VOLUME TWO Alvar Nuifiez Cabeza de Vaca His Account, His Life, and the Expedition of Panfilo de Narvaez Rolena Adorno & Patrick Charles Pautz UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA PRESS : LINCOLN & LONDON The publication of this University of Nebraska volume was assisted by Press. All rights reserved. grants from the Program Manufactured in the for Cultural Cooperation United States of America. between Spain’s Ministry @ The paper in this book of Education and Culture meets the minimum re- and United States’ Uni- quirements of American versities, and from the National Standard for Spanish Ministerio de information Sciences — Educacién y Cultura, Dir- Permanence of Paper for eccion General del Libro, Printed Library Materials, Archivos y Bibliotecas. ANSI Z39.48-1984. Copyright © 1999 by the Typeset in Adobe Minion. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Adorno, Rolena. Alvar Nuifiez Cabeza de Vaca : his account, his life, and the expedition of Panfilo de Narvaez / Rolena Adorno and Patrick Charles Pautz. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8032-1454-5 (3-vol. set : cloth : alkaline paper). 1. Nuifiez Cabeza de Vaca, Alvar, 16th century. 2. Nufiez Cabeza de Vaca, Alvar, 16th century. Relacién y comen- tarios. 3. Nufiez Cabeza de Vaca, Alvar, 16th century. — Literary art. 4. America — Early accounts to 1600 — History and criticism. 5. Explorers — America — Bio- graphy. 6. Explorers — Spain — Biography. 7. America — Discovery and exploration — Spanish. 8. Narvaez, Pan- filo de, d. 1528. 1. Nufiez Cabeza de Vaca, Alvar, 16th century. Relacién y comentarios. English and Spanish 11. Pautz, Patrick Charles. 1. Title. E125.N9A25 1999 970.01'6'092 [b] — 98-24032 cIP volume 2 CONTENTS List of Figures, Maps, and Tables Xili Introduction XV List of Abbreviations XXXVil The Narvaez Expedition in Spain 1 Preparations for Departure (1525 to 17 June 1527) 3 1. Narvaez’s Release from Prison in Mexico and His Return to Cuba and Spain 3 2. Narvaez’s Old Business: Petitions against Cortés and Ayllén 5 3. Narvaez’s New Business: Petitions to Settle at the Rio de las Palmas 10 4. 1526 Legislation on the Treatment of the Indians 12 5. Permission to Settle on the Rio de las Palmas and in Florida 15 6. Royally Appointed Officials of the Narvaez Expedition 21 7. The Commissary and Other Clergy of the Narvdez Expedition 23 8. Assembly in Seville 26 9. The Geographical Terminology of the Relacién and the Narvaez Expeditionaries’ Geographical Knowledge of Florida 27 10. Conflicting Accounts of Florida’s Wealth 39 11. Seville to Sanliicar de Barrameda 41 Commentary on the Narvaez Expedition Accounts 43 PART 1: The Atlantic Crossing and Caribbean Sojourn: Sanltcar de Barrameda, Spain, to Havana, Cuba (17 June 1527 to February/ March 1528) (f3r-f5v) 45 1. Atlantic Crossing and Sojourn on Espafiola (17 June 1527 to September 1527) 46 2. Cuba and Vasco Porcallo: Cabeza de Vaca’s View of the Caribbean 48 3. Juan Pantoja, a Favorite of Narvaez 51 4. The Hurricane of October/Early November 1527 52 5. Overwintering in Cuba (November 1527 to February 1528) 54 6. Makeup of Narvaez’s 1528 Expedition to Florida 55 7. The Pilot Miruelo 62 8. Travel from Jagua to Havana (February/March 1528) 69 3 PART 2: The Journey to Florida and Establishment on the Florida Coast: Havana, Cuba, to Tampa Bay, Florida (February/March 1528 to 1 May 1528) (f5v—f8v) 1. Travel from Havana to the Florida Coast (February/March 1528 to 12 April 1528) 72 2. Description of Travel along the Florida Coast 74 3. A Geographical Miscalculation: Overview of the Narvaez Expedition’s Landing in Florida 74 4. Tampa Bay: The Point of Debarkation and the Bay Discovered by Miruelo . Founding a Spanish Settlement on the Florida Coast w. Misinterpreted Discoveries: Exploration of the Florida Interior D. Interactions with the Indians of Tampa Bay ™ oO. Maize on the