One of the most optimistic advocates of the western route was Christopher Columbus. For years he begged the courts of Portugal, England, France, and Spain for a grant of ships and men to prove that Asia lay only a few thousand miles west of Europe. Finally in 1492 Queen Isabella of Castile provided the money,
and Columbus sailed with three ships. Pressing onward over the growing objections of his captains and crews, he finally sighted one of the Bahamas and shortly thereafter discovered Cuba and Hispaniola.
On three later voyages he found the mainland's of Central and South America. Until his death, in 1506, Columbus never swerved from his belief that the lands he discovered were actually part of Asia.