Salt River Bay: Where Columbus Landed on St. Croix in 1493

On November 14, 1493, a boat from Christopher Columbus’s second voyage came ashore at Salt River Bay on St. Croix’s north shore. The landing lasted only a short time, and the fight that followed is recorded in the island’s history. This November marks 533 years since that day, and the bay now sits inside a national park that any resident or visitor can explore.

The St. Croix Times recently published a detailed look at Columbus’s landing and the history of Columbus Day. We’re building on it here with what the site means to St. Croix today.

The Second Voyage Reaches St. Croix

Columbus’s first voyage in 1492 used three ships. The second voyage was much larger. According to the St. Croix Times, it left Cádiz, Spain, on September 25, 1493, carrying settlers, soldiers, sailors, priests, animals, seeds, and supplies. Spain had just finished the Reconquista with the capture of Granada in 1492, and Ferdinand and Isabella wanted trade routes, wealth, and territory ahead of Portugal and other rivals.

The fleet worked its way through the Lesser Antilles and reached St. Croix in mid-November. Columbus named the island Santa Cruz, or “Holy Cross.” The island already had its own names and its own communities. Naming it was the Spanish way of claiming it.

The Skirmish at the Cape of the Arrow

Columbus sent a boat ashore to look for fresh water and provisions. The crew took several women and children from a village near the bay. Soon after, they met a canoe carrying Indigenous people, and a fight broke out. The people in the canoe fought with bows and arrows, and the Spanish fought with their own weapons. At least one Indigenous person was killed and the others were captured.

The Spanish named the spot Cabo de la Flecha, the Cape of the Arrow. The National Park Service calls the skirmish “the first recorded conflict between Europeans and Amerindians in the New World.”

The names of the people involved are harder to pin down. Spanish accounts used the word “Carib” for groups they saw as enemies, and older histories sometimes say “Arawak.” Historians now treat both labels with caution. The Park Service describes the people of the area simply as Amerindians.

Why This Landing Is Rare

The National Park Service calls Columbus Landing at Salt River Point one of only two documented sites on what is now U.S. territory where a Columbus expedition came ashore. The landing site was named a National Historic Landmark in 1960.

Long before Columbus, people lived around Salt River Bay. Archaeologists have found the remains of a village and a ceremonial ball court, the only known ball court in the U.S. Virgin Islands. After 1493, the Dutch, English, French, and Spanish fought over the bay. The remains of Fort Salé, a Dutch fort that the French took over and renamed in 1650, are still at the site.

A marker at the site, posted by the Department of Natural Resources and the Virgin Islands State Historic Preservation Office, adds two later chapters: a Danish customs house built nearby in 1788 to stop smuggling, and extensive excavations of the village site by Danish archaeologists in the 1920s.

How Columbus Day Became a Holiday

Columbus Day has its own long history. Public commemorations grew through the 1700s and 1800s. Italian American communities adopted Columbus as a source of pride at a time when they faced discrimination. The 400th anniversary of the first voyage in 1892 brought national ceremonies, and Columbus Day became a federal holiday in 1937. Since 1971, the United States has observed it on the second Monday in October.

Many states, cities, and schools now observe Indigenous Peoples’ Day instead of Columbus Day or alongside it. In the Virgin Islands, the second Monday in October is also Virgin Islands–Puerto Rico Friendship Day, which has honored the territory’s Puerto Rican community since 1964.

The Salt River story shows why the holiday draws such different reactions. The same day that marks a voyage of exploration also marks a violent first encounter for the people who already lived here.

Salt River Bay Today

Congress created Salt River Bay National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve on February 24, 1992. The park covers about 986 acres. The National Park Service and the Government of the Virgin Islands manage it together.

The park protects history and nature in the same place. Mangroves line the bay, and its waters hold one of St. Croix’s two bioluminescent bays. The other is at Altona Lagoon. On a dark night, tiny organisms in the water give off a blue-green glow when you move through it. The beach at Salt River Point is still a community gathering spot for local families.

Before you go, check the National Park Service for current access and programs.

History in Your Backyard

When people think about moving to St. Croix, they often picture beaches and sunsets. History is part of island life too. On St. Croix, it isn’t confined to a museum. You can stand on the beach where the 1493 landing happened, paddle across the bay at night, and drive home to Christiansted or the north shore in time for dinner.

For new residents, places like Salt River Bay explain why St. Croix feels the way it does. The island has been claimed, contested, settled, and rebuilt many times. Knowing that history helps you understand the neighbors, place names, and traditions you will meet. Our St. Croix Island Lifestyle Guide covers more of what daily life here looks like, and USVI 101 explains how the territory works.

Thinking about buying, selling or renting on St. Croix? Browse current Sea Glass listings.