The original inhabitants of the island were Ta�no. They were eradicated by the Spanish all over Cuba except here and this is the only place where descendants still live. A local hero is Hatuey, who fled from the Spanish in Hispaniola and raised a Ta�no army to fight the Spanish in Cuba. According to the story Hatuey was betrayed by a member of his group and sentenced to burn at the stake. It is said that just before he died a Catholic priest tried to convert him so he would attain salvation; Hatuey asked the priest if Heaven was the place where the dead Spanish go. When he received an answer in the affirmative he told the priest that he'd rather go to Hell.
On 27 October 1492, Christopher Columbus landed in Cuba in a place he named Porto Santo. It is generally assumed from his description that this was Baracoa, although there are also claims it was Gibara. But Columbus also described a nearby table mountain, which is almost certainly nearby el Yunque. He wrote in his logbook ... the most beautiful place in the world ...I heard the birds sing that they will never ever leave this place.... According to legend, Columbus put a cross called Cruz de la Parra in the sands of what would later become Baracoa harbor.
Around 15 August 1511 (the official foundation day) Diego Vel�zquez de Cu�llar was appointed the first governor of Cuba and built a villa here and named the place 'Nuestra Se�ora de la Asunci�n de Baracoa', thus making Baracoa the first capital of Cuba. In 1518 it received the title of city and the first Cuban bishop was appointed here. As a result several remains of the Spanish occupation can still be seen here, such as the fortifications El Castillo, Matach�n and La Punta and the cemetery.
In the 16th and 17th centuries the isolated location made it a haven for illegal trade with the French and English. At the beginning of the 19th century many French fled here from the revolution of independence in Haiti, who started growing coffee and
