CABEZA DE VACA EXPEDITIONS

Born in Andalucia
(Spain) sometime between 1485 and 1492,A´ lvar
Nu´n˜ ez Cabeza de Vaca arrived in the NewWorld as treasurer
of the Pa´nfilo de Narva´ez expedition, which attempted
to colonize the territory between Florida and the
western Gulf Coast. This territory had been claimed by
Ponce de Leo´n but remained unsettled by Europeans and
mostly unknown to them. After arriving in Tampa Bay in
early April 1528, the expedition moved west, facing several
Indian attacks. The explorers were scattered, and Cabeza
de Vaca sailed along the coast with a small group
from September to November, finally disembarking near
Galveston Island. Enslaved by Natives, Cabeza de Vaca
remained there during the winter of 1528–1529. In early
1530 he moved down the coast and reached Matagorda
Bay, becoming a trader among the Natives. He was accompanied
by Alonso del Castillo, Andre´s Dorantes, and
the Moorish slave Estebanico.
In the summer of 1535 Cabeza de Vaca and his companions
traveled inland across modern Texas, finding bison
and minerals along the way. Their journey was eased
by the fact that the Natives believed they had curing powers.
After reaching the Pamoranes Mountains, they moved
northwest to the San Lorenzo River, continued up the
Oriental Sierra Madre, and finally arrived at the conjuncture
of the Grande and Conchos Rivers. By late autumn
they changed to a southwest direction, and in early 1536
they went down the Yaqui and Chico Rivers into Mexico,
where they received news about other Spaniards in the
area. Moving south, they met the Spaniards at the Petatlan
River by late April and arrived in Culiaca´n in May.
Back in Spain, Cabeza de Vaca published an account
of his journey entitled Relacion (1542). His explorations
contributed to the mapping of the greater Southwest and
northern Mexico, and his descriptions of southwestern
Indian civilizations motivated the expeditions of Marcos
de Niza (1539) and Francisco Va´zquez de Coronado
(1540–1542).