The Narváez expedition was a Spanish

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 attempt during the years 1527–1528 to colonize Spanish Florida

Spanish Florida

Spanish Florida refers to the Spanish territory of Florida, which formed part of the Captaincy General of Cuba, the Viceroyalty of New Spain, and the Spanish Empire. Originally extending over what is now the southeastern United States, but with no defined boundaries, la Florida was a component of...

. It was led by Pánfilo de Narváez

Pánfilo de Narváez

Pánfilo de Narváez was a Spanish conqueror and soldier in the Americas. He is most remembered as the leader of two expeditions, one to Mexico in 1520 to oppose Hernán Cortés, and the disastrous Narváez expedition to Florida in 1527....

, who was to rule as adelantado

Adelantado

Adelantado was a military title held by some Spanish conquistadores of the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries.Adelantados were granted directly by the Monarch the right to become governors and justices of a specific region, which they charged with conquering, in exchange for funding and organizing the...

.

The crew initially numbered about 600. Making stops along the way to Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

 at Hispaniola

Hispaniola

Hispaniola is a major island in the Caribbean, containing the two sovereign states of the Dominican Republic and Haiti. The island is located between the islands of Cuba to the west and Puerto Rico to the east, within the hurricane belt...

 and Cuba

Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

, the expedition suffered a hurricane, among other storms. After landing near Tampa Bay, they were subject to attacks by American Indians

Indigenous peoples of the Americas

The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...

, and suffered the effects of poor food and disease. Over the years, only four of the original party survived.

In 1536, four survivors—Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca

Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca

Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca was a Spanish explorer of the New World, one of four survivors of the Narváez expedition...

, Alonso del Castillo Maldonado, Andrés Dorantes de Carranza, and his enslaved Moor

Moors

The description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of the Maghreb region who are predominately of Berber and Arab descent. They came to conquer and rule the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. At that time they were Muslim, although earlier the people had followed...

 Estevanico

Estevanico

Estevanico , "Black Stephen", "Esteban", "Esteban the Moor", "Estevan", "Estebanico", "Stephen the Black", "Stephen the Moor", "Stephen Dorantes" after his owner Andres Dorantes, and "Little Stephen") was the first known person born in Africa to have arrived in the present-day continental United...

—finally managed to rejoin Spanish countrymen in present-day Mexico. After returning to Spain, Cabeza de Vaca was notable for writing about the ill-fated expedition in his La Relacion (The Report), published in 1542 (in later editions, it was renamed Naufragios).

Spain

On December 11, 1526, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor

Charles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I, of the Spanish Empire from 1516 until his voluntary retirement and abdication in favor of his younger brother Ferdinand I and his son Philip II in 1556.As...

, also known as Carlos I of Spain granted Pánfilo de Narváez

Pánfilo de Narváez

Pánfilo de Narváez was a Spanish conqueror and soldier in the Americas. He is most remembered as the leader of two expeditions, one to Mexico in 1520 to oppose Hernán Cortés, and the disastrous Narváez expedition to Florida in 1527....

 a license to claim what is now the Gulf Coast of the United States. The contract gave him one year to gather an army, leave Spain, found at least two towns of one hundred people each, and garrison two additional fortresses anywhere along the coast.

Narváez had to secure the funding for the expedition. He recruited investors by marketing the promise of riches comparable to those found by Hernán Cortés

Hernán Cortés

Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro, 1st Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca was a Spanish Conquistador who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of mainland Mexico under the rule of the King of Castile in the early 16th century...

. He also called in many debts owed to him, and used this money to pay for many of the expenses of the expedition.

Appointed treasurer, Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca

Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca

Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca was a Spanish explorer of the New World, one of four survivors of the Narváez expedition...

 acted as the king's eyes and ears, and was second in command. He was to make sure the Crown received 5% of any wealth acquired during the expedition. Other members included Alonso de Solís as royal inspector of mines

Mining

Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...

, Alonso Enríquez as comptroller, an Aztec

Aztec

The Aztec people were certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, a period referred to as the late post-classic period in Mesoamerican chronology.Aztec is the...

 prince

Prince

Prince is a general term for a ruler, monarch or member of a monarch's or former monarch's family, and is a hereditary title in the nobility of some European states. The feminine equivalent is a princess...

 called Don Pedro in Spanish, and a contingent of Franciscan

Franciscan

Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....

 and diocesan priests led by Padre (father) Juan Suárez (sometimes spelled "Xuárez"). Most of the men were troops.

