Nicolás de Cardona

Nicolás de Cardona was a Spanish adventurer from Seville who was involved in the exploration of the Western coast of the North American continent, and is remembered after his efforts to establish a lucrative pearl business.

In 1610 Nicolas served as a captain in the fleet of General Juan Gutiérrez de Garibay that sailed for America. After the arrival, his uncle Tomás de Cardona and several other entrepreneurs from Sevilla, were granted a concession for exploration of pearl fishing along the California coast.

The Spanish crown regarded the Gulf of California as a prime fishing area for pearls, and the pearl fishing rights were granted only to a small number of subjects. Nicolás was put in charge of the exploration and evaluation of the business opportunities. With that aim he went to Acapulco were he built three frigates named the San Antonio, San Francisco and San Diego by the end of 1614.

In the following years, Nicolas made the great efforts to establish the pearl business and to defend it from hazardous Dutch intrusions. However, the pearl enterprise failed as well as an attempt to establish a Spanish presence on the gulf coast.

Cordona returned to Spain in 1623 and never made another voyage to California. A detailed survey titled “Geographic and hydrographic descriptions of many northern and southern lands and seas in the Indies, specifically the discovery of the kingdom of California” remained as the testimony of his endeavors.