Would we be here today if early explorers like Columbus, Coronado, and Cortes, had not discovered and explored the Americas?

In the late 1400s Christopher Columbus, an explorer born in Italy, had an idea. He thought he could reach Asia by sailing across the Atlantic Ocean. He asked Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain to pay for an expedition. Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand wanted Spain to be rich and powerful. They also wanted to convert people to the Catholic religion. So in 1492 the king and queen decided to help Columbus. When did Columbus “sail the ocean blue?”

Land was sighted on October 11, 1492, and the next day Columbus’ explorers went ashore. He claimed the land for Spain and named it San Salvador. Columbus thought he had reached the Indies, so he named the native people he met Indians. What Columbus didn’t know was that his ships had landed among the islands we know today as the Bahamas. Columbus made three more voyages to the Americas. Can you find San Salvador on the map?

Other Spanish explorers, or conquistadors, began sailing to the Americas. Some came to claim land, others came to spread their religion, and others came to hunt for gold. Hernando Cortés explored areas in Mexico. Cortes took many ships, soldiers, horses, and weapons with him on his expedition. He wanted to take control of the area, which was ruled by the Aztecs. In 1521 Cortés defeated the Aztecs and took control of the lands in Mexico. The lands included Tenochtitlán, the Aztec capital. Cortés found great riches among the Aztecs. What is Tenochtitlán known as today?

In 1528 Pánfilo de Narváez led an expedition to what is today Florida. His plan was to claim all the lands along the Gulf of Mexico for Spain. Narváez and about 300 of his men became stranded on the west coast of Florida. They decided to build rafts and sail to Mexico. A hurricane near the coast of Texas wrecked their rafts. All but 80 of the men died. Those survivors washed ashore near Galveston. They are believed to be the first Europeans to set foot in Texas. Only four of the survivors would reach Mexico-Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, Alonso Castillo Maldonado, Andrés Dorantes de Carranza, and an African slave named Esteban. Cabeza de Vaca became separated from the others. He lived for three years in the Galveston area.

Cabeza de Vaca and the other survivors spent difficult years in Texas. They were often sick, had little food, and were even enslaved by the Karankawa Indians. While they lived with the Karankawas, they heard legends about Cíbola, cities said to be made of gold. In 1539 and 1540 the Spanish sent expeditions to find Cíbola. Francisco Vàsquez de Coronado led the 1540 expedition.

While searching for cities made of gold, the conquistador Francisco Vásquez de Coronado made his way from Mexico up through Arizona and over into Texas. They were the first Europeans to see the Grand Canyon. They crossed the Pecos River onto the West Texas Plains. They were amazed at the number of buffalo they saw. Eventually Coronado and his men reached Palo Duro Canyon, near present-day Amarillo. Men from Hernando De Soto’s expedition reached areas near Texarkana Texas after De Soto’s death.

In 1682 the French explorer, René-Robert Cavelier, also known as Sieur de La Salle, led an expedition down the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico. He claimed land along the way for France. In 1684 La Salle led another expedition. He wanted to start a colony near the mouth of the Mississippi River. He sailed past the mouth of the Mississippi River and landed in Texas instead. He and his settlers built the colony on the spot where they landed. It was named Fort St. Louis and was located between present-day Galveston and Corpus Christi. The colonists at Fort St. Louis ran out of food. Many began to get sick and die. La Salle was killed by some of the settlers who blamed him for their problems. When the Karankawas heard that La Salle was dead they attacked Fort St. Louis and destroyed the colony.