The Spanish Explorers

Hernán Cortés

One of the early explorers who followed Columbus was the conquistador Hernán Cortés (hehr-nahn kohr-tehz). In 1519 he landed on the coast of present-day Mexico. He had heard reports about a wealthy empire in the region—the Aztec civilization. (The Aztecs called themselves the Mexica [meh-shee-kah], from which the modern name of Mexico comes.) Cortés was a bold and ruthless man. He marched inland to search for the Aztec kingdom. He had several hundred soldiers with him and many horses—animals unknown to the Aztecs. These trained horses helped the Spanish to ride down and kill their enemies.

The Spanish had several advantages over the Aztecs. One advantage was better weapons and armor. The Spanish had steel swords, guns, and cannons. The conquistadors also wore armor made of steel. Their solders had steel helmets.

The Indians carried bows and arrows, clubs, and spears. These spears had points made with black volcanic glass (obsidian).

These weapons proved of little use against the Spaniards’ armor. The Indians carried wicker shields and wore padded cotton and leather armor. However, their armor provided little defense against the Spanish weapons.

Other Indians Join Cortés During his march, Cortés met and fought with many Indian peoples. The Aztecs commanded these peoples to fight. Cortés learned that the Aztecs had conquered these groups and forced them to pay tribute. Tribute is an enforced payment of food and other valuables in exchange for peace. In addition, the Aztecs often held human sacrifices as part of their religious ceremonies. They took many of their victims from among the conquered peoples. Many of these peoples disliked their Aztec rulers as a result. In fact, some of them later joined Cortés in his battle to defeat the Aztecs.

Tenochtitlán In the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlán (teh-noch-tee-tlahn), emperor Moctezuma (moch-teh-zoo-mah) II heard reports of Cortés’s army. Moctezuma was unsure what to do. He delayed attacking the strangers because Cortés closely fit the description of an Aztec god.

Moctezuma did not want to risk offending this god. So, when the Spaniard arrived in the capital, Moctezuma welcomed him. Moctezuma would later regret this decision.

The city of Tenochtitlán was truly spectacular. It sat on two islands in Lake Texcoco. Raised roads, or causeways, linked the city to the shore. The city had huge temples, enormous markets, floating gardens, zoos, and many other wonders. There also were great quantities of gold, silver, and jewels. When Cortés tried to describe the place in a letter to Spain, he wrote:

I am fully aware that the account will appear so wonderful as to be deemed scarcely worthy of credit. [E]ven we who have seen these things with our own eyes are yet so amazed as to be unable to comprehend their reality.

—Hernán Cortés

Conflict with the Aztecs Cortés and his men had something on their minds besides wealth. Strong religious beliefs also drove them. One of their goals was to spread the Roman Catholic faith to the Aztecs and to stop their non-Christian practices.

The Spaniards punished those who did not accept the teachings of Christianity. After Spanish soldiers killed hundreds of unarmed Indians performing a non-Christian ceremony, the enraged Aztecs drove them from the city.

The Aztec victory was short-lived. Before long, Cortés gathered his forces for an attack. His army included soldiers from many of the conquered peoples of the region. In 1521, this force took Tenochtitlán in bloody fighting. Cortés’s army then destroyed the magnificent Aztec city. On the ruins of Tenochtitlán, the Spanish built Mexico City.

Álvarez de Pineda

Captain Alonso Álvarez de Pineda led one of these early Spanish expeditions in the northern part of what became New Spain. In 1519, shortly after Cortés arrived in Mexico, Álvarez de Pineda searched for a water route to the Pacific Ocean. He sailed along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico from present-day Florida down to Mexico. There, he met Cortés, who imprisoned some of Pineda’s men because Cortés thought of Álvarez de Pineda as a rival.

