Spanish Exploration

Columbus' First Voyage

Aug 3, 1492

Columbus was looking for a water route to Asia and set sail on this day. Instead, he found the New World. Without him discovering it, we wouldn't have America. He found and brought back gold and other goods.

Pineada's Voyage

Jun 2, 1519

Pineda entered a bay with Native Americans on the shore on this date. He sailed upwards along the coast from Florida to Texas afterwards, and he possibly found the Rio Grande River. He gave others a map to future exploration.

Cortes' Voyage

Nov 18, 1519

Cortes landed in Mexico, where he found the Aztec Empire. The Aztecs thought he was their god and worshiped him. They gave him almost everything they had, and he easily conquered them. Then, he returned to Spain with riches and gave interest to others about this New World.

DeVaca Voyage Part 1

Jun 27, 1527

De Vaca left Spain on this day to search for gold in Florida. He was the accountant on the vessels, and his leader was Narvez.

DeVaca Discovers Texas

Nov 6, 1528

De Vaca shipwrecked on Galveston with only a few other survivors. The Karankawas take care of him, and he also meets the Couhiltecan and Jumano Indians later. They learned that most of the people on the other vessels were dead, including their leader, Narvez. De Vaca became a medicine man and a trader for the Indians. After four years, he was the first to explore Texas and to write about the Texas Indians. He had explored Central and West Texas before being found eight years later in California.

Fray Marcos and Esteban's Journey

May 24, 1539

Fray Marcos was believed to be near Cibola around this date. The purpose of this journey was to study and evaluate the land to the north. Esteban was a guide for Fray Marcos. He told Fray Marcos that he would go ahead to see if there was anything up ahead and was killed by the Zunis for demanding women and food. Fray Marcos goes on and sees a huge golden city. It looked larger than Mexico City.

Moscoso's Expedition

May 30, 1539

The day De Soto and his men landed on Florida. De Soto died of fever a few years later. He wanted Moscoso to take over and died at the Mississippi River, which they had discovered. Moscoso went to explore Texas and basically gave same bad report that Coronado had. This made Spain want to go to Texas even less.

Coronado's Expedition Part 1

Feb 23, 1540

The day that Coronda left Spain to find the 7 cities of gold. He took Fray Marcos with him as a guide, but he escaped when the "Cibola" that he found was actually the Zuni Indian village. Coronado burned the Indians alive, and other Natives sent a man named the Turk to lead him away from them.

Coronado's Expedition Part 2

Apr 23, 1541

The Turk is supposed to lead him through five states, to a city called Quivera. After Coronado finds out that Turk was lying, he kills him. He then walks to Mexico. He returns to Spain and is put on trial for mismanagement of money and cruelty to Indians. His discoveries were Texas' Palo Duro Canyon and Arizona's Grand Canyon. His report was that Texas was horrible, and Spain did not return for more exploration for many years.