Spanish Explorers
Alonzo Alvarez de Pineda




1519: _________________ to map the coastline of the Gulf of Mexico and establish a
Spanish colony
took ______ men on ___ ships
________ Europeans to observe the Texas coastline
established a settlement in present-day _________, Mexico
Hernan Cortez





________________ to explore present-day Mexico and find the rich and powerful civilization
that had _________ and ________
Emperor _________________ of the ____________ thought Cortez was their
god,____________________
Cortez and his men _________________ the Aztecs and took their gold and silver
renamed Tenochtitlan - " __________________________"
present-day Mexico becomes "_______ __________"
Panfilo de Narvaez


1526: was granted the land of ____________ by the king of Spain
_________________ to _____________ the land between Florida and Mexico

1528: in attempt to sail to Mexico, Narvaez and about _________ of his men drowned at sea
due to a ______________________

about ____ survivors came ashore in ________________ (they were the ________
Europeans to set foot in Texas)
Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca

one of the last ____ survivors of the Narvaez expedition

for ____ months they traveled across Texas and into Mexico

_________ Europeans to ___________ Texas

Native Texans told de Vaca of the "_____________________" known as _____________
Spanish Explorers
1538 Friar Marcos de Niza

Sent to find _________________________

Led the first expedition into ________________ United States

De Niza was a friar, not a military leader and only brought a ______ men with him.

Estevanico (from de Vaca’s group) came along with de Niza and was used as a __________ to
search for Cibola.

But he was killed by __________________ in New Mexico.
1540 Coronado

Francisco Vazquez de Coronado was set out to conquer the _________ city of Cibola.

He brought over ______________ with him.

He and his men searched for _________ for Cibola.

They found a Zuni village with _____________, but no gold.

A ______________ named El Turco “The Turk” promised to lead Coronado’s group to a rich land
named __________.

The Turk led the Spanish from _______________ to ____________ where they found a simple
grass hut village.

Turco was executed because Coronado knew he was lying.

In _______ they return to Mexico failing to find gold.
1540 Hernando de Soto

Sent to find the ____ Cities of Cibola.

Explored the ______________ United States.

Reached the ____________________ where he became ill and died.

His men went into _________________ before returning to the Mississippi where they built boats
and returned to Mexico.