One of the more interesting, but often overlooked, Spanish conquistador stories is that of Alvar Nunez Cabeza De Vaca. He and his men landed in Florida (Tampa Bay), wandered throughout Texas and eventually found fellow Spaniards years later in Mexico. All the while, their numbers dwindled from disease and the harsh conditions.
Read this article, this article and watch this video to get a more complete picture of this story. In the comments section, pretend you are De Vaca after finally finding fellow Spaniards after years of wandering. Write a letter home to your family describing the "New World" and your adventures. Be sure to use actual details from his story.
Mi querida familia (My dear family),
ReplyDeleteIt has been years since we have seen each other in person. The things I have witnessed and seen have been much more than what I expected. So many things can happen over seas. Take the hurricane my men and I encountered when we first set off. Our ship was damaged, but thankfully we made it to Cuba, where we got a new ship. It’s still hard to believe that was years before the real excitement happened. We didn’t arrive to the new world until April 15, 1528. It was a peninsula land, but I misjudged its great size. If we had known how extremely large it had been, we wouldn’t have spilt up from the ship, having only three-hundred men with me. Our numbers ended up decreasing greatly over the next months. Don’t ever do something unless you are positively sure you’re correct. That’s what I learned. We didn’t bring enough food to last four months. So I ended up losing about fifty men because of starvation and other reasons. My luck didn’t get any better over the next year. We reached an island using rafts we made from trees and other plants, the goal being to make it to Santiesteban del Puerto, but that never ended up happening. We were wound up on some Isla de Malhado, our numbers only thirteen men (myself included) and one African slave the next year. I got very sick, and only three men stayed with me. My other men betrayed their loyalty and left. I reached a land known as “Malhado”, and there I was able to start trading things with people called ‘”Indians”. The Indians would also give me food just for praying for them when they were sick because they almost-always said it made them feel better. I then continued traveling in 1532 to Mexico. But I was taken as a slave, along with my three other men, for the Mariames in Yuguaces, Texasuntil 1534. We then escaped, and after a 2,400 journey, I made it to San Miguel de Culiacán, where I got back on my feet. I finally have found other Spaniards! A day has not gone by where I miss home, and hoepfully, if all goes well, we will return soon. It may not be this year, but don’t mope. I know that my home is in Spain, and I will make it there when I can. I have learned one thing over the past years: I’m lucky. I did encounter bad luck, but I am I lucky because I’m still living…
(431 words)
Dear Family,
ReplyDeleteThis is my account of the “New World,” and all of the perils that lie within it. My crew and I were battered by a hurricane off of the coast of Cuba, and then we went to Florida. If my mind doesn’t deceive me, then I believe that the area was Tampa Bay and the year was 1528. We then claimed the area for Spain. Then our leader, Panfilo de Narvaez, decided to split our forces, which proved disasterous. After that, we got in some trouble with the Apalachee Indians because we took their leader hostage, which in my opinion was a dumb idea. Our numbers started to dwindle because of disease and lack of food. The lack of food was so bad that my men and I were living off of the flesh of our horses. We had to live in the humid swamps. By the end of our trip, there was just me and three others left. We started to lose hope and I wasn’t sure we were ever going to see you guys again. Then we started to travel westward when we ran into some other Spaniards who were on a slave gathering trip. We at last had hope again! As of now, I am traveling back to Spain and will hopefully get to see you guys.
Your explorer,
Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca
(230)
Dear Family,
ReplyDeleteThe journey to “The New World” has been a long hard trip. It took us a year to get to the shores of Cuba before we got there we were pushed off course by a hurricane and we were forced to land in present day Tamp Bay Florida. At first we were kind of like allies to the Indians, but that changed in a blink of an eye. We captured their leader which wasn’t the best idea to do, they were helping us out and they had already adapted to this environment,. My men began to die and our food supplies began to decrease and most of the men I had left were sick because the diseases there. So we had to live in a humid swamp and eat the meat of our horses. At the end of the trip there was me and three others left, I started to worry but we began to trvel west and soon found a group of Spaniards, who were on a slave gathering voyage. As of now I am coming back to Spain and I will be so glad to see you.
(191)
Dear Family,
ReplyDeleteI have not seen you in a while, and things over here are far more different than back home. To give you an update about what is going on, some men and I have just made a goal to reach the nearest known settlement of our countrymen. We began our journey on September 22, 1528, and it started out very well for the first month, but unfortunately are luck went down hill from there. We had to kill a horse evry third day to be able to eat. We also ran into some strong winds in the north. But, despite all the illness, thirteen Spaniards and an African slave remained alive, along with myself. Once we got to this new land, I became ill in the winter, but while I was on the mainland, I gladly recovered from my illness. I was one of the first European of record to become a Texas merchant! I carried sea shells, some being sharp enough to cut open mesquite beans, and what I soon called “beads of sea” into the interior reaches of Texas. I traded these things to some of the natives, who wanted these things for body decorations. I also helped heal the Indians for exchange of food. If I didn't help the Indians, they would take away my food! As you can see, this new land is very interesting! Although, I am very glad to be over here despite all the differences. (244)
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteDear Family,
ReplyDeleteI’m sorry it has been so long since you have heard from me; I know you were probably worried for me. I am okay though, but it was a very hard and long trip. One of our first trials was the hurricane that hit our ship. It was very badly damaged but we were lucky enough to make it to Cuba. Then we made the decision to split up and it all went down hill. First our leader was taken hostage by the Apalachee Indians. We were forced to retreat and while we did we were chased by the Indians. The hard thing was most of our men were plagued with diseases and we were reduced to eating our horses flesh. So after we thought it was safe we started wandering and ended up in Texas. We were there for a while and most of our men died. So it was me and three other men in my group trying to make it to Spain’s out post in Mexico. When we got there they were stunned because of the different clothes we were wearing looked a lot different because we had adapted to what the Indians were with us. They were surprised that we were also in the company of Indians. The travels of the new world have been hard but I am living. I am looking forward to seeing you soon.
