align="left">Of the Province of Culiacan and of its Habits and Customs

344 Chapter 2. Of the Province of Petlatlan and all the Inhabited Country as far as Chichilticalli 346 Chapter 3. Of Chichilticalli and the Desert, of Cibola, its Customs and Habits, and of other things 349 Chapter 4. Of how they live at Tiguex, and of the Province of Tiguex and its Neighborhood 352 Chapter 5. Of Cicuye and the Villages in its Neighborhood, and of how some People came to conquer this Country 355 Chapter 6. Which gives the Number of Villages which were seen in the Country of the Terraced Houses, and their Population 358 Chapter 7. Which treats of the Plains that were crossed, of the Cows, and of the People who inhabit them 361 Chapter 8. Of Quivira, of where it is and some Information about it 364   THIRD PART  

Which describes what happened to Francisco Vazquez Coronado during the Winter, and how he gave up the Expedition and returned to New Spain

Chapter 1. Of how Don Pedro de Tovar came from Señora with some Men, and Don Garcia Lopez de Cardenas started back to New Spain 366 Chapter 2. Of the General's Fall, and of how the Return to New Spain was ordered 368 Chapter 3. Of the Rebellion at Suya and the Reasons the Settlers gave for it 370 Chapter 4. Of how Friar Juan de Padilla and Friar Luis remained in the Country and the Army prepared to return to Mexico 372 Chapter 5. Of how the Army left the Settlements and marched to Culiacan, and of what happened on the Way 375 Chapter 6. Of how the General started from Culiacan to give the Viceroy an Account of the Army with which he had been intrusted 377 Chapter 7. Of the Adventures of Captain Juan Gallego while he was bringing Reënforcements through the Revolted Country 379 Chapter 8. Which describes some remarkable things that were seen on the Plains, with a Description of the Bulls 381 Chapter 9. Which treats of the Direction which the Army took, and of how another more direct Way might be found, if anyone was to return to that Country 384

---

SPANISH EXPLORERS IN THE SOUTHERN UNITED STATES

---

THE NARRATIVE OF ALVAR NUÑEZ CABEZA DE VACA

---

INTRODUCTION

In some respects the journey of Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca and his three companions overland from coast to coast during the eight years from 1528 to 1536 is the most remarkable in the record of American exploration, and as a narrative of suffering and privation the relation here presented perhaps has no equal in the annals of the northern continent.

The author of the narrative was a native of Jeréz de la Frontera, in the province of Cadiz, in southern Spain, but the date of his birth is not known. His father was Francisco de Vera, son of Pedro de Vera, conqueror of the Grand Canary in 1483; his mother, Teresa Cabeza de Vaca, who also was born in Jeréz. Why Alvar Nuñez assumed the matronymic is not known, unless it was with a sense of pride that he desired to perpetuate the name that had been bestowed by the King of Navarre on his maternal ancestor, a shepherd named Martin Alhaja, for guiding the army through a pass that he marked with the skull of a cow (cabeza de vaca, literally "cow's head"), thus leading the Spanish army to success in the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa, in July, 1212, which led up to the final conquest of the Moors in Spain.

Having returned to Spain after many years of service in the New World for the Crown, Pámfilo de Narvaez petitioned for a grant; and in consequence the right to conquer and colonize the country between the Rio de las Palmas, in eastern Mexico, and Florida was accorded him. The expedition, consisting of six hundred colonists and soldiers, set sail in five vessels from San Lucar de Barrameda, June 17, 1527, and after various vicissitudes, including the wreck of two ships and the