Spanish Exploration

Columbus' first voyage

Aug 3, 1492

Christopher Columbus was originally looking for a water route to Asia/India but he found something else. When he landed on what we now know as the Bahamas, he thought he was in India. He thought the Natives were Indians. He started the spark of interest for the Exploration of the western world.

Pineda's voyage

Jan 1, 1519

Pineda is creditied for mapping the Texas coast. This became important so explorers would know their surroundings and not run into anything dangerous.

Cortes voyage

Feb 1, 1519

Hernan Cortes is known as the fall of Aztec Empire. Cortes arrived in Mexico on 1519 for exploration purposes. When he arrived they thought he was a god. When Cortes finally met the native's leader Moctezuma, he gave them golden and valuable gifts that sparked interest of plunder for Cortes. This caused the destruction of the Aztec empire leading in a great battle, eliminating all Aztec indians. This showed how cruel the Spanish were.

De Vaca exploration part 1

Jan 1, 1527

Narvaez, the leader of this expedtition was originally set to colonize Spanish Florida. Narvaez later died in Florida. Lost and stranded in Florida the new leader De Vaca decides to build rafts and sail to Cuba. De Vaca washed up on Galveston Island, Texas with nothing at hand.

De Vaca discovers Texas

Nov 6, 1528

Stranded, dehydrated, and starving, De Vaca is the first European man to set foot on Texas soil. De Vaca's remaining crew began to die off. The local Karankawa Indians helped the explorers and nursed them back to health. De Vaca then became the medicine man of their tribe, he was annoucned as this after him performing surgery on a wounded Indian. He ended up in Texas for 4 years.

Fray Marcos and Esteban journey

Jan 1, 1531

Fray Marcos was a Friar sent to switch the Native Americans to christianity. Esteban was known as the first African man in the New world. Originally a slave, Esteban served as the main guide for the expedtion. After Esteban was killed by the Zuni indians, Fray Marcos claimed that he saw a golden city. This sparked interest for the Spanish and their later expeditions.

Moscoso' expedition

May 25, 1539

The original leader of this expedition was De Soto. De Soto was a very brutal conquerer that died in the exploration. Moscoso later became the leader. They were originally looking for riches in what we now know as Florida. They discovered most of the south-eastern United States.

Cornado Exploration

Jan 1, 1540

Cornado sailed from Spain to Mexico to find the fabled golden cities. Cornado however did not even get close to his goal. He never found anything close to those cities, Cornado was later injured in a horse race, he was ordered back to Mexico. What he did find however was what we know as most of southern U.S.A.