San Salvador, a 200 ton galleon, was built in Guatemala. Navigated by Juan Rodrigues Cabrillo it arrived in what is now San Diego in 1542. It was the first European ship to reach America's West Coast.
By comparison Columbus, in 1492, reached only the Caribbean landing in the Bahamas, Trinidad in 1498 and South America in 1502. The Mayflower, an English merchant ship, arrived on the East Coast of North America in New England in 1620. The first European in America was Leif Eriksson around 1000, and the first European to visit what is now the United States was Juan Ponce de León who reached Florida in 1513.
Cabrillo continued travelling up the California Coast and went as far as what is now called Point Reyes. The names he gave to the places he discovered were later changed. Cabrillo died in 1543 on Santa Catalina Island from infection of a wound.
If you live in or visit the San Diego area you have a chance to sail on areplica of San Salvador. The professional boat builders and volunteers from Maritime Museum of San Diego in partnership with Cabrillo National Monument recreated it based on research of Spanish and Portuguese building techniques of the 16 century. It took them about 4 and a half years. The basic construction is historically accurate, however there are some modern additions, like electric lights, auxiliary engine, and radar.
You could consider a galleon an improved product by comparison with a carrak or carravel, its predecessors. It was lighter, moved faster due to its elongated design and it was easily convertible from merchant to a war ship.