Texas History
Fort Burrows
3.3 - Europeans Explorers Meet the Native Texans
READ pgs 62 – 65
“In 1513, the Spanish explorer Vasco Nunez de Balboa sighted the Pacific Ocean from a mountaintop in present-day Panama. Balboa was the first to imagine a canal connecting the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans. The idea did not become a reality until 1914, the year the Panama Canal was completed. This 51 mile-long canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama, the small strip of land that connects North to South America. Before the canal existed, a ship traveling from New York City to San Francisco had to sail over 15,000 miles around the southern tip of South America. Today, the journey measures only about 6,000 miles.”
Main Idea:
Spain’s early explorations north of Mexico led to the first European contact with Texas and its people.
Vocabulary:
Bison– buffaloShaman – medicine man
Malhado – misfortune
La Relación- the report: Cabeza de Vaca’s book about his time in Texas
InMarchof 1519 the Spanish Governmentcommissioned Alonso Alvarezde Pineda (1494-1519) toexplorethe Coastof the Gulf of Mexicoin the hope of finding a water passage from the Atlantic Oceanthrough the Gulf of Mexicoto the Orient, the Pacific Ocean. Fourships, 270 men, and money for the Expedition were provided by the Governor of Jamaica, Franciscode Garay, who had been on ChristopherColumbus' 2nd voyage to the New World.
de Pineda followed the Gulf from what is now Western Florida to present day Vera Cruz, Mexico. During his 9-monthexpedition, hemapped more than 300 Leagues, nearly 800 miles,ofshoreline, including the rivers. Hediscovered the Mississippi and named it ‘Rio del Espiritu Santo’ or Riverof Pentecostandbays that emptied into the Gulf. He arrived in Vera Cruz in August 1519 to findthat the explorer, Hernán Cortes,already had claimed the land. After escaping from Cortes, who had attempted to capture him, Pineda sailed North. He stopped near a river that was probably the Rio Grande, he named it Rio de las Palmas. He established a settlement called PanucoUnequivocal.
de Pineda’s report and detailed map were forwarded by ship-pilot Diego de Camargo to Governor Garay and then to King Charles Iof Spain. Later, he returned with a supply ship for Panuco. When he arrived, he saw de Pinedaand all his horses and soldiers slain by a tribe called the Huastec Indians. Although Pineda’s Expedition was a failure in that he found no passage to the Orient, it did encourage further exploration along the Gulf Coast, which led to colonization by Spaniards and other Europeans.
Alvarez de Pineda’s Expedition
Captain de Pineda sailed along the Gulf of Mexico in search of a water route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean
This voyage gave the Spanish their first accurate information about the Texas coast, including a well-drawn map
The Narvaez Disaster
In 1527, Panfilo de Nárvaez led an expedition to explore the Gulf Coast from Florida to northern Mexico
5 ships and 400-800 men, landed around Tampa Bay, FL
Half his crew sailed the shoreline, the other half who had marched inland
After about a year, the boat crews sailed away
Many of those soldiers suffered Indian attack, sickness and hunger
About 80 remained, desperate to return to Spain, they set off on 5 homemade rafts
During a storm they were tossed up on San Luis Island, near Galveston
They were the first known Europeans to set foot on Texas soil
Setting the Scene
de Vaca’s description of landing in Texas and her People, “Near the shore a wave took us, that knocked the boat out of the water the distance of the throw of a crowbar. From the violence with which she struck ( the boat hitting shore ), nearly all the people who were in her like dead ( asleep ), roused to consciousness. To this island we gave the name Malhado.”
Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca --1st Daddy of Texas
The 1st Explorer to walk on Texas Soil for GOD
•Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca1490ish to 1557ish, born in Andalusia, Spain
He was the official treasurer (2ND in command) for the Narváez expedition
De Vaca was one of four of the Narváez survivingConquistadors
The others were – Alonso del Castillo Maldonado, Andres Dorantes de Carranza, and one Berber slave ( born in Morocco ) named Estebancio, the first person born in Africa to walk on Texas soil and set foot in today’s United States.
The men were separated
de Vaca became a slave to the Coahuiltecans Indians
He became a shell and bean trader ( Texas’ 1st Entrepreneur )
Traveled widely across coastal Texas
He discovered and wrote about many animals in Texas including the bison
He later met up with three fellow Narváez survivors along the Guadalupe River /
They gained a reputation as powerful shamans
He wrote about the great wealth at – the Seven Cities of Cibola
Authored a book LaRelación
1. What contribution did de Pineda make towardthe Spanish knowledge of
Texas?
A. he discovered the bison
B. he drew the first known map of the Texas coast
C. he taught travelers how to become shamans
D. none of the above
2. Why did people think de Vaca was a shaman?
A. he cast spells on his enemies
B. he wrote a book called Relación
C. he performed surgery on a Native American
D. he threatened anyone who would not honor him
3. What happened to the Narváez expedition?
______
4. What was the ‘two most’ important things that de Vaca did while in Texas?
______
5. What jobs/professions did daddy de Vaca have while in Texas ?
______
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