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Such were the first inhabitants of Haiti when, on August 3, 1492, Columbus left Palos. After a journey too well known to be repeated here, his three caravels anchored on the 6th of December, 1492, in a pretty bay in the northern part of Haiti. In honor of the saint whose feast the Catholic Church was celebrating that day, the place was called St. Nicholas (this place is called today Mole Saint Nicolas). The beauty of the scenery, the lovely panorama which Columbus beheld on arriving, the song of the nightingale, the fish, everything reminded him of the country whence he started out to the conquest of the New World. Therefore he gave the name of Hispaniola to the island he had just discovered; and believing that he was in Asia, he called the inhabitants Indians.

The Spaniards and the Aborigines

On those unfortunate people the arrival of the Spaniards was about to bring endless calamities. And the island up to that time so peaceful and quiet was to have no more tranquility; the land was to be nothing else than an everlasting battlefield, where all kinds of horrors and atrocities would be perpetrated. Torrents of blood would irrigate its fertile soil and a whole race would disappear in order to satisfy the cupidity of the new-comers. On the 12th of December, in setting up the cross on the coast of Haiti, Columbus had no idea that the symbol of redemption was to be the signal of a fierce struggle, of a struggle without mercy.

In fact, after the first impulse of curiosity caused by the sight of the large sails, which, like huge birds' wings, were carrying the caravels to their shore, the natives, prompted by the warnings of instinct, fled and got under shelter in the depths of their forests. The looks of the white men foreboded no good. But the trusting and kind disposition of the aborigines prevailed over fear. They were quickly won over by the cajoleries and the gifts of the Spaniards. Their leader, Guacanagaric, not only welcomed Columbus as a friend, but also became his ally; (Columbus landed in the northern part of the island, in the cacicat of Marien) he granted the Admiral sufficient land for the building of a fortress. So a stronghold, called The Nativity in honor of that holy day, was erected with the help of the Indians not far from the place where the present town of Cap-Haitien is situated. The aborigines themselves had thus forged the first link of their own chains.

Thirty-nine men garrisoned the fortress, and on the 4th of January, 1493, Columbus left for Spain. He had scarcely set sail when the Spaniards, forgetting the simplest rules of prudence, became most unrestrained in their manners and committed the worst excesses. Taking no account of the generous hospitality and of the hearty welcome of Guacanagaric, they inflicted on his followers all kinds of ill treatment. They outraged women and girls, and despoiled the men of their goods. Eager for riches, and thinking only of acquiring gold, they seized the metal wherever they could lay their hands on it. They trampled on the chastity and the customs of the Indians. Finding no more booty in the cacicat of Marien, some of them decided to carry their depredations to the Maguana, where the auriferous mines of the Cibao were located. But Caonabo, the caciqueof Maguana, was not like the passive Guacanagaric. Descending from the fierce tribe of the Caribs, he determined to remain the sole master of his cacicat, which he had conquered by main force. Therefore he did not hesitate to cause the invaders to be arrested and put to death. And, having a vague presentiment of future perils, he determined to rid the island of the dangerous newcomers; in consequence he invaded the Marien. At the head of a numerous band of armed followers he rushed upon the fortress The Nativity, which he razed to the ground, after exterminating all the Spaniards. Henceforth it was to be war to the death.

When, on the 27th of November, 1493, Columbus returned to the place where The Nativity was built, he could but deplore the disaster. From Spain he had brought with him imposing forces. He settled in the eastern part of what is known today as Monte Christi; and there was built the first town erected by the Spaniards in the West Indies. In honor of the Queen of Spain this town was called Isabella.