Sincerely,
Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca
words- 240
Dear Family,
ReplyDeleteAs you well know I have been on this journey for some time now, but I'm alright this letter is not about my health condition. I have encountered many things on this journey. The first was we went through a hurricane of the coast of Cuba. So after that we got a new boat and sailed for Florida landing in present-day Tampa Bay in March 1528. After that the Indians took hostage the leader of our journey, and we were forced to live in a swamp surviving on only the meat from our horses. We built rafts, but as we were sailing we encountered another terrible storm and it washed the survivors and me on the Gulf Coast of what us now Galveston, Texas. Because the natives blamed their diseases on us, I ended up becoming a trader and a healer. By 1532 only three other members of the original journey were still alive, and so we set out south to Mexico. July 1536 we came across fellow Spaniards in Sinaloa. They stood there bewildered at how I was dressed and that I was with the Indians. We now represented the three hundred men who landed in Florida, but now there were only four of us left. We encountered some rough things on this journey, but we made it through. (223)
Dear, home
ReplyDeleteI was drafted into the military and now I am beginning to be a part of an amazing event. We are being told about an exploration to the new world and I am dying to go.
I write you again saying that we are on the boat going to the new world the waters are beautiful and this will be an amazing journey.
I write you thrice to tell you that we ran into a horrible storm destroying most of our ships near a really big island. Now we are here in this unknown land called The New World. We tried to get to where our ships could go off shore to come back to give us the needed supplies. Now our leader in captivity by harsh native we have been told that we have gone into their territory so they attacked. Most of the men around me are dying of starvation and they are killing their horses just to eat. We are having to build makeshift raft hoping to return to that big island. We got to the big island but we are down even more in population the natives are now greeting us but the more they die of disease the more they are blaming us for their deaths. Now we are having to live in shelters that the natives are giving us. I and my crew are slowly dying now. I though, have to trade most of the things that I own to have the food that I need to survive. I am known as the doctor for the men that are sick. They say that I know my stuff to get them well. We are coming home because the Indians have heIp us to get back to span. Now, I write you for the final time. I love you, bye
Sincerely
Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca
Words 314
Dear Family,
ReplyDeleteI know you haven’t seen you in while, and I miss you very much. As you know I am on this journey for some time, but I am alright. I started my journey on September 22, 1528 with all our supplies and all men on board. We battled through waves for 2 weeks. We reached an island that had been destroyed by sickness even some of my men and me got ill. My men and I recovered from the illness when we arrived on the mainland. We could only survive by becoming slaves to the Indians. We helped them treat sickness for exchange of food. Europeans that came couldn’t even recognize him. He became a defender for the Indians. (121)
Dear Family,
ReplyDeleteI left Spain to be a part of a royal expedition. While we were traveling there was a hurricane, but we secured a new boat. We stayed with the Appalachia Indians of Northern Florida, but we had to take their leader hostage. We suffered from diseases so everyone that was still alive, we ate the flesh of are horses. We built rafts out of trees so that we could set sail back to Cuba. We don’t have a lot of food so we only have about eighty men left. We were dumped on the Gulf Coast, but we were welcomed until the natives started dyeing of diseases and blamed us. In the past four years I have taught myself to be a trader and a healer. There are only three of us left from the main expedition. So we thought we might head west and south to reach the Spanish’s empire. We came upon some Spaniards; they were on an expedition to. I Love you all see you in a few months.
Sincerely,
Cabeza de Vaca
(178)
Dear Home lands, I left for many reasons, but my biggest reason was to explore. has been wild here. Indian attacks, our boat got destroyed by a hurricane, ran out of food, ate horse meat for good while, and made rafts out of tree logs. We worked our way to get good rafts made, out of deerskin, melted bridles, shirts for sail, and our little possesions we had left. We tried to get to the nearest spainish settlement, but once we reached he river, we were doomed. we barely made it out. and found ourselves almost dead. Once we made the trip there were only 3 of us alive from the main expedition, I ran into some Indians too, who were three men who were white skin and were Christians they said. they agreed to take us towards them, ill see you in a bit,
ReplyDeleteLove
Cabeza De Vaca
(149)
Dear family,
ReplyDeleteMy apologies for not writing back after your last letter. I've just been so busy exploring the "New World." My crew and I were heading towards Cuba when a hurricane struck causing our ship to land in a new place. We soon lost our ships and were running fairly low on food. So we began wandering the new land we found. After wandering for a while we left some men there, and went traveling for more land. Now only a handful of men are still alive. Unfortunately a disease struck taking the lives of many. I got very sick and became close to death. It was very hard because most of my men betrayed me during this time when I needed them. After this I traveled with the men I had left back to the first land we had found. I became a merchant trading sea shells, knifes to cut mesquite beans, and beads of the sea. I traded with "Indians" and they gave me food as trade. This was very helpful because a lot of my men had abandoned me or died from lack of food. We were losing hope as we began to run low on food once more. We traveled westward. We eventually found other Spaniards who were looking for slaves. As of now I am heading back to Spain ready to share my adventures with others and see my friends and family once more.
Sincerely,
Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca
(246)