On June 17, 1527, the expedition departed Spain from the port of Sanlúcar de Barrameda

Sanlúcar de Barrameda

Sanlúcar de Barrameda is a city in the northwest of Cádiz province, part of the autonomous community of Andalucía in southern Spain. Sanlúcar is located on the left bank at the mouth of the Guadalquivir River opposite the Doñana National Park, 52 km from the provincial capital Cádiz and...

 at the mouth of the Guadalquivir River. Among the force were about 450 troops, officers, and slaves. About 150 others were sailors, wives (married men could not travel without their wives to the Indies), and servants.

The first stop on the voyage was the Canary Islands

Canary Islands

The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...

, about a week's journey and 850 miles into the Atlantic. There the expedition resupplied such items as water, wine, firewood, meats, and fruit.

Hispaniola and Cuba

They arrived in Santo Domingo

Santo Domingo

Santo Domingo, known officially as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city in the Dominican Republic. Its metropolitan population was 2,084,852 in 2003, and estimated at 3,294,385 in 2010. The city is located on the Caribbean Sea, at the mouth of the Ozama River...

 sometime in August of 1527. During the stay, troops began deserting. Although always a problem on such expeditions, men may also have deserted because of hearing about the recent return of an expedition led by Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón, in which 450 of 600 men perished. Nearly 100 men deserted the Narváez expedition in the first month in Santo Domingo. The expedition stopped here to purchase horses, as well as two small ships for exploring the coastline. Although Narváez was able to buy only one small ship, he set sail once again.

They arrived in Santiago

Santiago de Cuba

Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city of Cuba and capital city of Santiago de Cuba Province in the south-eastern area of the island, some south-east of the Cuban capital of Havana....

 in late September. As Cuba was the home of Narváez and his family, he had many contacts through whom he could collect more supplies, horses, and men. After meeting with his wealthy friend Vasco Porcallo, Narváez sent part of the fleet to Trinidad

Trinidad, Cuba

-External links:* , Online travel guide to Trinidad* , Selected photos of Trinidad* , Photos of Trinidad...

 to collect horses and other supplies from his friend's estate.

Narváez put Cabeza de Vaca and a captain named Pantoja in charge of two ships sent to Trinidad

Trinidad, Cuba

-External links:* , Online travel guide to Trinidad* , Selected photos of Trinidad* , Photos of Trinidad...

, while he took the other four ships to the Gulf of Guacanayabo

Gulf of Guacanayabo

The Gulf of Guacanayabo is a bay along the southern coast of Cuba, bordered by Granma and Las Tunas provinces. It is located at .The largest port on the bay is Manzanillo, ad to the north-west, the gulf is bordered by the Jardines de la Reina archipellago...

. On about 30 October, the two ships arrived in Trinidad to collect requisitioned supplies. A hurricane arrived shortly after they did. In the storm, both ships sank, 60 men were killed, a fifth of the horses drowned, and all the new supplies gotten in Trinidad were destroyed.

Recognizing the need to regroup, Narváez sent the four remaining ships to Cienfuegos

Cienfuegos

Cienfuegos is a city on the southern coast of Cuba, capital of Cienfuegos Province. It is located about from Havana, and has a population of 150,000. The city is dubbed La Perla del Sur...

 under command of Cabeza de Vaca. Narváez stayed ashore in order to recruit men and purchase more ships. After nearly four months, on February 20, 1528, he arrived in Cienfuegos with one of two new ships and a few more recruits. The other ship he sent on to Havana

Havana

Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...

. At this point, the expedition had about 400 men and 80 horses. The winter layover caused a depletion of supplies and they planned to restock in Havana on the way to the Florida coast.

One of the new men Narváez hired was a master pilot named Miruelo, who claimed detailed knowledge of the Gulf Coast. Historians have debated for centuries his full identity and the extent of his knowledge. In any case, only two days after leaving Cienfuegos, every ship in the fleet ran aground on the Canarreos shoals just off the coast of Cuba. There they were stuck for two to three weeks, while the men depleted already meager supplies. Not until a storm rose large seas in the second week of March were they able to escape the shoals.

