Page 295 - The Rough Guide to Panama (Travel Guide)

History CONTEXTS 293
away on a boat bound for the mainland. Upon discovery, he was saved from being
thrown off the ship thanks to his knowledge of the isthmus. As the incipient Spanish
settlements struggled to survive, including the new regional centre San Sebastián de
Urabá, founded by Ojeda, Balboa recommended relocating across the gulf. Santa María
de la Antigua del Darién (on the other side of the current Panama–Colombia border)
was thus established on a site that had been seized from followers of Cacique Cémaco, a
pivotal figure in the indigenous resistance. It was the first successful Spanish settlement
on the isthmus, eventually becoming the capital of Castilla de Oro until the seat
transferred to Panama City in 1524.
Meanwhile Balboa continued his acquisition of power by subjugating, negotiating
and making peace with local tribes. Hearing from the locals about another sea to the
south and land dripping in gold and pearls, Balboa found a route through the forests
of the Darién to become the first European to look out onto the Pacific Ocean on
September 25, 1513. Several days later, in true imperialist fashion, Balboa waded into
the water in full body armour, sword in one hand, statue of the Virgin Mary in the
other, and claimed possession of the “Mar del Sur” in the name of the king of Spain.
Yet he received scant reward for his “discovery” – in 1519 his jealous superior Pedro
Arias de Ávila, known as Pedrarias the Cruel or Furor Domini (Wrath of God), the first
governor of Castilla de Oro, had him beheaded.

Panama City and the Camino Real
In the face of appalling losses from disease, Pedrarias moved his base from the Caribbean
side to the slightly more salubrious Pacific coast, where he founded Panama City (Panamá
La Vieja) in 1519. The new settlement became the jumping-off point for further Spanish
inroads north and south along the coast, and, after the conquest of Peru in 1533, it began
to flourish as the transit point for the fabulous riches of the Incas on their way to fill the
coffers of the Spanish Crown. From Panama City, cargo was transported across the
isthmus on mules along the paved Camino Real to the ports of Nombre de Dios and later
Portobelo, on the Caribbean coast. A second route, the Camino de Cruces, was used to
transport heavier cargo to the highest navigable point on the Río Chagres, where it was
transferred to dugout canoes to be carried downriver to the coast.
The flow of wealth attracted the attention of Spain’s enemies, and the Caribbean coast
was under constant threat from European pirates, the first of whom, the Englishman
Francis Drake, successfully raided Nombre de Dios. He received support from the
cimarrones, communities of escaped African slaves who lived in the jungle and often
collaborated with pirates in ambushing mule trains and attacking their former masters.
In the most daring assault, in 1671, Welshman Henry Morgan and his men sailed up
the Río Chagres, having destroyed the fortress at San Lorenzo at the river-mouth en
route, and crossed the isthmus to ransack Panama City. Though Morgan is generally
blamed for the fire that then engulfed the place, it was more likely due to the
detonation of the city’s gunpowder supplies ordered by the defeated Spanish governor.
The city was rebuilt in 1673 on today’s Casco Viejo behind defences so formidable
that it was never taken again, but the raiding of the Caribbean coast continued until
finally in 1746 Spain rerouted the treasure fleet around Cape Horn. With the route
across the isthmus all but abandoned, Panama slipped into decline.

1519 1533 1595–1739
Panama City is founded on The Camino Real flourishes The Spanish are constantly
August 15 by conquistador as the main transit route for threatened by European pirates
Pedro Arias de Ávila (known as plundered riches from South and privateers; Henry Morgan
Pedrarias). America bound for Spain. sacks Panamá Viejo in 1671.

290-319_Panama_3_Contexts.indd 293 30/06/17 11:52 am