He participated in the second voyage of Christopher Columbus to the Indies in 1493. In October 1501, he set sail from Cádiz for the New World with an expedition made up of expert navigators such as Vasco Núñez de Balboa and the cartographer Juan de la Cosa, who had already traveled to America with Alonso de Ojeda in 1499.
They traveled the coasts of Venezuela to Cape La Vela, limit of the Venezuelan province. sailing towards the West, discovered the coasts of present-day Colombia, the bays of Santa Marta, Cartagena and Cispatáas well as the mouth of the Magdalena river. ROdrigo De Bastidas was the first to enter the territory towards the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. He crossed the Gulf of Urabá and discovered the coasts of the Isthmus of Panama and the ports of Retrete and Nombre de Dios.
He was recognized as a man of friendly treatment with the natives. He accumulated gold in his raids, although at the end of 1501, upon returning to Santo Domingo, his ship sank, losing part of the wealth it was transporting. Francisco de Bobadilla, who led Christopher Columbus in chains, prosecuted Bastidas, although it turned out acquitted upon arrival in Spain in September 1502 whereIn addition, he obtained a life pension on the products of Urabá and Cenú.
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Foundation and colonization of Santa Marta
On November 6, 1524, Bastidas capitulated with the emperor the governorate of Santa Marta, which he himself had discovered. He will appointed captain and advance of Santa Martaand he was ordered to build a city with no less than fifty married neighbors, as well as a fortress on its coast.
He immediately began preparations for his trip, although it is said that he had difficulties to recruit the conquering and colonizing host. He managed to charter a ship, the Santiago, and four caravels, where around 450 residents embarkedof which a third were women.
He left Santo Domingo on May 28, 1525., heading directly towards its objective, the port of Gayra, near Santa Marta, where the construction of the fortress began, which would be the main base of the city. Later he founded Santa Marta, the first city in Colombia.
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After the founding of the city and the construction of the first houses, bastidas undertook the conquest of the territory of the Bonda and Bondigua Indians, where he managed to rescue large sums of gold. His men asked to share the loot, but Bastidas refused, which caused much discomfort among them.
His son, also named Rodrigo De Bastidas, was the first bishop of Venezuela and Puerto Rico.
Juan Villafuerte, his lieutenant, led a conspiracy against Bastidas before the refusal of the latter to distribute wealth. Wounded in the assassination attempt, he attempted to return to Hispaniola and died in Santiago de Cuba on July 28, 1527. His remains were buried in the Cathedral of this city. They were exhumed by his son and taken to Santo Domingo, where they were buried in the Cathedral of Santa María la Menor along with his wife and his son. In the middle of the 20th century, the remains were finally transferred to Santa Marta, where they rest in the city’s cathedral.