Everyone knows the story of how in 1492 Colombus sailed the ocean blue...but what we learned in school, and what the real story is, is actually quite different.  In a way it can be said that the founding of Santo Domingo was an act of desperation.  Christopher Colombus's real spanish name is actually Cristobal Colon.  When Colombus came over from Spain, he settled in a quiet bay which he called La Isabela in honor of the reigning Spanish queen.  Despite Colombus's hopes, La Isabela was beset by problems from the very begining.  Many of the colonists grew sick and died of maladies they'd never known in Europe.  Food was scarce.  Fires and hurricanes knocked down many of the buidings they had worked so hard to build.
        Colombus returned to Spain to give an account of his actions and findings, when there was a rebellion against his brother, Bartholomew, who was left in charge.  The rebellions left the village, leaving Bartholomew in a dire situation.  With little reason to remain in such a troubled, plagued settlement, Bartholomew led his followers to an oceanside site.  There he founded Nueva Isabela, which later became to be Santo Domingo.
        The native people of the Dominican, the Tainos, were brutally murdered and raped, when the Spanish first hit the coral reefs next to the shore as they first arrived.  The Tainos swam out into the waters to help the Spanish, and when they came ashore, their violence to overrun the island took the Tainos by storm.
        Many hardships and battles were fought and won by the Spanish, turning the silent Caribbean island into bustling villages, colonies, and eventually cities, as it has become today.  Colombus day is celebrated every year by some people, and to others, it's just a reminder of the price the Tainos had to pay to develope the "New World" into what it is today.