land tempted other countries, and the Spanish people were called
upon to fight invading armies from England and France. The real losers
during all these years of fighting were the Spanish people. They had to
fight instead of grow crops, and natural resources, like forests, were
neglected or used up. Spain f