Florida Peninsula and Beyond . Crates from Castile, Cloth and Plumes from New Spain oO 10. Gold in Apalache: Visions of a Floridian Tenochtitlan u1. The Decision to Go Inland to Apalache (1 May 1528) 12. Rivalry between the Governor and the Treasurer 4 pART 3: The Division and Separation of the Narvaez Expedition in Florida ‘#1. Fate of the Sea Contingent and the Search for Narvdez’s Overland Expedition (1 May 1528 to July 1536) (f65v—f67r) 98 1. The Sea Contingent’s Search for the Rio de las Palmas (May 1528) 98 2. Search for the Overland Expedition (1528 to 1536) 100 3. De Soto’s Discovery of Juan Ortiz (1539) 104 ® 11. The Search for Apalache: The Overland Contingent’s Travel through the Florida Peninsula, Tampa Bay to Apalachee Bay (1 May 1528 to 22 September 1528) (f8v—fi6r) 106 4. Overview of the Journey through the Florida Peninsula 106 5. From the Bay of the Cross to the First River lil 6. Sustenance for the Overland Expedition: Spanish Dependence on Indigenous Sources of Food 113 . From the Native Settlement beyond the First River to the One of Apalache 115 . Beads and Bells: Archaeology and Narvaez’s Route from the Bay of the Cross to Apalache 116 . The Locations of Apalache, Aute, and the Bay of Horses and the Pertinence of the De Soto Expedition Accounts 119 10. The Settlements of Apalache Province and Cabeza de Vaca’s Reference to “the Gelves” 127 11. Don Pedro de Texcoco 131 12. Journey from Apalache to the Bay of Horses 131 13. Intraexpeditionary Conflict 132 14. Raft Construction: The Last Fifty Days of the Overland Expedition 134 The Natural World of Cabeza de Vaca’s Florida Peninsula 135 15. 16. The Indians of the Northwestern Florida Peninsula in 1528 137 5 PART 4: The Raft Voyage: Apalachee Bay to the Coast of Modern- Day Texas (22 September 1528 to 6 November 1528) (f16r—-f20v) 143 1. The Five Groups of the Raft Voyage 143 2. First Week of Travel 144 . A Thirty-Day Lacuna in the Description of the Raft Voyage 145 W . An Unidentifiable Coastal Island and an Episode of Death 146 neB . An Indian Confrontation 147 N . Another Indian Encounter and the Loss of Two Expeditionaries; Further De Soto Account Interference 148 . Travel to the Mississippi River: The Problem of Espiritu Santo 151 NI Coo . Travel beyond the Mississippi: Final Confrontation between Narvaez and Cabeza de Vaca 154 9. The Last Days of the Sea Journey: A Break in Oviedo’s Account 156 10. An Unreconcilable Chronology 157 11. Narrating the Deterioration of the Expedition 158 12. Indians of the Northern Coast of the Gulf of Mexico in 1528 160 6 PART 5: Six and a Half Years on the Texas Coast of the Gulf of Mexico: Galveston Bay to the Rio Conchos/San Fernando (Tamaulipas) (November 1528 to Mid-/Late Summer 1535) (f20v—-f48r) 163 . Narrative Structure of Cabeza de Vaca’s Account 164 . The Continued Search for Panuco 168 . Organization of This Textual Commentary 181 . Shoreline Travel among the Peoples of the Coastal Islands and Mainland (Late 1528 to Late Summer 1534) (f20v—f35r) . The Expedition’s Arrival on the Texas Coast 5. Messengers from Malhado: Figueroa’s Attempt to Reach Panuco (Late 1528 to April 1529) 190 6. Winter at Malhado (November 1528 to March 1529) 194 7. The Dorantes/Castillo Party’s Journey down the Coast (Spring 1529) 199 . Four Years of Captivity on the Islands and the Mainland (Mid-1529 to Spring 1533) 210 . Cabeza de Vaca and Lope de Oviedo’s Journey from Malhado to the River of Nuts (Spring 1533) 215 The River of Nuts 217 10. Cabeza de Vaca’s Reunion with Dorantes, Castillo, and 11. Estevanico (Spring 1533) 218 The Prickly Pear Cacti 219 12. 