The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 91, July 1987 - April, 1988 Page: 129
619 p. : ill. (some col.), maps (some col.), ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Cabeza de Vaca's Route across Texas
There have been and are difficulties in projecting the path of the
four survivors from the Galveston area to Culiacan-problems that will
never be resolved to everyone's satisfaction, for no one can prove be-
yond a doubt the route taken on any part of the journey. It is the Texas
portion of the odyssey, however, that has received by far the most atten-
tion. James A. Michener, for example, in his epic novel Texas, mapped
the route of Cabeza de Vaca and his three companions from the Gal-
veston area to El Paso, with virtually every mile of it in the Lone Star
State." For purposes of fiction, Michener chose a nearly all-Texas route
interpretation, one that is in agreement with an abundance of writing
on the subject. But was the first leg of the overland trek, that from Gal-
veston Bay to the environs of El Paso, wholly within the present borders
of Texas, or did parts of it traverse northern Mexico? A totally trans-
Texas route for the first segment of the overland march defies both
logic and documentation. It defies logic in that the overall goal of the
Narviez expedition from the time it left Florida was to reach Pinuco,
not to explore the interior. It defies documentation in that it is fre-
quently at variance with evidence in the two original accounts on which
all route interpretations must ultimately rest.
Los Naufragios [Shipwrecks], as the work is generally known, was
composed by Cabeza de Vaca, probably within two or three years after
his trek ended in 1536, and published in 1542 at Zamora, Spain. A sub-
sequent edition, with slight alterations, was printed at Valladolid, Spain,
in 1555. A second document, commonly referred to as the Joint Re-
port, or the Oviedo account, was drawn up in 1536 by Cabeza de Vaca,
Dorantes, and Castillo in Mexico City for the Audiencia of Santo Do-
mingo. It is presumed, since the original has never been found, that the
version in Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo's Historia general y natural de las
Indias is an amended account." A common failing among early students
y natural de las Indias (5 vols.; Madrid. Real Academia Espafiola, 1959), IV, 297. The Spanish
use of "Espiritu Santo" to designate both the Mississippi River and Matagorda Bay has appar-
ently led to this confusion.
sJames A Michener, Texas (New York: Random House, 1985), 12. See fig. 1.
4La relaczon que dzo Aluar nufez Cabeza de vaca de lo acaesczdo enlas Jndas enla armada donde yua
pot gouernador Pdphzlo de narbaez, desde el ario de veynte y szete hasta el ario d'treynta y seys que boluzo a
Seulla con tres de su comparza (Zamora: Impresso por Augustin de paz y Juan Picardo, a costa de
Juan pedro musetti mercader de hibros, vezino de Medina del campo, 1542); La relaczon y comen-
tarzos del gouernador Aluar nurlez cabega de vaca, de lo acaesczdo en las dos lornadas que hzzo a las
Indas, con pruzlegio . . (Valladolid: Francisco fernandez de Cordoua, 1555). A complete copy
of the original 1542 edition is housed in the New York City Public Library; the Barker Texas
History Center at the University of Texas at Austin has a copy of the 1555 edition. The account
may also be found in Fernindez de Oviedo [y Valdes], IlIstora general, IV, 287-3 18. For transla-
tions of Naufragios, see Bandelier (trans. and ed.), Journey, and Hodge (ed.), "Narrative of Al-
var Nuiifez Cabeza de Vaca," 3-126. For the best translation of the Joint Report, see Basil C.
Hedrick and Carroll L. Riley, The Journey of the Vaca Party. The Account of the Narvdez Expedton,129
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 91, July 1987 - April, 1988, periodical, 1987/1988; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101211/m1/169/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.