The town was established principally to be the Caribbean anchor of a trail that was planned to lead to a future town on the Gulf of San Miguel on the Pacific Ocean, which had recently been discovered by Vasco Núñez de Balboa.
The town's primary purpose was to act as a Caribbean base for a planned path that would eventually lead to a new settlement near the Gulf of San Miguel on the Pacific Ocean. This area had just been identified by Vasco Núñez de Balboa.