The Mapping of the Texas Coast We know little about Álvarez de Pineda’s voyage beyond that he traveled up a large river and tried to establish a settlement among the Haustec people in 1519. This was the first Spanish mainland settlement in Texas. Some historians believe that this river was the Rio Grande, but there is no solid proof. Later, he abandoned this settlement and sailed to present-day Jamaica. He died there during an Indian revolt.

Álvarez de Pineda’s voyage might have led to the first contact between Europeans and American Indians in what is now Texas. At some point, the sailors probably went ashore for food and water. They might have met native peoples, but there is no record of such an encounter.

Pánfilo de Narváez

Intrigued by Pineda’s voyage and the general success of other Spaniards in the New World, the Spanish explorer Pánfilo de Narváez asked the Spanish king for permission to explore the lands north of Mexico. Spanish leaders granted his request in 1527. The gulf coast from Florida to northern Mexico was open to his conquest.

The Narváez expedition was a disaster from the start. Narváez and several hundred soldiers landed in Florida. Narváez split his force. Some of the men marched inland. Others remained with the ships and sailed along the coast. After a year spent searching for the inland party, the ships left the area.

Many in the inland party became sick, and all of them were hungry. To survive, they ate their horses and raided the supplies that belonged to Indians in the area.

Finally, the group decided to leave Florida. The men built five crude rafts, climbed aboard, and shoved off into the Gulf waters. They hoped to stay along the coast and eventually reach Mexico.

Narváez Reaches Texas The men on the rafts suffered terribly and their rafts barely remained above water. Remarkably, they floated for weeks along the coast with little food or water. Some died from drinking seawater. Whenever they landed to search for food, Indians attacked. Finally, a violent storm tossed one raft onto the shore. Experts believe the landing place was at San Luis Island, near Galveston. The survivors named the island Malhado, meaning “misfortune.” These ragged Spaniards were the first Europeans known for certain to have set foot on Texas soil. The date was November 6, 1528. Soon after that, another of the rafts landed nearby.

Cabeza de Vaca

Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca was one of the Spaniards on the first raft and became the first European to extensively explore the land that became Texas. Here, he describes his landing in Texas and the people he met there.

“Near the shore a wave took us, that knocked the boat out of the water the distance of the throw of a crowbar. . . . From the violence with which she struck, nearly all the people who were in her like dead, were roused to consciousness.” — “To this island we gave the name Malhado [Misfortune]. The people we found there are large and well formed. . . . The stay they make on the island is from October to the end of February. Their subsistence then is [a] root . . . got from under the water in November and December. They . . . take fish only in this season; afterwards they live on the roots. At the end of February, they go into other parts to seek food.”

—Cabeza de Vaca

The original 400 members of the Narváez expedition had dwindled to about 80 people stranded on the Texas coast. The group was in terrible shape. Luckily, they met some Indians who lived on San Luis Island, possibly Atakapan or Karankawa Indians, who were friendly and gave them food and shelter.

Harsh conditions took their toll on the survivors. Disease and hunger killed many. Some of the men set out to make their way back to Mexico. No one ever heard from them again. Many others who stayed behind also died.

Cabeza de Vaca, although he became very ill, survived the ordeal. Thinking he had died, most of the other survivors abandoned him and continued their travels down the coast. Alone among the American Indians except for two other Spaniards, Cabeza de Vaca began an incredible adventure. For a while, he was forced to work as a slave. In time, however, he carved out a role for himself as a trader. He traveled widely across coastal Texas, trading shells and beans for skins and other items, but always returned to Malhado and his two companions.

Cabeza de Vaca lived this way for four years, but finally in 1532, after one of his companions died he convinced the other to journey south toward Mexico. This unfortunate man panicked, ran away, and was never seen again. Then, along the Guadalupe River, Cabeza de Vaca met three other survivors from the Narváez expedition. One of these men was an enslaved African named Estevanico.

Travels Through Texas After the so-called “ragged castaways” found each other, they lived among the Coahuíltecan people. These Indians treated the Spaniards as slaves.

