Columbus builds fort Saint-Thomas in the Cibao gold mines

The Spaniards left by Christopher Columbus in the fort of la Nativité, in 1492, had given themselves up to all sorts of excesses against the Indian natives, had penetrated into the Cibao and carried off all the gold of the cacique Caonabo. The latter pursued them as far as the fort, and had them all put to the sword. On his return to Haiti, Columbus went to the gold mines of the Cibao on 12 March 1494 with 400 men, and built there a fortress which he named Saint-Thomas. Caonabo was seized and embarked for Spain; the ship that carried him disappeared in a storm. The fortress Saint-Thomas is still the most important position of the Cibao and of the country. (See Santiago.)

Rouzier tells this under the entry Cibao, ou les Déserts.