Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca (ca. 1492 – ca. 1560) was a Spanish explorer.
He took part in the 1527 Panfilo de Narvaez expedition to explore Florida.
Became famous writing in 1542 The Report, or The Shipwrecked Men. Six hundred men and five ships was reduced to four people.

Cabeza de Vaca’s story of the journey is brief but tells to the readers many important facts related to the first knowledge of the New World. Cabeza de Vaca’s point of view is not the usual of the conqueror, but like one of a modern anthropologist: accepting the people with their way of life, without judging or trying to change something.

Although there are several theories about the exact route of Cabeza de Vaca’s journey, it is known that they travelled across Dominican Republic, Cuba, Florida, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Mexico City where they have been rescued.

‘Since the lodges afforded so little shelter, people began to die, and five Christian quartered on the coast were driven to such extremes that they ate each other, until but one remained, who, being left alone, had no one to eat him.’ (page 50)

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While the chronology and geography are too vague to be a thrilling adventure, and the writing is too plain and characterless for the book be a hidden gem, there is something discreetly fascinating about this true and contemporary account of the New World in the time of the Conquistadors. Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca was a member of a crew shipwrecked off the coast of Florida less than ten years after Cortés took Mexico. What follows is an epic journey through the unexplored territory stretching across the Gulf of Mexico from Florida into what is now Texas and California. As the years pass and the number of survivors dwindles to just four, Cabeza de Vaca negotiates the harshness of the wilderness, the prospect of starvation and cannibalism and the presence of various Indian tribes.

Abridged into a Penguin volume published as The Shipwrecked Men, Cabeza de Vaca's account actually deals little with cannibalism and what we would now recognise as a survival story. Its great fascination comes from experiencing, through contemporary eyes, America as it was when Europeans were first starting to gain a foothold on the continent. The geography is loose, but it's fascinating to know, for example, that Cabeza de Vaca and his companions took refuge on the island that is now Galveston, Texas, which they named the Isle of Misfortune.

Though Cabeza de Vaca encounters some brutal Indian tribes, including one who have the custom of leaving their newborn girls to be eaten by dogs, and purchase wives from their enemies instead (pg. 68), our chronicler develops a broadly sympathetic view of the tribes he encounters across the American Southwest. His account was written for a Spanish audience back home, and is keen to stress that the Indians should be well-treated in the event of further Spanish colonization (pg. 125). His instincts for non-interference, or at least for compassionate interference, provide a conscience to the book that is usually absent from colonial accounts. While not possessing of a palatably modern morality (at one point, he encounters two Indian men married to one another, which he describes as "very repulsive" (pg. 98)), Cabeza de Vaca appears to act like a genuine Christian. It's an interesting contrast to the rapacious, Inquisitorial actions that have formed our general view of the conquistadors.

These odd wanderings across untouched America, with Cabeza de Vaca becoming at times a sort of shaman, arbiter and advocate for the native tribes, are strangely heartening. While, as I said, the writing and the geography of the account are not arresting enough for the book to be considered a hidden gem, the nature of the adventure is such that it remains deeply fascinating. When you add the surprising dimensions of Cabeza de Vaca's interactions with Indians to the fascination of exploring the virgin continent, you get a book you can recommend even if it is rather plain in the telling. Though not a hidden gem, it can be considered an uncut gem. ( )

In 1527, Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca served as treasurer on an ill-fated expedition to the Florida Penninsula. Early on, the expedition was shipwrecked near what is now Tampa Bay. Cabeza de Vaca tried to convince the expedition's leadership that they should remain on the shore until rescue arrived, but the thirst for gold and the mistaken belief that there were Spanish settlements nearby resulted in a disasterous attempt to explore inland. The 600 survivors soon became lost and desperate enough to kill their horses for food. Just over 200 managed to live long enough to make it back to the Gulf coast.

There, they constructed five small boats and set sail for Mexico, hugging the Florida coastline only to be separated by the Mississippi River's currents and the Gulf's stormy weather. Cabeza de Vaca never saw any of the men on the other four boats again. He managed to get his own boat to what is now Galveston, Texas, which his men christened The Isle of Misfortune. Over the following eight years, a dwidling number of survivors would wander from Native American tribe to Native American tribe throughout the American Southwest, possibly as far as what became New Mexico and Arizona.

Four of the original 600 men survived.

Upon his return to Spain, Cabeza de Vaca published an account of his journey which featured some of the first descriptions of Native American tribal life Europeans had ever read. It was a sensation.

But it's not a pretty picture.

For example, for a time, Cabeza de Vaca was enslaved by a tribe that promoted its own security by killing all female children born into the tribe. They argued that girls would grow up to marry men from other tribes and bare them sons who would become their father's enemies. Since they had no daughters, this tribe purchased or seized women from other tribes as a means of getting wives who could bare them sons of their own.

The little research I've done beyond reading this book suggests that an account like this one is probably true. Cabeza de Vaca began his journey just seven years after the Aztec capitol of Tenochitlan fell to Cortez. The Aztecs required enourmous numbers of captives for sacrifice producing a large network of organized raiding parties and slave markets reaching as far north as the Mississsippi River.

In another example, Cabeza de Vaca spent several years serving as a trader between two tribes who feared eachother so much that neither would ever travel into the other's territory. Cabeza de Vaca, however, as an outsider, could move freely between them both. Situations like these and many of the others described by Cabeza de Vaca are possible the result of Aztec influence.

While other tribes treat Cabeza de Vaca fairly well, enough to make him an early advocate for tribal rights, there are no Noble Savages in The Shipwrecked Men. However, it should be pointed out that the violence Cabeza de Vaca describes in his encounters with Native America tribes is not much different from what was going on in Europe at the time. It should also be pointed out that Cabeza de Vaca did not begin writing this account until after he had returned to Europe. He is writing based solely on memory, often memory many years old. If you're a scholar of this subject, I love to hear how reliable you find Cabeza de Vaca to be.

But in the end, while The Shipwrecked Men is difficult reading at times, it is also a fascinating account of the early exploration of North America, one that is well worth reading today. ( )

Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca (ca. 1492 – ca. 1560) was a Spanish explorer.
He took part in the 1527 Panfilo de Narvaez expedition to explore Florida.
Became famous writing in 1542 The Report, or The Shipwrecked Men. Six hundred men and five ships was reduced to four people.

Cabeza de Vaca’s story of the journey is brief but tells to the readers many important facts related to the first knowledge of the New World. Cabeza de Vaca’s point of view is not the usual of the conqueror, but like one of a modern anthropologist: accepting the people with their way of life, without judging or trying to change something.

Although there are several theories about the exact route of Cabeza de Vaca’s journey, it is known that they travelled across Dominican Republic, Cuba, Florida, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Mexico City where they have been rescued.

‘Since the lodges afforded so little shelter, people began to die, and five Christian quartered on the coast were driven to such extremes that they ate each other, until but one remained, who, being left alone, had no one to eat him.’ (page 50) ( )

Quite enjoyed this relatively true story. More for the idea of what these people would have gone through than any real attraction to either the characters or the writing. I found it enjoyable to picture how difficult and insurmountable the journey must have seen. A good adventure book for boys. ( )