Born in 1592, Etienne Brule was a French explorer. Everyone that met Brule liked him and at age 13, he had a huge interest in exploration. Just three years younger than Nicolas Marsolet, one of his closest European friends, Samuel Champlain sent Brule into the deep wilderness so he could learn more about the Native American civilizations of the Huron, as well as the land on which they lived. At this time, Brule ended up on the same vessel as Marsolet.

Upon arrival to the New World, Brule fell in love with the people and the culture, blending in exceptionally well. Once there, he lived with the Huron just like a brother, even accompanying a group of them in 1612 to Georgia Bay of Lake Huron. That same year, Brule guided Champlain to the lake so he could see its beauty. On the way back, historians tell us that the two of them were the first Europeans to ever, lay eyes on Lake Ontario.

From there, Brule was sent to the Susquehanna River and then on to Chesapeake Bay. While traveling back from this expedition, the Iroquois captured Brule and tortured him. Even so, he remained strong, escaping in 1618. Going forward, he once again lived with the Huron people, taking a number of explorations although no specific records have been found to prove his routes. However, historians believe he probably visited Lake Superior and then saw all of the Great Lakes with the exception of Lake Michigan.

Champlain became the Governor of New France but from what is understood, it would have been impossible for him to be in Quebec too often since records show he took 30 voyages back and forth from France to La Nouvelle from 1603 until his death in 1635. For the years of 1629 to 1632, Champlain chose to remain in France and use the services of a professional writer to capture his travels in the form of memoirs.

The interesting thing was that Brule piloted the English vessels known for capturing Quebec. With this, his old commander, Champlain, was so angry that he held a major grudge against Brule. However, in all, Brule’s time roaming the land lasted from 1608 to 1632, a time of him taking full advantage of an exceptional opportunity, especially for such a young man.

As Brule aged, he lived hard, drinking, loving women, hunting, and unfortunately, not being responsible for much. After his last voyage, Brule decided to retire, living the remainder of his life with the Huron but unfortunately, during a specific quarrel, he was killed in 1632 by the very people he loved. This sad news reached Champlain, whereby he returned to Quebec in 1633.

Domingo Martinez de Irala, also known as Iraola, was born in Vergara, Guipuzcoa in 1486. During this life, he was a mighty Spanish solider who finally lost his life in Paraguay in 1557. Starting out, Irala sailed on an expedition in 1534 to South America where he helped with the founding of Buenos Ayres in 1535. Before long, Irala was appointed as commander of the Ayolas expedition, which was established to explore both Paraguay and Parana. This expedition began in 1536 and in August after Asuncion was founded, they sailed the river to the south where Irala stayed in charge of the ships while Ayolas started the interior expedition.

Unfortunately, Ayolas was killed so in the summer of 1538, Irala was elected governor. To protect Asuncion, he took great precaution and even stopped an uprising of the Indians. Then in 1542, Cabeza de Vaca, the appointed adelantado, showed up and appointed Irala as deputy. With that, Irala was sent on an exploration voyage to the upper region of Paraguay. Reaching the port of Los Reyes, he finally returned to Asuncion in the early part of 1543. Unfortunately, Vaca had created hatred of the clergy and officers and in April of the following year, he was imprisoned and sent to Spain. For a second time, Irala was appointed governor.

Then in 1546, Irala started his third expedition, eager to discover an overland route to Peru. With that, he left the ships at Los Reyes and set out with 300 Spaniards, as well as 3,500 Indian allies heading to the northwest. When they reached the foot of the Andes Mountains, they came upon Spanish-speaking Indians who were a part of Pedro Anzures’ army. The Indians told Irala about Gonzalo Pizarro’s revolution and President La Gasca’s triumph.

Soon, Irala retraced his steps and after going through some very difficult times, he returned to Los Reyes only to find the ships gone. Having been gone for two years, he finally arrived at Asuncion where he founded a colony. At that time, Diego de Abreu was in command and refused to give up his governorship. However, Irala was able to defeat him at which time he took control over the colony and led it with great success. Finally, Irala received official word from Spain that he was appointed governor.

By 1550, Irala had taken his final, personal expedition. Unfortunately, because of his level of poverty suffered by the army, this expedition was known as Mala Entrada, which translates to “unfortunate invasion”. Irala was known for continuing to send out expeditions to help consolidate the Spanish rule, which included one in 1554 under the command of Nuflo de Chaves for taking control of Guayra and one in 1555, commanded by Melgarejo with the effort of founding the town of Ontiveros.

Born in 1475, Diego de Almagro was a Spanish conquistador, a true leader in the conquest for Peru. Although Diego de Almagro died in 1538, during the years he collaborated with the famous Francisco Pizarro, taking a huge role in the first and second expeditions of 1524 and then again from 1526 to 1528. Then in 1532, Almagro with Pizarro got involved in a bloody battle of the Incas.

Just two years later, Almagro assisted Banalcazar in upsetting Pedro de Alvarado during the conquest for Ecuador. Unfortunately, the two of them were not as powerful as the Pizarro brothers, which resulted in Almagro losing his share of the division of spoils. However, Almagro was given the lands located south of Cuzco.

