The Narváez expedition was a Spanish expedition started in 1527 that was intended to explore Florida and establish colonial settlements. The expedition was initially led by Pánfilo de Narváez, who died in 1528. Many more people died as the expedition traveled west along the unexplored Gulf Coast of the present-day United States and into the American southwest. Only four of the expedition's original members survived, reaching Mexico City in 1536. These survivors were the first known non-Native Americans to see the Mississippi River, and to cross the Gulf of Mexico and Texas., 3 vols.
Narváez's crew initially numbered about 600, including men from Spain, Portugal, Greece,Cabeza de Vaca's La Relacion and Italy. The expedition met with disaster almost immediately. Making stops at Hispaniola and Cuba on the way to La Florida, the fleet was devastated by a hurricane, among other storms, and lost two ships. They left Cuba in February 1528. Their intended destination was the Rio de las Palmas (near present-day Tampico, Mexico), with the purpose of founding two settlements. Storms, opposing currents, and strong winds forced them north to present-day Florida. After landing near Boca Ciega Bay, about 15 miles north of the entrance to Tampa Bay, Narváez and his pilots determined that their landing place was not suitable for settlement. Narváez ordered that the expedition be split, with 300 men sent overland northward along the coast and 100 men and ten women aboard the ships were also sent northward along the coast, as Narváez intended to reunify the land and seaborne expeditions at a supposed large harbor to the north of them that would be "impossible to miss". The land expedition and the ships never met, as no large harbor existed north of their landing location. As it marched northward, the land expedition encountered numerous attacks by indigenous forces and suffered from disease and starvation. By September 1528, following an attempt by the survivors to sail on makeshift rafts from Florida to Mexico, only 80 men survived a storm and were swept onto Galveston Island off the coast of Texas. The stranded survivors were enslaved by indigenous nations, and more men continued to die from harsh conditions.
Only four of the original party—Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, Alonso del Castillo Maldonado, Andrés Dorantes de Carranza, and Dorantes' enslaved Moroccan Estevanico—made it to Mexico (the 5th known survivor was Juan Ortiz, who lived with Native Americans north of Tampa until de Soto arrived in 1538), during which they wandered through what is now the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. They eventually encountered Spanish slave-catchers in Sinaloa in 1536, and with them, the four men finally reached Mexico City. Upon returning to Spain, Cabeza de Vaca wrote of the expedition in his La relación y comentarios ("The Account and Commentaries"The Account: Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca's Relacion, title of 1993 English translation by Martin Favata and Jose Fernandez.), published in 1542 as the first written account of the indigenous peoples, wildlife, flora, and fauna of inland North America. It was published again by Cabeza de Vaca in 1555, this time to include descriptions of his subsequent experience as Governor of the Río de la Plata region in South America. A translation was later published under the title Naufragios ("Shipwrecks").
Background On December 25, 1526, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor granted Pánfilo de Narváez a license to claim what is now the Gulf Coast of Mexico for the Kingdom of Spain. The contract gave him one year to gather an army, leave Spain, found at least two towns of one hundred people each, and garrison two additional forts anywhere along the coast. Narváez had to secure his own funding for the expedition. He recruited investors by marketing the promise of riches comparable to those recently discovered by Hernán Cortés in Mexico. He also called in many debts owed to him, and used this money to pay for major expenses of the expedition.
Appointed by the Spanish Crown as treasurer and sheriff, Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca was to serve as the king's eyes and ears, and was second-in-command. He was to ensure the Crown received one fifth of any wealth acquired during the expedition. Other expedition members included Alonso de Solís as royal inspector of mines, Alonso Enríquez as comptroller, an Aztec prince called Don Pedro by the Spanish, and a contingent of Franciscan and diocesan priests led by Padre Juan Suárez (sometimes spelled Xuárez). Most of the expedition's 600 men were soldiers, chiefly from Spain and Portugal, including some of mixed African descent, and some 22 from Italy.Boscolo, Alberto. Presencia italiana en Andalucía: Siglos XIV-XVII, Sevilla: Escuela de Estudios Hispano-Americanos, 1989. Note: Italians recorded were, from Genoa: Francisco Cambarrota, merchant; Bernardo Genoves; Sebastian Genoves; Sciion de Grimaldo, merchant; Leonardo Jaso; Bartolome Iustianiano; from Naples/Sicily: Juan de Napoles, mariner; Leonardo Napolitano; Leonardo Tragonete; Juan de Orona (Sicily); :Diego Mollano, auctioneer (Sardinia); from Venice: Luis, shipwright; Andres Venecian; Bernabe Veneciano, the younger brother of Andres Venecian; from other cities/Italy: Nicolau, barber (Florence); Juan Barti, merchant (Lucca); Juan Calabres (Calabria); Esteban Camara (Italy); Antonio Camero (Italy); Jacome Cerriselo (Italy); Francisco de Espinoa, nobleman (Italy); Pedro de Espinola Estefani (Italy).
The expedition On June 17, 1527, the expedition departed Spain from the port of Sanlúcar de Barrameda at the mouth of the Guadalquivir River. The total force included about 450 troops, officers, and slaves. About 150 others were sailors, wives (married men could not travel without their wives to the Indies), and servants.