After battling more storms, the expedition rounded the western tip of Cuba and made its way toward Havana. Although they were close enough to see the masts of ships in port, the wind blew the fleet into the Gulf of Mexico without their reaching Havana. Narváez decided to press on with the journey and colonization plans. They spent the next month trying to reach the Mexican coast but could not overcome the Gulf Stream

Gulf Stream

The Gulf Stream, together with its northern extension towards Europe, the North Atlantic Drift, is a powerful, warm, and swift Atlantic ocean current that originates at the tip of Florida, and follows the eastern coastlines of the United States and Newfoundland before crossing the Atlantic Ocean...

's powerful current.

Arrival in Florida

On April 12 of 1528, they spotted land north of what is now Tampa Bay

Tampa Bay

Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and estuary along the Gulf of Mexico on the west central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay."Tampa Bay" is not the name of any municipality...

. They turned south and traveled for two days looking for a great harbor which the master pilot Miruelo knew. During these two days, one of the five remaining ships was lost. Finally, after spotting a shallow bay, Narváez ordered entry. They passed into Boca Ciega Bay north of the entrance to Tampa Bay. They spotted buildings set upon earthen mounds, encouraging signs of culture (and wealth), food, and water. The natives were members of the Safety Harbor Culture (Tocobaga). The Spaniards dropped anchors and prepared to go ashore. Narváez landed with 300 men near the Rio de las Palmas—at what is currently known as the Jungle Prada Site

Jungle Prada Site

The Jungle Prada Site is an archaeological Tocobaga mounds and historical Narváez expedition site, and a city bayside park, in St...

 in present day St. Petersburg.

The comptroller Alonso Enríquez was one of the first ashore. Making his way to the nearby village, he traded items such as glass beads

Chevron bead

Chevron beads are special glass beads, the first specimens of this type were created by glass bead makers in Venice and Murano, Italy, towards the end of the 14th century. They may also be referred to as Rosetta, or star beads...

, brass bells, and cloth for fresh fish and venison. He reported to Narváez that, although there was little wealth among the people, they seemed peaceful. The villagers deserted their homes that night. Several members of the expedition spent the next day exploring the empty village. What interested them most was a small gold

Gold

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...

 disc or rattle found among some fishing nets. Narváez ordered the rest of the company to debark and establish a camp.

The next day, the royal officials assembled ashore and, with ritual, performed the formal declaration and authentication of Narváez as royal governor of La Florida. He read (in Spanish, of course) the Requerimiento

Requerimiento

The Requerimiento "requirement" as in "demand") was a written declaration of sovereignty and war, read by Spanish military forces to assert their sovereignty over the Americas...

, which stated to any natives listening that their land belonged to Charles V

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor

Charles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I, of the Spanish Empire from 1516 until his voluntary retirement and abdication in favor of his younger brother Ferdinand I and his son Philip II in 1556.As...

 by order of the Pope

Pope

The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...

. He also stated that natives had the choice of converting

Converting

Converting companies are companies that specialize in combining raw materials such as polyesters, adhesives, silicone, tapes, foams, plastics, felts, rubbers, liners and metals, as well as other materials, to create new products....

 to Christianity

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

. If they converted, they would be loved and welcomed with open arms. If they chose not to, war would be made against them. The expedition ignored both pleas and threats by a party of natives the next day.

After some exploring, Narváez and some other officers discovered Old Tampa Bay. They headed back to the camp and ordered Miruelo to pilot a brigantine

Brigantine

In sailing, a brigantine or hermaphrodite brig is a vessel with two masts, only the forward of which is square rigged.-Origins of the term:...

 (brig) in search of the great harbor he had talked about. If he was unsuccessful, he should return to Cuba. Narváez never heard from Miruelo or any of the crew of the brig again.

Meanwhile, Narvaez took another party inland, where they found another village. The villagers were using Spanish freight boxes as coffins. The Spanish destroyed these and found a little food and gold. The locals told them that there was plenty of both in Apalachee

Apalachee

The Apalachee are a Native American people who historically lived in the Florida Panhandle, and now live primarily in the U.S. state of Louisiana. Their historical territory was known to the Spanish colonists as the Apalachee Province...

 to the north. After returning to their base camp, the Spanish made plans to head north.

