Cabeza de Vaca, Alvar Nuñez
Cabeza de Vaca, Alvar Nuñez( c.1490–c.1557),sailed on the expedition led by Pánfilio de Narváez in 1528 to conquer and exploit Florida. Some 300 Spaniards crossed from the Atlantic to the Gulf coast—the first overland trek on future U.S. soil—but suffered from the wilderness itself and from attacks by fierce Apalachee Indians. They built boats to escape to Mexico, but a storm wrecked them near Galveston Island. Finally only four men of the original 300 remained alive: Cabeza de Vaca, Alonzo del Castillo, Andrés Dorantes, and the Moroccan slave Estevan. For eight years they wandered on the Gulf coast, and probably to New Mexico and Arizona, living on wild fruits and prickly-pear cactus. They were taken captive by several bands of Indians and survived, it appears, by practicing faith healing. Their horrendous journey was set down in The Narrative of Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca (1542)—the first North American captivity...
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