Archaeological investigations carried out on St. Martin since the 1950s have pointed to the presence of American Indian settlers on the island from 2000 BC until the 15th century AD. Between 800 BC and 300 BC, Arawaks inhabited the island. Two groups are thought to have settled on the site of Hope Estate (in the hills across from today’s Route de L’Espérance, which leads to Grand Case Airport) between 200 BC and 300 BC and from 300 AD to 500 AD. Possibly from South America, these early dwellers, who were semi-nomadic, were hunters, fishermen and farmers. Further migratory waves of fishermen and farmers arrived and settled in villages.

In all, over thirty pre-Columbian settlements have been discovered on the island, in particular Baie Rouge at Terres Basses, which is of continuing interest to archaeologists. In 1400 AD, the much-feared cannibalistic warriors, the Caribs, displaced the Arawaks.  Historical research suggests that the Tainos were the last American Indian people to have settled on the island in the 1500's; they died out after the arrival of the first European colonists.

On November 11th 1493, Spanish explorer Christopher Columbus, on his second journey into Antillean waters, landed on the island, naming it “Saint Martin” and marking a new discovery for the Western world. In the heyday of 16th-century corsairs and buccaneers, the Spanish, French, Dutch, Portuguese, English and Flemish coveted the island for its protected waters and salt deposits, earning it the name of Soualiga, Land of Salt. It was over the course of the 16th century that the remaining American Indian populations on the island were enslaved and deported to neighboring islands. Now too small for the conquistadors, the Spanish started to lose interest in the island and began to desert it.

The Dutch began to settle on St. Martin between 1627 and 1631 with the intention of exploiting the island’s natural salt deposits, which it required for its North American operations. The Dutch erected a fort, which provoked a spirited attack from the Spanish. The island fell under Spanish military control in 1638. The Spanish deserted St. Martin for good in 1648, considering it to be too small (88km²) and of limited interest. On March 23rd of the same year, the French and the Dutch settled the matter of the ownership of the island when they signed the Treaty of Concordia, named after the mountain (Mount Concordia) on which the agreement was signed. France and the Netherlands would divide the island into two parts, France occupying the northern section (54km²) and the Dutch the southern section (34km²). The Treaty recognized both the dual nationality and the unity of the island: there would be no physical border between the two nations and people and goods would move freely between the two zones. And so, St. Martin became known as the 'Friendly Island',