Narváez splits land and sea forces

On May 1, 1528, Narváez decided to split the force into land and sea contingents. He planned to have the army of 300 march overland to the north while the ships, with the remaining 100 people, sailed up the coast to meet them. He believed the mouth to Tampa Bay to be a short distance to the north (it was south). Cabeza de Vaca argued against this plan, but was outvoted by the rest of the officers. Narváez wanted Cabeza de Vaca to lead the sea force, but he refused as a matter of honor, as Narváez had implied he was a coward.

The men marched in near starvation for two weeks before coming upon a village north of the Withlacoochee River. They enslaved the natives and for three days helped themselves to corn from their fields. They sent two exploratory parties downstream on both sides of the river looking for signs of the ships. With no sight of the ships, Narváez ordered the party to continue north to Apalachee.

Several years later, Cabeza de Vaca learned what became of the ships. Miruelo had returned to Old Tampa Bay in the brigantine, and found all the ships gone. He sailed to Havana to pick up the fifth ship, which had been supplied, and brought that back to Tampa Bay. After heading north for some time without finding the party on land, the other three ships decided to go back to Tampa Bay also. After meeting, the fleet again searched for the land party for nearly a year before turning around and heading to Mexico. Juan Ortiz, a member of the naval force, was captured by the Tocobaga

Tocobaga

Tocobaga was the name of a chiefdom, its chief and its principal town during the 16th century in the area of Tampa Bay. The town was at the northern end of what is now called Old Tampa Bay, an arm of Tampa Bay that extends northward between the present-day city of Tampa and Pinellas County...

. He was enslaved by them and lived at Uzita

Uzita

Uzita was the name of a 16th century chiefdom, of its chief town and of its chief. The chief town was near the mouth of the Little Manatee River on the south side of Tampa Bay, Florida. The territory of Uzita was said to extend from the Little Manatee River to Sarasota Bay. Uzita were part of the...

 for nearly twelve years before being rescued by Hernando de Soto

Hernando de Soto (explorer)

Hernando de Soto was a Spanish explorer and conquistador who, while leading the first European expedition deep into the territory of the modern-day United States, was the first European documented to have crossed the Mississippi River....

's expedition.

They meet the Timucua

From scout reports, the Timucua

Timucua

The Timucua were a Native American people who lived in Northeast and North Central Florida and southeast Georgia. They were the largest indigenous group in that area and consisted of about 35 chiefdoms, many leading thousands of people. The various groups of Timucua spoke several dialects of the...

 knew the Spanish party was nearing their territory. They decided to meet the Europeans as they came near on June 17. Through hand signs and gestures, Narváez communicated to their chief, Dulchanchellin, that they were headed to Apalachee. Dulchanchellin appeared pleased by this (it turned out the Apalachee were his enemies).

After the two leaders exchanged gifts, the expedition followed the Timucua into their territory and crossed the Suwannee River

Suwannee River

The Suwannee River is a major river of southern Georgia and northern Florida in the United States. It is a wild blackwater river, about long. The Suwannee River is the site of the prehistoric Suwannee Straits which separated peninsular Florida from the panhandle.-Geography:The river rises in the...

. During the crossing, an officer named Juan Velázquez charged into it on his horse, and they both drowned. His was the first non-shipwreck casualty of the expedition, and the men were disturbed by his death. The starving army cooked and ate his horse that night.

When the Spaniards arrived at the Timucua village on the 18th, the chief sent them provisions of maize

Maize

Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...

. That night, an arrow was shot past one of Narváez's men near a watering hole. The next morning, the Spaniards found the natives had deserted the village. They set out once again for Apalachee. They soon found themselves being followed by hostile natives. Narváez laid a trap for the pursuing natives, and they captured three or four, whom they used as guides. The Spanish had no further contact with those Timucua.

Apalachee

On June 25, 1528, the expedition entered Apalachee

Apalachee

The Apalachee are a Native American people who historically lived in the Florida Panhandle, and now live primarily in the U.S. state of Louisiana. Their historical territory was known to the Spanish colonists as the Apalachee Province...

 territory. Finding a community of forty houses, they thought it was the capital, but it was only a small outlying village of a much larger culture. The Spanish attacked, took several hostages including the village's cacique

Cacique

Cacique is a title derived from the Taíno word for the pre-Columbian chiefs or leaders of tribes in the Bahamas, Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles...

, and occupied the village. Although the villagers had none of the gold and riches Narváez was expecting, they did have much maize.

