A series of dire accidents and indian attacks plagued his expeditions 300 men as they explored north florida. A handful of survivors from a disastrous 1528 spanish expedition to florida journey across the coast until they reach mexico. Instead, he discovers the iguase, an ancient indian tribe. In 1528, a spanish expedition founders off the coast of florida with 600 lives lost. He became known as a shaman among the native american tribes he encountered. Chronicle of the narvaez expedition by alvar nunez cabeza. The journey and route of the first european to cross the continent of north america, 15341536. Starving, dehydrated, and desperate, he is the first european to set foot on the. Image available on the internet and included in accordance with title 17 u. Andras resandez retells this story in a hugely entertaining and informative way. He was one of four survivors of the narvaez expedition and shipwreck.
Chronicle of the narvaez expedition penguin random house. However, formatting rules can vary widely between applications and fields of interest or study. This remarkable book is his odyssey, first written in 1542 as an official report to the king of spain under the title. Biography, government publication, state or province government publication. Adventures in the unknown interior of america by alvar nunez. But this is so little and their hunger so great that they eat spiders, ant eggs, worms, lizards, salamanders, snakes and poisonous vipers. I would dig a hole in the ground and put in it a lot of firewood from the many trees. While much of this story is true, the author whose name literally means cows head. The dramatic narrative tells the story of some of the first europeans and the firstknown african to encounter the north american wilderness and its native inhabitants. Texas history collection and was provided by unt libraries to the portal to texas history, a digital repository hosted by the unt libraries.
Spanish explorer and colonial administrator who explored parts of presentday florida, texas, and mexico and aroused spains. Despite the privations he had endured, this nunez led two other spaniards and a moor on a journey across the entire continent, barefoor and naked, which occupied them eight years. His exploration party lost contact with their ships, set out northward on foot, and traveled, their numbers soon reduced from 300 to 4, across florida, texas, new mexico, arizona, and northern mexico for the next eight years. I would go to the thickets in the woods near the rivers and stop there before sunset. Vacas name translates into head of a cow, a title bestowed upon an ancestor by spains king who was victorious in battle after following a difficult trail which he had marked with cow skulls. After arriving on the coast of brazil in 1541, he was unable to find transportation by ship to the seat of his governorship. Kriegers knowledge of the regionits geography, natural resources, and native peoplessets his study apart and makes his proposed route the most reliable. In addition you can a sense that he uses much imagery of his men being killed and picked off one by one because he knew that the. When he was in the teen years, he took the position of the chamberlain for a house of a noble family. Duing an ordeal that lasted 8 years he became the first european to cross the north american continent from the atlantic to the pacific. The historical details of his journey and gruelling subsequent life under capture are skewed though, the movie does not make attempts at historical realism, it goes for the primitive and spiritual. He became known as a shaman among the native american tribes he encountered, which helped him survive. Cabeza, acting as the treasurer for captain narvaezs expedition, is shipwrecked off the florida coast and picked on by natives. Around september 17 the army made port in santo domingo.