Spanish Exploration

Colombus' First Voyage

Sep 6, 1492

Colombus went across the ocean, looking for a new route to India/Asia. His theory was if you sailed around the world, you would end up in Asia. The only problem was, they had no idea that North and South America were there. He landed in the Bahamas, thinking it was India. He ended up discovering the "New World" and brought back gold. He also started exploration in the "New World."

Cortes' Voyage

Feb 1, 1519

Cortes landed in Mexico on his journey. On his journey, he discovered the Aztec Empire, which he later conquered. He is famous for bringing back 6 million dollars worth of gold, and 99 tons of it by 1570. He sparked the interest of many people to explore North and South America becasue of all the gold.

Pineda's Voyage

Jun 2, 1519

Pineda was attempting to find a water route to the Pacific, but he ended up being the first person to ever map the Gulf from Florida to Texas. He is also told to have discovered the Rio Grande. His map led to people wanting to explore the land on the Gulf.

De Vaca's Voyage Start Day

Apr 15, 1528

De Vaca started his journey in Florida with 300 men, and Narvez as the leader, however they got left in Florida and were forced to build 5 Rafts to continue the journey.

De Vaca Discovers Texas

Nov 1, 1528

Out of the 5 rafts he took, only 2 survived as they shipwrecked on Galveston Island. He lived with the Karankawas for 4 years, but most of his sailor mates would die that winter, including Narvez. De Vaca got seperated form others. He eventually met up with the 3 other survivors out of 300. He became a medicine man by preforming the first ever surgery in Texas. They eventually escaped and walked through West and Central Texas. He told of seeing the 7 cities of gold.

Fray Marcos and Esteban's Journey

Mar 1, 1531

Fray Marcos was a priest guided by the first ever Black Man in Texas, Esteban.Esteban said he would go ahead and send White Crosses as signs to Fray Marcos. He was later killed by the Zunis for demanding Food and Women. Fray Marcos was told of seeing the 7 cities of gold, so Coronado was ent to find them.

Moscoso's Expedition

Apr 7, 1538

De Soto was the leader of Moscoso's Expedition. De Soto wore gold, so the Indians saw him as a god. When he died, they buried him, but realized the Indians would be mad if they found out, so they threw him in the Mississippi River. Moscoso ended up taking over. They tried to search for gold, but found nothing but the Mississippi River. He ended up giving the same report as Coronado, and exploration was still cut-off.

Coronado's Expediton

Apr 23, 1540

Coronado set sail to find the 7 cities of gold, or Cibola, because both De Vaca and Fray Marcos had said they saw the city. He explored 5 states looking for the Cities but all he found was an old Indian Village. He met up with an Indian named Turk, who told him a legend of a Golden City by the name of Quivera run by beautiful women. When they reached Quivera, they learned that it too was just an Indian Village. Coronado gave such a bad report that major exploration in Spain was cut-off for 150.