Soon after Narváez took the village, Apalachee warriors began attacking the Europeans. The first attack was a force of 200 warriors who used burning arrows to set fire to the houses the Europeans occupied. The warriors quickly dispersed, losing only one man. The next day a second force of 200 warriors equipped with large bows attacked from the opposite side of the village. This force also quickly dispersed and only lost one man.

After these direct attacks, the Apalachee changed to quick assaults while the Spanish were on the move. They could fire their bows five or six times while the Spanish loaded a crossbow

Crossbow

A crossbow is a weapon consisting of a bow mounted on a stock that shoots projectiles, often called bolts or quarrels. The medieval crossbow was called by many names, most of which derived from the word ballista, a torsion engine resembling a crossbow in appearance.Historically, crossbows played a...

 or harquebus, then fade away into the woods. They harassed the Spanish continuously for the next three weeks in what later became known as guerrilla tactics. During this time, Narváez sent out three scouting missions in search of larger or wealthier towns. All three came back without good news. Frustrated by misfortune and failing health, Narváez ordered the expedition to head south. The Apalachee and Timucua captives told him the people of Aute had a great deal of food and the village was near the sea. To get there, they had to cross a large swamp

Swamp

A swamp is a wetland with some flooding of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water. A swamp generally has a large number of hammocks, or dry-land protrusions, covered by aquatic vegetation, or vegetation that tolerates periodical inundation. The two main types of swamp are "true" or swamp...

.

Aute

For the first two days out of the village, the Spaniards were not attacked. When they were up to their chests in water in the swamp, the Apalachee attacked them with a shower of arrows. They were nearly helpless, as they could not use their horses, could not quickly reload their heavy weapons, and found their armor weighing them down in water. Finally reaching solid ground, they drove off the attackers. For the next two weeks, they made their difficult way through the swamp, occasionally under attack by the Apalachee.

When the Spanish finally reached Aute, they found the village already deserted and burnt. They harvested enough corn, beans, and squash

Three Sisters (agriculture)

The Three Sisters are the three main agricultural crops of various Native American groups in North America: squash, maize, and climbing beans ....

 from the garden to feed their party, many of whom were starving, wounded and sick. After two days, Narváez sent Cabeza de Vaca to look for an opening to the sea. He didn't find the sea, but after half a day's march along the Wakulla River

Wakulla River

The Wakulla River is an river in Wakulla County, Florida. It carries the outflow from Wakulla Springs, site of the Edward Ball Wakulla Springs State Park, to the St. Marks River north of the Gulf of Mexico...

 and St. Marks River

St. Marks River

The St. Marks River is a river in the Big Bend region of Florida. It has been classified by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection as an Outstanding Florida Water, and is the easternmost river within the Northwest Florida Water Management District....

, he found shallow, salty water filled with oyster

Oyster

The word oyster is used as a common name for a number of distinct groups of bivalve molluscs which live in marine or brackish habitats. The valves are highly calcified....

 beds. Two more days of scouting produced no better results, and the men returned to tell Narváez the news.

Narvaez decided to go to the oyster beds for the food. With many of the horses carrying the sick and wounded, the Spanish realized they were struggling for survival. Some considered cannibalism

Cannibalism

Cannibalism is the act or practice of humans eating the flesh of other human beings. It is also called anthropophagy...

 to survive. During the march, some of the caballero

Knight

A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....

s talked about stealing their horses and abandoning everyone else. Although Narváez was too ill to take action, Cabeza de Vaca got word of the plan and convinced them to stay.

Bay of Horses

After a few days stuck near the shallow waters, one man came up with a plan. He suggested melting down the weaponry and armor to make tools and to build new boats. The party agreed and started action on it August 4, 1528.

They constructed a forge out of a log and used deerskins for the bellows

Bellows

A bellows is a device for delivering pressurized air in a controlled quantity to a controlled location.Basically, a bellows is a deformable container which has an outlet nozzle. When the volume of the bellows is decreased, the air escapes through the outlet...

