The first European to visit what is now San Martin was the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, who landed at Ponce following his voyage, in 1520. The region was then known to its native population as Teychili, a Native American word meaning "Island of the Holy." At the same time of Magellan's visit, most of San Martin south of the Ponce and Altamira was dominated by the Iztecs, a Native American tribe remarkable for its fighting ability. In 1535, the Spanish under Diego de Almagro led a gold-hunting expedition into the south of San Martin. The expedition spent nearly three fruitless years in the country and then withdrew from San Martin.