Lithograph entitled: "Balboa claiming dominion over the South Seas on behalf of the King of Spain." The print shows Balboa standing in the Pacific Ocean holding a sword and the banner of Spain. Vasco Nunez de Balboa (1474-1519) was a Spanish explorer, governor, and conquistador. Balboa is best known for having crossed the Isthmus of Panama to the Pacific Ocean in 1513. He traveled to the New World in 1500 and, after some exploration, settled on the island of Hispaniola. He founded the settlement of Santa Mar穩a la Antigua del Dari矇n in present-day Colombia in 1510, which was the first permanent European settlement on the mainland of the Americas.