Texas Almanac, 1939-1940 Page: 54
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54 THE TEXAS ALMANAC-1939.
ico. His success whetted the appetites
of the adventurous Spaniards and led
them to expeditions into the region
north of Mexico in hope of finding other
rich countries to conquer.
Wanderings of Cabeza de Vaca.
It was such an incentive that led to
the second expedition to reach the Texas
coast. Panfilo de Narvaez was commis-
sioned by the King of Spain to explore
and exploit the land "from the Rio de las
Palmas to the Cape of Florida." Narvaez
previously had been sent to Mexico to
curb the high-handed Cortes but was de-
feated. Accompanying the Narvaez ex-
pedition was Alvar Nunez Cabeza de
Vaca, commissioned by the King of
Spain as treasurer of the expedition and
special representative of the crown.
Landing on the west coast of Florida,
near present Tampa, the Narvaez expe-
dition marched northward several hun-
dred miles, and then in several impro-
vised barges took to sea again and sailed
westward, and were finally tossed by a
gale on the Texas coast. It is probable
=that the boat carrying Cabeza de Vaca
landed on Galveston Island in Novem-
ber, 1528.
All members of the expedition finally
perished excepting Cabeza de Vaca and
three companions. For six years they
lived among the Indians, as slaves at
first. Later, the intelligent and re-
sourceful Cabeza de Vaca established a
reputation as a medicine man and
wandered with his three companions
from tribe to tribe with his fame going
before him. They finally found their
way to the Spanish settlement of Culia-
can, Sinaloa, near the Pacific Coast,
after one of the most amazing peregrina-
tions in the annals of man.
The trip of Cabeza de Vaca and his
three companions across Texas is of
great historical interest because of the
complete account that he wrote imme-
diately after his return to civilization.
He was a man of native ability, good ed-
ucation and unwavering honesty. While
his account was from memory, it is ac-
cepted as trustworthy. For its realistic
picture of life among the aborigines, and
for other reasons, it is an invaluable his-
torical document.
The route of Cabeza de Vaca has been
a matter of much speculation among
historians. Dr. Robert T. Hill, geologist
and student of early Texas history, who
has made an extensive study of the
route of Cabeza de Vaca, from his
knowledge of the physiographic features
of the country believes that the route lay
across South Texas and through the Da-
vis Mountains and Big Bend country.
Conquistadores in Texas.
Among the Spanish adventurers in
Mexico there had spread a story of the
Seven Cities of Cibola, reputed to lie to
the north and to be fabulously wealthy.Cabeza de Vaca heard of them in his
wanderings and carried these stories back
to Mexico City. A number of expeditions
were made in search of the Seven Cities
of Cibola. The most noteworthy was
that of Capt. Francisco Vasquez de
Coronado, who in 1540 marched north-
ward into what is now New Mexico by
way of El Paso del Norte, the pass at
present-day El Paso-Juarez.
From a base in present New Mexico,
Coronado made a wide detour to the
east, led by an Indian guide who in-
trigued the avaricious Spaniards with
stories of Gran Quivira, land of gold and
silver. Although Coronado found no
Seven Cities of Cibola or Gran Quivira,
other than the grass house villages of
the seminomadic tribes of the prairie
plains, his expedition left its permanent
Impression. Other conquistadores were
encouraged to try their luck in search of
the Seven Cities. Out of these expedi-
tions came the eventual establishment in
the Rio Grande Valley in New Mexico, in
1609, of the second oldest European com-
munity in the United States, Santa Fe.
Among those who headed expeditions
into this territory was Antonio de Espejo,
who explored the Pecos Valley and Big
Bend country in 1582 while on a relief
expedition to some of the missions in
Northern Mexico.
Out of the Coronado expedition, too,
came the first outright attempt at mis-
sionary work among the Indians in the
present confines of the United States.
Cabeza de Vaca, a pious man, had
preached to the Indians, and there had
been some priests among those who
landed on the Texas coast with Narvaez,
but the first priest to attempt to Chris-
tianize Indians north of the Rio Grande
was Fra Juan de Padillo, who accom-
panied Coronado and stayed behind
among the Indians of the Texas plains,
where he suffered martyrdom near pres-
ent Amarillo.
Texas' Oldest Communities.
There were no permanent settlements
in Texas resulting immediately from
these expeditions, though there was a
settlement at El Paso del Norte, now
Juarez, and one at the present com-
munity of Ojinaga, opposite Presidio--or
rather it might be more accurate to state
that the transmutation of long estab-
lished Indian villages at these points into
Spanish communities had begun.
The oldest present-day Texas commu-
nity came later from these early activi-
ties, however. In 1682, the Pueblo revolt
in New Mexico drove out the Spanish
and Indians who remained loyal to the
Spanish. The retigees from two upper
Rio Grande communities, Ysleta and So-
corro, sought safety at the mission at
El Paso del Norte and were settled a
few miles down the river, naming their
new communities Ysleta del Sur (south)
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Texas Almanac, 1939-1940, book, 1939; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117163/m1/56/: accessed April 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.