1. Early Explorers in Texas
Spanish and French

2. Vocabulary
Conquistadores: Spanish Soldiers, sought riches and power for themselves and wealth and glory for Spain
Friars: members of Catholic religious orders
Missions: religious outposts, often the first settlement in an area
Viceroy: an official who represents the monarch
Pueblo: a series of connected flat-roofed buildings often made of adobe
Stockade: an enclosure of posts made to form a defense
Sandbar: a ridge built up by currents in a river or coastal waters

3. Spain Christopher Columbus Hernan Cortes Alonso Alvarez de Pineda
Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca
Panfilo de Narvaez
Estevanico
Antonio de Mendoza
Fray Marcos de Niza
Francisco Vazquez de Coronado
Hernan de Soto
Luis de Moscoso

4. Christopher
Columbus
Sailed across the Atlantic for 33 days straight on his 3 ships
Sighted land in October 1492 (the Caribbean Islands)
Was searching for route to Asia
Was Italian but sailing for Spain
He returned 3 times after his first voyage
On his second visit, he established a colony in the West Indies

5. Possibilities of Settlement
Spanish Reasons
For
Exploration
God, Glory, & Gold
Adventure & Curiosity
Possibilities of Settlement

6. Hernan Cortes Sailed from Cuba to Mexico in February 1519
Led his army toward Tenochtitlan-the Aztec capital
Convinced tribes who suffered under the Aztecs to rebel
He was welcomed into the capital at first
He soon took Moctezuma-their emperor-hostage
Aztecs rebelled and their leader was killed
Cortes tore down the city and stole its treasures
Built a new city on its ruins, Mexico
Later known as Mexico City and Mexico’s capital
His success led others to the Americas

7. Alonso Alvarez de Pineda
1519, Became the first European to explore the Texas coastline
As he sailed along the coastline, he observed and mapped the land
Stopped at the mouth of a river for 40 days
Named it Rio de las Palmas
Reported his findings and maps to a superior in Jamaica
Returned to Mexico to begin a settlement
Died in 1520 in a Native American uprising

8. Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca
A part of an expedition sent to conquer an area between Florida and Mexico in 1527
Expedition was led by Panfilo de Narvaez, it failed
Were stranded in Florida so they build boats to travel along coast
Hurricane hit in November 1528, they crashed onto Galveston Island
These survivors were the first to enter Texas
Captured by the Karankawas who were kind to their captures
Many explorers died within months from disease & exposure
Natives also died from disease

9. De Vaca and captives survived by adapting to the ways of the natives
Only a few survived, Estevanico-the first known black man in Texas-was one of them
Travelled the interior of Texas, learning the geography and people
Spent 6 years with the natives
He escaped and travelled further west for many months, reaching Culiacan, Mexico in 1536-where he told his stories of the seven cities of gold, Cibola
He admitted to never finding the gold or riches himself-he suggested they send others to search

10. Antonio de Mendoza Spain’s highest ranking official in New Spain
A viceroy
de Vaca’s story intrigued him
Found others to return in search of the cities of gold,
de Vaca wanted to return to Spain
Sent a priest, Fray Marcos de Niza, to check out the story, Estevanico accompanied him to show the natives they were friendly
Estevanico was killed by Indians and Fray Niza confirmed that Cibola was a pueblo but also claimed he got a glimse of a golden city.
Mendoza immediately sent an expedition in search of it

11. Francisco Vasquez de Coronado
Was the one sent by Mendoza
Fray Marcos joined them
After 5 months of travel, on July 7, 1540, he found Cibola-disappointed
Fray Marcos left for Mexico immediately
Coronado wanted to find something worth the expedition so he travelled on
He divided his forces:
one west-found the Grand Canyon
one east-his-heard a story from a Native, Turk, of a great city
He and his men would search for the city but found the Texas Plains
It was easy to get lost in the Plains
Came across the Palo Duro Canyon near present day Amarillo
They continued northward
Finding nothing, he put the Turk to death
Claimed Witchita country for Spain

12. Hernan de soto Luis de moscoso Landed in Florida in 1539
The first European to reach the Mississippi, 1541
Died there in 1542
Luis de moscoso
Took charge of the expedition
Went as far west as the Brazos River
Went back to the Mississippi and sailed down into the Gulf

13. Spain’s interest decreased in Texas:
No treasures found like those found in Mexico
They built towns in other areas

14. Rene Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle
France
Rene Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle
1682-Led the first expedition down the Mississippi River
Claimed the entire inland area around the river for France
August 1, 1684-Four ships, 280 colonists set sail for Louisiana
Spanish ships captured one ship
Others were separated by a storm
Missed the mouth of the Mississippi and sailed 400 miles west
Still searching for the Mississippi, he decided to go ashore at Matagora Bay
During landing, one ship crashed, losing many needed supplies

15. They built a stockade, which became Fort St. Louis
He left to explore, some stayed to defend the fort
He found nothing and came back to find the same
Overwork, poor food, and conflicts with Natives claimed the lives of many
One ship sailed back to France
The other had wrecked on a Sandbar
Crops failed and disease struck
Less than 40 of the original 280 settlers survived

16. He decided to head east to find the Mississippi
Members of the expedition did not want to move on
They killed LaSalle on March 19, 1687
Without him, the colony was lost
A few members of the expedition headed north to Canada

17. LaSalle’s efforts bore many results:
Trade with the Natives of the Mississippi Valley
Kept the claim to Texas alive in their imagination
It shifted the focus of Spanish interest from western Texas to eastern Texas