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Early Engraving of Christopher Columbus
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Christopher Columbus
Columbus was a Genoese Sailor and Explorer who left Spain in 1492 on his “Enterprise of the Indies,” an attempt to reach the riches of the East by sailing west that was sponsored by the Spanish Monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella. On his first voyage he landed in San Salvador and founded the colony of Hispaniola on present day island of Haiti/Dominican Republic. During 3 subsequent voyages, he discovered Cuba, Lesser Antilles, Montserrat, Antigua, Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and Trinidad. He also explored parts of the coast of Central and South America.
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Alonzo Alvarez de Pineda
Alvarez de Pineda was a Spanish explorer and cartographer. In 1519, the Governor of Jamaica, Francisco de Garay, sent de Pineda to explore and chart the Gulf Coast from Florida to Mexico in an attempt to find a water route from the Gulf to the Orient. During a 9 month expedition, he mapped about 800 miles of shoreline from western Florida to Veracruz.
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Statue of Alonzo Alvarez de Pineda, Corpus Christi, Texas
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Hernan Cortez
Cortez, like many other well born Spaniards, made his way to the Caribbean. Cortez arrived in Cuba and served under the Governor of the Island. 1519, he landed at present day Vera Cruz and proceeded inland with his force. Cortez fought and then befriended the Tlaxtecans, who hated the ruling Aztecs with thier help he conquer the great city of Tenochtitlan and defeat the Aztec empire. The Spanish crown appointed Cortez as the first Governor General of “New Spain of the Ocean Sea”
Pánfilo de Narváez
Narváez, a Spanish Explorer, had several plantations in Cuba and was Lt. Governor of that Island. Diego Velázquez, Governor of Cuba, sent him and 900 men on a punitive expedition to remove Cortez from command in Mexico. After a battle with Cortez and his followers, in which he lost an eye, he was imprisoned by Cortez. After 3 years he was allowed to return to Spain, where he petitioned the Spanish Authorities to let him explore and develop La Florida, which extended from the Cape of Florida to the Río de las Palmas (Rio Grande). Funding the expedition himself, his five ships and 400 soldiers landed near the mouth of Tampa Bay in 1527. The expedition was a disaster and the men wandered the wilderness, finally taking to the gulf in 5 canoes constructed by the survivors. They sailed as far as the Texas Coast where they were capsized and Narváez and most other survivors drowned. After years of wandering across Texas, Cabeza de Vaca and 3 companions were the only survivors who made it back to Spanish Civilization to tell their tale.
Image of Hernan Cortez
Credit: Spain in the Americas.Map-National Geographic Society |
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Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca
Cabeza de Vaca was an early Spanish explorer who came to the New World as a member of the ill-fated Narváez expedition. Cabeza de Vaca and 3 others from the expedition were the only survivors. Cabeza de Vaca’s account of the expedition and his years of wandering in the Southwest influenced other Spanish expeditions to explore the region, and has become one of the primary documents from early Texas history. Cabeza de Vaca wrote his Relación documenting his seven year journey in the Texas Gulf Coast area and Northern Mexico which included information about numerous tribal bands of natives including the Karankawas, Atakapans, Caddoes, Jumanos, Mariames, Coahuiltecans, and Zunis as well as the landscape, flora and fauna of the region. His tales of Native civilizations encouraged other explorers such as Coronado and de Soto. He was appointed Governor of Paraguay in the 1540s and returned to Spain where he died in the 1550s. His Relación is still considered one of the most important documents of the Texas Gulf Coast.
Image:Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca
Credit: www.library.txstate.edu/swwc/cdv/about/slideshow.html |
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