. They cut down trees and made charcoal for the forge. Then they made hammers, saws, axes, and nails out of their melted-down iron gear. Caulking was made from the pitch

Pitch (resin)

Pitch is the name for any of a number of viscoelastic, solid polymers. Pitch can be made from petroleum products or plants. Petroleum-derived pitch is also called bitumen. Pitch produced from plants is also known as resin. Products made from plant resin are also known as rosin.Pitch was...

 of pine trees, and palmetto leaves were used as oakum

Oakum

Oakum is a preparation of tarred fiber used in shipbuilding, for caulking or packing the joints of timbers in wooden vessels and the deck planking of iron and steel ships, as well as cast iron plumbing applications...

. They sewed their shirts together for sails. Occasionally they raided the Aute village, from which they stole 640 bushels of corn to sustain themselves during the construction. Twice, within sight of their camp, ten men gathering shellfish were killed by Apalachee raids.

The men killed their horses for food and material while they were building the boats – one horse every three days. For instance, they used horsehair to braid rope and the skins for water storage bags. As horses were very important to the Spanish, especially the nobility, they named the bay in honor of their sacrifice.

By September 20, they had finished building five boats. They sailed on September 22, 1528. After being ravaged by disease, starvation, and attacks by the various peoples they intended to conquer, 242 men had survived. About 50 men were carried by each boat, which were thirty to forty feet long and had a shallow draft

Hull (watercraft)

A hull is the watertight body of a ship or boat. Above the hull is the superstructure and/or deckhouse, where present. The line where the hull meets the water surface is called the waterline.The structure of the hull varies depending on the vessel type...

, sail, and oars.

South Texas

Storms, thirst and starvation had reduced the expedition to about 80 survivors when a hurricane dumped Cabeza de Vaca and his companions on the western shore of a barrier island

Barrier island

Barrier islands, a coastal landform and a type of barrier system, are relatively narrow strips of sand that parallel the mainland coast. They usually occur in chains, consisting of anything from a few islands to more than a dozen...

. Historians believe they landed at present-day Galveston, Texas

Galveston, Texas

Galveston is a coastal city located on Galveston Island in the U.S. state of Texas. , the city had a total population of 47,743 within an area of...

. For the next four years, Cabeza de Vaca and a steadily dwindling number of his comrades lived in the complex indigenous world of South Texas

South Texas

South Texas is a region of the U.S. state of Texas that lies roughly south of and including San Antonio. The southern and western boundary is the Rio Grande River, and to the east it is the Gulf of Mexico. The population of this region is about 3.7 million. The southern portion of this region is...

.

Southwestern North America

By 1532, only three other members of the original expedition were still alive: Alonso del Castillo Maldonado, Andrés Dorantes de Carranza, and Estevanico, an enslaved Moor

Moors

The description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of the Maghreb region who are predominately of Berber and Arab descent. They came to conquer and rule the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. At that time they were Muslim, although earlier the people had followed...

. Together with Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, they headed west and south hoping to reach the Spanish Empire's outpost in Mexico. They were the first men of Europe and Africa to enter Southwestern North America (present day Southwestern United States

Southwestern United States

The Southwestern United States is a region defined in different ways by different sources. Broad definitions include nearly a quarter of the United States, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah...

 and Northwest Mexico

Northwest Mexico

Northwest Mexico is a region of the United Mexican States, formed by the states of Durango, Sinaloa, Chihuahua, Sonora, Baja California and Baja California Sur...

).
Their precise route has been difficult for historians to determine, but they apparently traveled across present-day Texas, perhaps into New Mexico

New Mexico

New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...

 and Arizona

Arizona

Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...

, and through Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

's northern provinces.

In July 1536, near Culiacán

Culiacán

Culiacán is a city in northwestern Mexico, the largest city in the state of Sinaloa as well as its capital and capital of the municipality of Culiacán. With 675,773 inhabitants in the city , and 858,638 in the municipality, it is the largest city in the state of Sinaloa...

 in present-day Sinaloa

Sinaloa

Sinaloa officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sinaloa is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 18 municipalities and its capital city is Culiacán Rosales....

, the survivors encountered fellow Spaniards on a slave-taking expedition for New Spain

New Spain

New Spain, formally called the Viceroyalty of New Spain , was a viceroyalty of the Spanish colonial empire, comprising primarily territories in what was known then as 'América Septentrional' or North America. Its capital was Mexico City, formerly Tenochtitlan, capital of the Aztec Empire...

. As Cabeza de Vaca wrote later, his countrymen were "dumbfounded at the sight of me, strangely dressed and in the company of Indians. They just stood staring for a long time."