Part three of the conquest of the Americas.  The conquest of Tierra Firme.  Jesse tells the story of Vasco Núñez de Balboa and the "discovery" of the Pacific.  There is a lot of good information on the Chibchan as well.  This is a good overview of the early Spanish Conquest of Central America.  Conquistadores like Ojeda or Hojeda, Nicuesa, and Pedrarias or Pedro de Arias. 

The Spanish called Central America Tierra Firme in the 15th century - and it comprised the wealthiest region of the so-called Spanish Maine by the first twenty years of the 16th century since Hispaniola was experiencing a demographic collapse by the start of the century.   Later, parts of Central America and South America were called Veragua, Uraba, and Darien.  The harbor of Cartagena in modern Colombia was the best harbor on the Atlantic coast of the Americas, but the easiest to find for the conquistadores was probably the Gulf of Paria, in what is now modern Venezuela - where Trinidad and Tobago nearly touch South America.  Columbus called this Veragua.

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