13. Cabeza de Vaca, Dorantes, Castillo, and Estevanico among the Mariames and the Yguases (Spring 1533 to Late Summer 1534) 224 14. The Narvaez Expedition Survivors and the North American Bison 226 15. Indians of the Texas Coastal Islands and Shore from Galveston Bay to Padre Island 23/7 ‘® II. Travel Parallel to the Coast through the Coastal Interior toward Panuco (f35r—f48r) . The Escape from the Mariames through Eight Months with the Avavares (Late Summer 1534 to Midsummer 1535) 16. Escape from the Mariames and Yguases (September 1534) 17. Move to the Avavares (October 1534) 18. Eight Months with the Avavares (Autumn 1534 to Midsummer 1535) . Continuous Travel toward Panuco through the Coastal Interior to the Sighting of Mountains (Mid-/Late Summer 1535) 19. Move from the Avavares to the Maliacones and the Arbadaos Two Lengthy Interpolations to the Relacién 20. 253 Departure from the Arbadaos to the First Village Where 21. the Narvaez Survivors Were Revered 254 Mesquite and the Last Village North of the Rio Grande 22. 257 23. A River as Wide as the One of Seville: Crossing the Rio Grande 260 24, The Settlements beyond the Rio Grande to the Sighting of Mountains near the Coast 262 25. Indians of the Prickly Pear and Mesquite Lands 264 26. Cabeza de Vaca’s Account of Sodomy and Same-Sex Unions among Indians of the Texas Coast 266 27. Miracle Cures and Mala Cosa: The Expeditionaries’ Place among the Indians of the Coast from Malhado to Northern Tamaulipas 272 PART 6: The Turn Inland to the Maize/Bison Fork: The Rio Conchos/San Fernando (Tamaulipas) to La Junta de los Rios (Texas-Chihuahua Border) (Midsummer to Early Autumn 1535) (f48r—f54v) 287 1. The Appearance of Mountains in Tamaulipas (Midsummer 1535) 290 2. Upstream on the Rio Conchos System and the Turn Inland 293 3. A Fictitious Episode 295 4. “Children of the Sun” 297 . New Zones of Circulation and Exchange 300 w W. Heading Northwest through Nuevo Leon into Coahuila 303 . Copper and Cotton: News of the North at the Sierra de la Gloria 305 N O. Looking Northward to the South Sea 308 C o . From the Sierra de la Gloria to the Rio Grande 310 \ “Most Obedient People”: North of the Rio Grande 10. 315 . Heading North and West to La Junta de los Rios (Early Autumn 1535) — 317 Interpreting Interactions with Native Groups 321 12. PART 7: The Maize/Bison Fork to the “Land of Christians”: La Junta de los Rios to the Rio Petatlan (Early Autumn 1535 to Spring 1536) (f54v—-f58v) 323 From the “People of the Cows” to the “Houses of Maize” 1. (Early to Late Autumn 1535) 326 2. Sonora River Culture 330 3. Trade and Commerce 331 4. The Promise of Spiritual Wealth 334 d . From the Houses of Maize to Corazones: Terrain and Orientation 335 6. The Location of Corazones 339 7 . The Distance from Corazones to the Areas of Spanish Exploration (Rio Yaqui) and Encampment (Rio Petatlan) 344 . The Discovery of European Artifacts 346 . From the Rio Yaqui to the Rio Petatlan (Christmastime 1535 to Spring 1536) 346 10. Diego de Guzman’s Expedition of 1533 347 il. The Highland Retreat 348 12. “Down from the Sky” 351 9 PART 8: The Journey from the Rio Petatlan to México-Tenochtitlan (Spring 1536 to 23 July 1536) (f58v—f63v) 359 1. Reunion at the Rio Petatlan (Spring 1536) 361 . Diego de Alcaraz No 363 . The Narvaez Survivors’ Meeting with Alcaraz 365 W . Turkish Bows 366 f . From the Rio Petatlan to San Miguel de Culiacan (Thirty to Fifty YS Leagues) . Earliest Spanish Contact in the Province of Culiacan 7. San Miguel de Culiacan (Founded 1531) 8. Cabeza de Vaca and His Companions’ Meeting with Melchior Diaz (late April 1536) 375 . Melchior Diaz, Alcalde mayor of San Miguel de Culiacan 3/7 Resettlement at Culiacan: Native Strategies and Spanish Law 10. 377 ll. Cabeza de Vaca’s Conclusions about the Land of His Captivity 383 12. San Miguel de Culiacan to Compostela (Eighty to One Hundred Leagues, 15 May to June 1536) 385 13. Compostela (Founded as Espiritu Santo in 1531) and Nufio de Guzman 385 14. Compostela to México-Tenochtitlan (120 Leagues, June to 23 July 1536) 10 PART 9: México-Tenochtitlan to Lisbon, Portugal (23 July 1536 to 9 August 1537) and in Castile (Autumn 1537) (f63v—f65v)