Columbus, of course, does not find the…
1492 CE to 1503 CE
Nevertheless, he calls the native peoples he meets "Indians" and, because he has sailed west, refers to the region he finds as the "West Indies."
However, dreams of a trading-post empire collapse in the face of the realities of Caribbean life.
The natives, although initially hospitable in most cases, simply do not have gold and trade commodities for the European market.
In all, Columbus makes four voyages of exploration between 1492 and 1502, failing to find great quantities of gold, Christians, or the courts of the fabled khans described by Marco Polo.
After 1499 small amounts of gold are discovered on Hispaniola, but by this time local challenges to Columbus's governorship are mounting, and his demonstrated lack of administrative skills make matters worse.
Even more disappointing, he returns to Spain in 1502 to find that his extensive feudal authority in the New World is rapidly being taken away by his monarchs.