Spanish Explorers of Texas
How Exploration all started
• During the Middle Ages (400 A.D.- 1200A.D.)
– The Crusades occurred
• Europe attempted to take back the Holly City
(Jerusalem)
• Crusades last from 1000-1200 A.D. (200 years)
• During this time they discover silk, spices, and sugar
• After the war they want to continue to get these thing
but they become very expensive to get because Italy is
controlling the market.
• So countries start to look for a new route to Asia to get
goods cheaper.
Christopher Columbus 1492
•He got funding for his voyage from Queen
Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain.
•His mission was to find a new route to Asia so
he could bring back spices, silk, and sugar to
Spain.
•He sailed west thinking that he would run into
Asia.
•In 1492 he landed in the Caribbean Islands
thinking he was in India he called the native
people Indians.
•He reported to King Ferdinand and Queen
Isabella that he had found a new route to Asia.
•From that point on other explorers would try the
same route.
Columbian Exchange
• The biggest impact the meeting of the explorers and
the Natives had was the transfer of plants, animals,
and diseases known as the Columbian Exchange.
The Columbian Exchange affect on the
American Indians
• Historians estimate that roughly 80% of the
population of Indians in the Americas die.
– 40 million people
– They were so sick that they couldn’t get up to get
food or water.
– They had no immune system to fight the
sicknesses such as:
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Pox
Measles
Typhus
Flu
Hernán Cortés Spring 1519
• He explores the coast of Mexico and
hears of a city with great riches.
• He goes to Tenochtitlan where he
finds the Aztecs.
• The leader of the Aztecs is
Moctezume
• The Aztecs had large amounts of gold,
precious gems, and silver.
• Moctezume gave Cortes peace
offerings from this treasure, but it was
not enough.
More Facts
• He uses the other tribes that hate the Aztecs
and starts a civil war.
• He had guns, armor, horses, & diseases.
• He takes over Tenochtitlan in 1521.
Hernán Cortés’ Route
Alonso Álvarez de Pineda 1519
• He leaves Jamaica and bumps along the Gulf
Coast.
• He is looking for a way though to get to Asia
and he maps the whole coast.
• He stops and camps at the mouth of the Rio
Grande
• He gets to know the land and Indians
• His map is the first known document of Texas
history and was the first map of the Gulf Coast
region of the United States.
Pineda’s Route
Pánfilo de Narváez 1528
• He leaves the Caribbean and went along the
coast.
• He and his crew had the worst luck ever!
• They get caught in a storm and end up
shipped wrecked on Galveston Island.
• There are only 90 survivors and Narvaez died
during the storm.
• The Karankawas greeted them gave them
food.
Pánfilo de Narváez 1528 continued
• The 90 survivors decided to build a ship and
sail home.
• They put all their supplies on the ship and set
sail for home only to get 100 feet off the shore
and sink!
• They lost everything and only 4 people
survived.
• Two of the men were:
– Núñez Cabeza de Vaca
– Estevanico ( a moorish slave)
Núñez Cabeza de Vaca & Estevanico
• Both men were held for awhile by the
Karankawas until one day a brave was
wounded.
• Cabeza de Vaca healed him and was then seen
as a medicine man.
• Because of this both Cabeza de Vaca and
Estevanico were released.
• They spent the next 6 years walking to New
Spain (Mexico City).
Núñez Cabeza de Vaca & Estevanico
Route
Núñez Cabeza de Vaca & Estevanico
• Estevanico had a great skill for learning
languages which helped tremendously when
communicating with the Indians.
• As they wondered around Texas and Mexico
they encounter many Native tribes and the
undiscovered land.
• In 1536 they make it to Mexico City.
Núñez Cabeza de Vaca & Estevanico
• They meet some Spanish soldiers
– The Spanish Soldiers think that the two men are
Indians until they start speaking Spanish to them
– This totally freaks out the soldiers but they finally
figure out who these men are
• The soldiers asked Cabeza de Vaca if they saw
GOLD and he told them no!
• They offer him a ton of money to take them to
where he has been.
Núñez Cabeza de Vaca & Estevanico
• He tells them no way I am going home and
gets on the first ship he can to Spain.
• Before he leaves he must explain to the
viceroy, or royal governor of New Spain what
he has seen and heard on his journey to
Mexico City.
