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.

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