|
PANFILO DE NARVAEZ
Panfilo
de Narvaez was born in 1470 and then died in 1528.
As a man, Narvaez became a Spanish conquistador.
At first, he served time in Jamaica.
However, once his service was over, he assisted Diego
de Velazquez in taking over Cuba.
Then in 1520, Narvaez was sent by Velazquez to Mexico
with the goal of forcing Cortes to give up.
However,
Narvaez’s force was quickly defeated, which resulted in
him being captured and put in prison.
After spending some time in prison, he was finally
let go in 1521. Upon
his release, Narvaez returned to Spain at which time Charles
V commissioned him to both conquer and settle the state of
Florida. Reaching
Florida in the spring of 1528, Narvaez decided to send his
fleet on to Mexico.
Then,
Narvaez took 300 men with him and headed inland to Apalachee,
which is located to today’s Tallahassee.
With this, they were focused on finding gold.
Unfortunately, not only were they extremely
disappointed in not finding gold but they were also bullied
by the Native Americans.
Therefore, they all turned back, heading to the
coast.
Once
Narvaez and his men reached the coast, they built a number
of crude vessels out of whatever supplies and materials they
could get their hands on.
Boarding their “ships”, they set sail for Mexico.
However, Cabeza de Vaca and three of his companions
became lost. What
is unclear is whether they became lost off the coast of
Texas or if they became lost after running into a band of
hostile Native Americans.
|
