Adult Review Tags

Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca was a Spanish royal official who traveled to Florida with an expedition of settlers in 1528, a generation after Columbus reached the new world. The expedition was a disaster. 300 conquistadors set off already hopelessly lost from today’s Tampa Bay. They traveled on foot and by raft across the northern Gulf of Mexico seeking to extend the frontiers of Spanish influence and conquest. The expedition suffered terribly from hunger, disease and hostile native bands. All died except four, who were discovered eight years after they started in what is now north-west Mexico. This is their fantastic story. The travelers made first contact with many Indian bands in present day Florida, Texas and Mexico. They were enslaved, learned several local languages, became known as healers and eventually heroes among the Indians. The narrative contrasts the horrors of the Spanish conquest with the enlightened but ultimately unsuccessful friendly approach of Cabeza de Vaca towards colonization. This is a somewhat scholarly book, wonderfully researched, but the author adds just enough historical context and a little speculation to fill in the gaps so that the whole story is very easy to read and quite fascinating. The adventure and the hardships rank alongside the voyages of Ernest Shackleton or John Franklin. And yet, until I picked up this recent publication, I had never heard the name of Cabeza de vaca. But then citizens of Texas and Mexico might never have heard of John Franklin. This book is recommended for anyone who enjoys historical non-fiction, especially regarding exploration and discovery.