The Indians moved often to search for food, and during these travels Cabeza de Vaca paid close attention to the lands, plants, and animals. Among his “discoveries” was the bison, or buffalo, an animal the Spanish had never seen.

These Spaniards did not have a chance to escape until 1534. As the little group traveled away from Coahuíltecan territory, they gained reputations as powerful shamans, or medicine men. Cabeza de Vaca once performed surgery on an Indian. Using a stone knife and a deer-bone needle, he removed an arrowhead from the man’s chest. Then, he sewed up the wound. This incident only increased the reputation of the four Spaniards. Wherever they traveled, native people treated them as honored guests.

For many months the group made its way through the southern tip of Texas. They crossed the lower Rio Grande into Mexico. Turning to the northwest, they came back into Texas near present-day Presidio. They continued their travels and reached a Spanish outpost near the Pacific coast of Mexico in 1536.

Cabeza de Vaca’s Writings Cabeza de Vaca published an account of his time in Texas in 1542. In his book, Relación, he described the land, people, and animals that he saw during his travels. He also recorded many details about the Indians he met. In the pages of this account, some Spaniards saw something more. They saw hints of a fabled land of great wealth—the Seven Cities of Cíbola.

Explorers Search for Gold

Marcos de Niza & Estevanico

Cabeza de Vaca wanted to return to the northern lands to search for the Seven Cities of Cíbola. He appealed to the King of Spain, but the king denied his request.

In 1538, the viceroy of New Spain sent an expedition to look for the legendary golden cities. He wanted two of Cabeza de Vaca's other companions to lead the exploration. However, they had no desire to return to the area. Only Estevanico, the enslaved African who had traveled in Texas with Cabeza de Vaca, could not refuse to return. He was ordered to guide a group led by a priest named Marcos de Niza.

The expedition traveled north. Shortly after leaving the edge of Spanish settlement, Marcos de Niza stopped. He sent Estevanico ahead to scout the area.

Several days later, news arrived from Estevanico. He had heard of a place of great wealth called Cíbola. (Cíbola was in fact the pueblos, or houses, of the Zuni Indians.) Estevanico reported that he had found the Seven Cities and urged Marcos de Niza to hurry.

As the group made its way toward Cíbola, they got more news. Estevanico had reached the edge of Cíbola. He was near the present-day border between Arizona and New Mexico. For a moment, it looked as if their goal was in sight.

The next bit of news was terrible. Indians had killed Estevanico as he tried to enter the pueblo.

Marcos de Niza halted the expedition. He did not want to suffer the same fate as Estevanico. Yet he claimed he had seen Cíbola from the top of a hill. He reported seeing a glittering city of silver and gold, bigger than Mexico City itself. What he really saw is unknown, because he turned back without going any closer. Still, many explorers believed his claim. His report, along with the information provided by Cabeza de Vaca, convinced many that rich lands lay waiting.

Francisco Vásquez de Coronado

Spain quickly responded to Marcos de Niza’s story. In 1540, the explorer Francisco Vásquez de Coronado set out with a force of 1,000 men. He intended to conquer Cíbola and take its treasure.

Coronado’s force traveled to the Hawikuh pueblo. This was the same pueblo where Estevanico had died.

The Spanish force captured the pueblo. What Coronado found left him disappointed, however. There was no gold, silver, or jewels. Cíbola was a large town, but it was nowhere near as large as Mexico City.

Coronado’s Travels in Texas Coronado was unwilling to return from his mission empty-handed. He decided to stay in the area to find something of value. During this time, Coronado treated the Indians harshly. Soon they wanted to get rid of him and his men. Meanwhile, Coronado sent his men to explore the region around the pueblo. His men were the first Europeans to see the Grand Canyon and other parts of what is now the Southwest region of the United States.

Coronado and his men found no treasure, but during their explorations, some of the soldiers met an Indian they called El Turco. This man told of a great wealthy empire in the east called Quivira in which even the common people ate off plates of gold. The excited soldiers reported El Turco’s description of Quivira’s fantastic wealth.

