On December 6, 1492, during the first voyage of Christopher Columbus, he set foot on an island called Ayti by the native Taino people. The explorer renamed it La Isla Españla (Hispaniola). On January 13, three days before returning to Spain, Columbus landed at Rincón Beach at the east end of Samaná Peninsula. His crew’s skirmish with the Cigüayos prompted them to name the cove the Bay of Arrows. Over 260 years would pass before the town of Samaná was founded in 1756. Then governor of Santo Domingo, Francisco Rubio y Peñaranda, invited people from the Canary Islands to settle along this bay. The colony was named Santa Bárbara de Samaná in honor of the wife of reigning King Ferdinand VI of Spain. From 1796 until 1822, the peninsula exchanged hands among the French, British and Spaniards. In 1824, after slaves were given their freedom in the United States, many migrated to Hispaniola. Their descendants are called Samaná Americans. All of these cultures have blended together to form the current population of Samanés.
