Christopher Columbus' crew on the first voyage were from small towns in from Andalucia, and nearly all experienced seamen. The Spanish Sovereigns offered amnesty to convicts who signed up for the voyage, but only four men took up the offer: one who had killed a man in a fight, and three of his friends who then helped him escape from jail.
Of the four voyages of Columbus, only the crew of the first voyage is completely known. Alice Bache Gould spent decades combing various archives in Spain, eventually accounting for each of the 87 crewmen of the Niña, Pinta, and Santa Maria. She spent four decades in Spain, tracing the data. She could be aggressive and relentless in persuading an archives custodian or a parish priest to allow her to search for documents they assured her were not there. Samuel Eliot Morison, author of Admiral of the Ocean Sea and other books on Columbus, credited her help in Spain for enabling him to find what he could not find himself. He remembered her as a "distinguished, gray-haired lady, dressed usually in black bombazine with a vintage hat, striding resolutely into the Archive of the Indies to find some document for me that the archivist insisted did not exist."
Gould's research differs from earlier work published by John Boyd Thacher. A comparison of the two lists can be found in The Log of Christopher Columbus by Robert Fuson. The list is probably not complete and contains both duplications and omissions, and it is possible that the same person is listed more than once with a slightly altered spelling.
Crew of the Santa Maria:
* Cristobal Colon (Christopher Columbus), captain-general
* Juan de la Cosa, owner and master
* Diego de Arana, master-at-arms
* Pedro de Gutierrez, royal steward
* Rodrigo de Escobedo, secretary of the fleet
* Rodrigo Sanchez, comptroller
* Diego de Salcedo, servant of Columbus
* Luis de Torres, interpreter
* Rodrigo de Jerez
* Alonso Chocero
* Alonso Clavijo
* Andres de Yruenes
* Antonia de Cuellar, carpenter
* Bartolome Biues
* Bartolome de Torres
* Bartolome Garcia, boatswain
* Chachu, boatswain
* Cristobal Caro, goldsmith
* Diego Bermudez
* Diego Perez, painter
* Domingo de Lequeitio
* Domingo Vizcaino, cooper
* Gonzalo Franco
* Jacomel Rico
* Juan, servant
* Juan de Jerez
* Juan de la Placa
* Juan Martines de Acoque
* Juan de Medina
* Juan de Moguer
* Juan Ruiz de la Pena
* Juan Sanchez, physician
* Lope, joiner
* Maestre Juan
* Marin de Urtubia
* Pedro de Terreros, cabin boy
* Pero Nino, pilot
* Pedro Yzquierdo
* Pedro de Lepe
* Rodrigo Gallego, servant
Crew of the Pinta:
* Martin Alonso Pinzon, captain
* Francisco Martin Pinzon, master
* Cristobal Garcia Xalmiento, pilot
* Cristobal Quintero, ship's owner
* Francisco Garcia Vallejo
* Garcia Hernandez, steward
* Gomez Rascon
* Juan Bermudez
* Juan Quintero
* Juan Rodriquez Bermejo
* Pedro de Arcos
* Alonso de Palos
* Alvaro Perez
* Anton Calabres
* Bernal, servant
* Diego Martin Pinzon
* Fernando Mendes
* Francisco Mendes
* Gil Perez
* Juan Quadrado
* Juan Reynal
* Juan Verde de Triana
* Juan Vecano
* Maestre Diego, surgeon
* Pedro Tegero
* Sancho de Rama
Crew of the Niña:
* Vincente Yanez Pinzon, captain
* Juan Nino, owner and master
* Francisco Nino
* Bartolome Roldan, apprentice pilot
* Alonso de Morales, carpenter
* Andres de Huelva
* Bartolome Garcia, boatswain
* Diego Lorenzo
* Fernando de Triana
* Garcia Alonso
* Juan Arias, cabin boy
* Juan Arraes
* Juan Romero
* Maestre Alonso, phyiscian
* Miguel de Soria, servant
* Pedro de Soria
* Pero Arraes
* Pero Sanches
* Rodrigo Monge
* Sancho Ruiz, pilot
On the first voyage, Masters and pilots were paid 2000 maravedis per month; able seamen, 1000 maravedis per month; ordinary seamen and ship's boys, 666 maravedis per month. Total payroll was 250,180 per month. To get an idea of what that was worth, at that time Gold was worth 3000 maravedis per ounce, Silver 100 maravedis per ounce, Wheat 73 maravedis per bushel
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