• He tells the viceroy that he has seen signs of
gold in the mountains and he has heard of
“mountains to the north, where there are
towns of great population and great houses.”
Núñez Cabeza de Vaca & Estevanico
• The viceroy asks an experienced explorer and
Catholic Friar, Friar Marcos de Niza to go
north and find these cities.
• They ask Estevanico to take them there as a
guide and offer him his freedom if he will do
so.
• He agrees to take them to find the cities.
Fray Marcos & Estevanico
1539
• Fray Marcos and the viceroy think that the
cities that Cabeza de Vaca described is the
seven cities of Gold known as Cibola.
• 300 Mexican Indians went with them to
provide protection.
• Estevanico and several others went ahead of
the main group to be scouts.
• Estevanico dressed up as a heeler so the
Indians would not kill him.
Friar Marcos & Estevanico
• Friar Marcos received word that the scouts
had seen a large city and so he continued to
meet them.
• As his group was walking the scouts came
running at them and said that they had gone
to the city and seen the Indians wearing gold
jewelry and they drank from gold cups, but
Estevanico made them mad and they killed
him and several scouts.
Fray Marcos & Estevanico
• Fray Marcos did not want to have the same
fate that Estevanico had so he moved to
higher ground to view the city from afar.
• He saw the city buildings in the distance
shinning like gold in the desert sun!
• He went back to Mexico City and claimed he
had found Cibola!
• Officials planned an expedition to claim its
treasure.
Francisco Vázquez de Coronado 1540
• The Spanish organized the largest force they
had ever sent into North America in order to
conquer Cibola.
– 300 soldiers, several religious officials, and more
than 1,000 Mexican Indians led herds of cattle,
horses, and sheep.
• They picked a 30 year old conquistador named
Coronado to command the force.
• Fray Marcos was sent to be a guide to the city
of Cibola.
Coronado
• They all set off to find Cibola in April of 1540
• They traveled all the way to the city Fray
Marcos had found and when they arrived
there was a force of Zuni Indians waiting for
them.
• The Spaniards and the Zuni Indians fought a
short battle that the Spaniards won.
• The Spaniards didn’t celebrate long because
once they started searching the cities they
found no silver or gold.
Coronado
• The shinning cities were just Pueblo villages.
• Coronado was furious and sent Fray Marcos
back to Mexico City in disgrace.
• Coronado was not about to give up and so he
sent groups out to explore the land and search
for treasure.
• The groups explored all over they even went
as far as the Grand Canyon.
Coronado
• Coronado moved his force to the Rio Grande
in New Mexico because the Tigua Indians who
lived there were friendly.
• The Spaniards came across an Indian from
farther east named Turk.
• Turk told them about a nearby region called
Quirvira where the cities were said to be full
of Gold. $$$$$$$
Coronado
• Coronado decided he would follow Turk to
Quirvira in the Spring.
• In the mean time the Spaniards stayed near
the Tiguas.
• During the winter the Spaniards supplies ran
low so they forced the Tiguas to give them
clothes and food.
• When the Spring of 1541 comes Coronado
and his force follow Turk to find Quirvira.
Coronado
• They followed Turk all through the Texas
Panhandle.
• They traveled all the way to Wichita where
they reached Quirvira .
• All that was there was grass huts and corn
once again no gold.
• When Coronado asked Turk why did he lie to
them Turk explained that the Tiguas made him
lead the Spaniards away from their tribe.
Coronado
• Coronado had Turk killed for his actions!
• He returned to Mexico City in 1542.
• He reported that the huge herds of buffalo
might provide for a source of wealth, but not
gold or other treasures were found.
• Spanish officials considered the expedition a
failure.
The De Soto/Moscoso Expedition 1539
• De Soto tried to find Cibola starting in the east
• Him and 600 soldiers landed in Florida in 1539
• For more than two year they explored the
southeastern part of the united states.
• Near the Mississippi river De Soto came down
with a fever and died
• Another member of the group, Moscoso, took
command.
The De Soto/Moscoso Expedition 1539
• Since they had not found treasure Moscoso
decided that it would be best to go to Mexico
City.
• They traveled all the way to east Texas and
started having problems finding food.
• They decided that they were not going to be
able to make it on foot to Mexico City so they
headed back to the Mississippi River where
they built rafts.
• Only 300 of the 600 made it back to Mexico
City on the rafts