On the night of December 24, 1492, Christopher Columbus's ship hit rocks near northern Haiti. Local people helped save things from the ship. Columbus used its wood to build a fort called La Navidad. It was the first Spanish settlement in the Americas. He left 39 men there and sailed back to Spain.
Columbus returned in November 1493. The fort had burned down, and all the men were dead. He built another settlement elsewhere on the island.
Researchers think the fort stood at a place called En Bas Saline. They found an old burned building there. But the fort's exact place is still unknown. The ship's remains are also still a mystery.
