Chapter 5.2:

Spanish Explore Texas

Pineda Explores the Gulf Coast

Alonso Alvarez de Pineda—drew the

first map of the Texas Gulf Coast

Narvaez & the “Island of Misfortune”

• 1527: lands near in present-day Florida

• Told they could find gold at Apalachee

• Divides ForcesPanfilo de Narvaez

Narvaez & the “Island of Misfortune”

• Become lost in swamps

• No gold found

• Could not find ships

• Built small, flimsy boats

Narvaez & the “Island of Misfortune”

• Storm washed three ships into Matagorda Bay

• Narvaez drowns

• Two ship land on a Texas island—Cabeza de Vaca called it “Malhado”

Narvaez & the “Island of Misfortune”

• Cabeza de Vaca—Spaniard who spent 8 years among the Texas Indians during the 1500s

Cabeza de Vaca

• Worked as a servant and a healer

• Traveled along the Texas coast gathering sea shells and mesquite beans to trade for animals skins

Narvaez & the “Island of Misfortune”

The Spaniards’ Adventures in Texas

• Cabeza de Vaca meets three others

• Estevanico—North African

• Cabeza de Vaca removed an arrowhead from a man’s chest and stitched up the wound—fame as a healer helped him survive.

The Spaniards’ Adventures in Texas

• Estevanico had skills communicating with different Indian groups

Estevanico

The Spaniards’ Adventures in Texas

• 1536: The four lost explorers come across a group of Spanish soldiers

• Taken to Mexico & returned to Spain

Cabeza de Vaca Estevanico