The first stop on the voyage was the Canary Islands, about a week's journey and 850 miles into the Atlantic. There the expedition resupplied such items as water, wine, firewood, meats, and fruit.
Hispaniola and Cuba The explorers arrived in Santo Domingo (Hispaniola) sometime in August 1527. During the stay, troops began deserting. Although always a problem on such expeditions, the men may also have deserted because of hearing about the recent return of an expedition led by Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón, in which 450 of 600 men perished. Nearly 100 men deserted the Narváez expedition in the first month in Santo Domingo. The expedition stopped here to purchase horses, as well as two small ships for exploring the coastline. Although Narváez was able to buy only one small ship, he set sail once again.
The expedition arrived in Santiago de Cuba in late September. As Cuba was the home of Narváez and his family, he had many contacts through whom he could collect more supplies, horses, and men. After meeting with his wealthy friend Vasco Porcallo, Narváez sent part of the fleet to Trinidad to collect horses and other supplies from his friend's estate.
Narváez put Cabeza de Vaca and a captain named Pantoja in charge of two ships sent to Trinidad, while he took the other four ships to the Gulf of Guacanayabo. On about October 30, the two ships arrived in Trinidad to collect requisitioned supplies and seek additional crew. A hurricane arrived shortly after they did. During the storm, both ships sank, 60 men were killed, a fifth of the horses drowned, and all the new supplies acquired in Trinidad were destroyed.
Recognizing the need to regroup, Narváez sent the four remaining ships to Cienfuegos under the command of Cabeza de Vaca. Narváez stayed ashore in order to recruit men and purchase more ships. After nearly four months, on February 20, 1528, he arrived in Cienfuegos with one of two new ships and a few more recruits. The other ship he sent on to Havana. At this point, the expedition had about 400 men and 80 horses. The winter layover caused a depletion of supplies, and they planned to restock in Havana on the way to the Florida coast.
Among those hired by Narváez was a master pilot named Diego Miruelo, who claimed extensive knowledge of the Gulf Coast. Historians have debated for centuries his full identity and the extent of his knowledge. In any case, two days after leaving Cienfuegos, every ship in the fleet ran aground on the Canarreos shoals just off the coast of Cuba. They were stuck for two to three weeks, while the men depleted the already meager supplies. Not until the second week of March, when a storm created large seas, were they able to escape the shoals.
After battling more storms, the expedition rounded the western tip of Cuba and made its way toward Havana. Although they were close enough to see the masts of ships in port, the wind blew the fleet into the Gulf of Mexico without their reaching Havana. Narváez decided to press on with the journey and colonization plans. They spent the next month trying to reach the Mexican coast but could not overcome the Gulf Stream's powerful current.
Arrival in Florida
On April 12, 1528, the expedition spotted land north of what is now Tampa Bay. They turned south and traveled for two days looking for what the pilot Miruelo described as a great harbor. During these two days, one of the five remaining ships was lost. Finally, after spotting a shallow bay, Narváez ordered entry. They passed into Boca Ciega Bay north of the entrance to Tampa Bay. They spotted buildings set upon earthen mounds, encouraging signs of culture, food, and water. The natives have since been identified as members of the Safety Harbor culture. The Spaniards dropped anchors and prepared to go ashore. Narváez landed with 300 men in Boca Ciega Bay at what is known as the Jungle Prada Site in present-day St. Petersburg.
The comptroller Alonso Enríquez was one of the first ashore. Making his way to the nearby native village, he traded items such as glass beads, brass bells, and cloth for fresh fish and venison. Narváez ordered the rest of the company to debark and establish a camp.
The next day, the royal officials assembled ashore and, with ritual, performed the formal declaration of Narváez as royal governor of La Florida. He read (in Spanish) the Requerimiento, which stated to any natives listening that their land belonged to Charles V by order of the pope. He also said that natives had the choice of converting to Christianity. If they converted, they would be loved and welcomed with open arms; if they chose not to, war would be made against them. The expedition ignored both pleas and threats by a party of natives the next day.
After some exploring, Narváez and some other officers discovered Old Tampa Bay. They headed back to the camp and ordered Miruelo to pilot a brigantine in search of the great harbor he had talked about. If he was unsuccessful, he should return to Cuba. Narváez never regained contact with Miruelo or any of the crew of the brig.
Meanwhile, Narváez took another party inland, where they found another village, perhaps Tocobaga. The villagers were using Spanish freight boxes as coffins. The Spanish destroyed these and found a little food and gold. The locals told them that there was plenty of both in Apalachee to the north. After returning to their base camp, the Spanish made plans to head north.
Narváez splits forces On May 1, 1528, Narváez made the decision to split the expedition into land and sea contingents. He planned to have an army of 300 march overland to the north while the ships, with the remaining 100 people, sailed up the coast to meet them. He believed the mouth to Tampa Bay to be a short distance to the north, when in fact it was to the south. Cabeza de Vaca argued against this plan, but was outvoted by the rest of the officers. Narváez wanted Cabeza de Vaca to lead the sea force, but he refused. He later wrote it was a matter of honor, as Narváez had implied he was a coward.