He said also that the lord of that country took his afternoon nap under a great tree on which were hung a great number of little gold bells, which put him to sleep as they swung in the air. He said also that everyone had their ordinary dishes made of wrought plate [metal plates formed by hammering or beating], and the jugs and bowls were made of gold. . . . For the present he was believed, on account of the ease with which he told it and because they showed him metal ornaments and he recognized them and said they were not gold, and he knew gold and silver very well and did not care anything about other metals.

—The Journey of Coronado: 1540–1542

This was just the kind of news Coronado wanted to hear. He set out to find the city. On this quest, Coronado and his small group crossed the present-day Texas Panhandle. They saw Palo Duro Canyon and the Llano Estacado. They marveled at the flat landscape.

After months of exploration, the weary Spanish soldiers began to doubt the truthfulness of El Turco’s story. El Turco was a member of one of the Plains tribes. The Pueblos had captured him. He probably saw Coronado’s expedition as an opportunity to escape the Pueblos and reach his own people in the east. However, despite their doubts, the lure of fabulous wealth was too great. The Spaniards marched on across the plains.

Coronado finally reached Quivira. Today, scholars think he found a Wichita village located in present-day Kansas. Again, there was no treasure. Enraged, Coronado ordered his men to kill El Turco.

After the failure to find a legendary place of riches, Coronado gave up. In 1542, he returned to Mexico. He reported that the land to the north offered little that the Spanish could use.

Hernando de Soto &Luis de Moscoso

This Spanish force had begun as an expedition headed by Hernando de Soto. He had a familiar goal, much like that of Coronado, to find riches in North America.

De Soto’s expedition set out from Florida in 1539 and explored the land that is now the southeastern United States. In 1542, about the time that Coronado returned to Mexico, de Soto and his men crossed the Mississippi River. Soon afterward, the explorer became ill and died. Luis de Moscoso Alvarado then took over the expedition.

Having found no gold after de Soto died, Moscoso’s group made it their goal to reach Mexico by land. The exact route of their journey is unknown, but they likely entered East Texas.

In East Texas, or perhaps in modern Louisiana, they were attacked by a large group of Caddo warriors. Having heard of the Spaniards’ destruction of numerous Indian villages to the east and their trail of theft and destruction from Florida westward, the Caddo tried to keep Moscoso and his men as far away from their towns as possible. The Spaniards, however, were well trained and battle hardened. They defeated the Caddo and destroyed several of their towns. Taking what they wanted, Moscoso’s force continued west until winter. Still far from Mexico City, the men retraced their steps to the Mississippi River, and on their way they once again took what they wanted from the Caddo. After reaching the Mississippi, they built vessels and returned to Mexico by sea.

Some experts believe there may have been as many as 250,000 Caddo Indians in the mid-1500s when they first encountered Europeans. They lived in numerous large towns scattered about what is now East Texas, northwest Louisiana, and southwest Arkansas. They were bound together by a well-structured political and religious system. While they sometimes fought with each other and sometimes splintered into smaller groups, the Caddo were the most powerful Indian tribe in the region.

After their first encounter with Europeans, outbreaks of diseases caused their numbers to drop dramatically. As a result, they abandoned some of their towns. It took decades for them to rebuild their population and a stable political system. Still, over time they did recover as a people. They may never again have reached the population they enjoyed in 1542, but by the time the Spanish attempted to settle in their territory some 150 years later, the Caddo were still the largest and most significant Indian group in that large area. They once again resisted Spanish attempts to control their territory, and the Spanish were never very successful at building settlements in Caddo lands.

The story of the Caddo reminds us that Texas Indians may have been devastated by disease and occasionally defeated in battle, but they long resisted domination by Europeans and Anglo Americans. Until at least the 1840s, the Caddo remained in their traditional homeland.

How long did it take the Spanish to explore Texas? Draw Conclusions What were some reasons it took so long?

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