EXPLORING AMERICA

Explorers of the New World-

1528 Pánfilo de Narváez & 400 Spanish soldiers

Landed near Tampa Bay

Explored Florida’s west coast

Hostile natives, illness, starvation?

Set sail for Mexico Most drowned

Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca

2nd in command to Narváez

Cabeza de Vaca & 50-60 men survived

Reached Texas shore

No supplies

Only 15 men

survived the

winter

Overall, only

Cabeza de Vaca

& 3 others

survived

Cabeza de Vaca + 3

Captured by natives

Several years in captivity

Medicine man, trader

Eventually escaped

Wandered for 18 months across Texas plains

1536 Finally reach Mexico City

Francisco Vásquez de Coronado

Spanish conquistador

Led expeditions to southwest U.S.

New Mexico- 1540-1542

Looking to conquer the “Seven Cites of Gold”

García López de Cárdenas

Leader of Coronado’s New Mexico expedition

First European to visit the Grand Canyon

Unable to descend, took back descriptions

attempting to record magnitude of sight

Exploration Narratives

Firsthand accounts of

European trailblazers

Information for people

back home

Careful with

detail, descriptive images

Exploration Narratives

Cabeza de Vaca: descriptive details

“A Journey Through Texas”

López de Cárdenas: explanation of events

“Boulders Taller Than the Great Tower of Seville”