Then in 1535, he decided to march, although difficult during this hard time. Even so, he forged ahead through the cold and frozen cordillera of the Andes, some believe heading as far as Coquimbo, which is in today’s Chile. However, Almagro arrived only to find there was no gold. Therefore, he turned back to the north, heading to the Atacama Desert wasteland.

Believing Cuzco was within his jurisdiction, he seized it in 1537, taking the city from Hernando Pizarro whom he had actually set free. The result was a Civil War erupting. However, Almagro and his forces were soon defeated. Begging for his life, Almagro was granted it although by the orders of Hernando Pizarro, he ended up being strangled anyway.

In 1542, Diego de Almagro’s half-Native American son inherited all of his rights. With that, his son led the revolt, which started out with Francisco Pizarro’s assassination. However, just a few months later, he was captured and executed by Vaca de Castro, the new governor.

Born into a poor family, Bernal Diaz Del Castillo grew up to join the military. In 1514, he made his way to America, traveling along with Pedarias Davila, the recently appointed Darien governor. From there, Castillo headed to Cuba just three years later, enlisting in the Yucatan expedition under the direction of Francisco de Cordoba.

After a year there, he moved on to Mexico, this time traveling with Grijalva but soon came back to Mexico. In honor of his exemplary military services of serving in 119 battles, Castillo was named governor of Santiago de los Caballeros, located in Guatemala, calling it home. However, by 1552, Cortes’ chaplain and secretary, Gomara, wrote and published his Cronica de la Conquista de Nueva Espana.

After reading the journal, Castillo felt Cortes was not given enough credit. With this, Castillo was prompted to write his version entitled, ‘Verdadera Historia de la Conquista de Nueva Espana”, which was a more accurate narrative of the events that had taken place to counteract all of Gomara’s inconsistencies. Unfortunately, his work was not published until 1632 when Father Alonso Remon from Order of Our Lady of Mercy located it in a private library and took it to Madrid where it was finally published. Although the writing is profound, it is crudely written and without style.

Then in 1689, a man by the name of Francisco de Fuentes claimed to be one of Castillo’s descendants. With this, Fuentes provided facts regarding Castillo’s work that know one was aware of until that time. From this, we have learned that Castillo was actually a distinguished man, someone of nobility with his father being the governor of Medina del Campo.

Born in 1492, Castillo died in 1581 but not until he had written about his days as a Spanish conquistador. As an adventurer and explorer of Mexico and Peru, Bernal Diaz del Castillo saw and experienced many important things. While you can tell he had little education from his writings, his eyewitness accounts are truly remarkable, providing readers with firsthand information about some very important historical events.

Although there were many fascinating conquistadors, Castillo was able to capture one account written in the journal about one of the most successful military campaigns in history, which ended the Aztec empire of Mesoamerica. Although he never lived to see his writings published, they have indeed opened the eyes of many who have had the honor of reading them.

As a Portuguese navigator, Bartholomew Dias (Diaz) was born sometime around the mid-15th century. However, in the early summer of 1500, he was lost at sea while traveling to India from Brazil. However, going back to 1478, Dias was believed to be an identical discoverer who was exempted from certain customary payments on ivory that had been brought back from the Guinea coast. By 1481, Dias was the commander of a vessel sent out by King Joao II, under Diogo d’Azambuja heading to the Gold Coast.

By 1486, Dias was considered an important member of the king’s household and in fact, was the superintendent of the royal warehouses. Then in October of that same year, he was given an annuity of 6,000 Reis from the king for future services. Sometime in the summer of the following year, Dias left Lisbon, taking three vessels to continue African exploration, which had been advanced by Diogo Cao.

For 13 days, Dias moved his ships to the south, eager to explore Africa’s western coast. However, they battled strong winds and dangerous storms along the way and without being aware; he and his crew were carried to the continent’s southern point, landing at the Great Fish River mouth. There, he soon realized he was on the eastern coast, not the western coast. When done, they ended up at the south coast of Cape Colony at Mossel Bay.

From that point, the expedition crossed to the east, passing Algoa Bay where pillars were erected along with wooden crosses. With the going being tough, most of the officers and other crewmembers started to insist that Dias return home. As hard as he tried to persuade them otherwise, Dias could only get them to go to the Great Fish River. However, about mid point between Port Elizabeth and East London, the coast became unmistakable, as they realized the way around Africa had been opened.

When Dias did return, he probably named Cape Agulhas after St. Brandan. Then, as he spotted the highlands, he was impressed. With that, he bestowed the name of Cape of Storms or “Cabo Tormentoso”. The cape was quite stormy, thus the name, which the King of Portugal eventually changed to Cabo de Boa Esperance or Cape of Good Hope, as we know it today. In addition, Dias erected yet another pillar known as Diaz Point, which is located just to the south of Luderitz Bay or Angra Pequena and believed to be the last one. In fact, today fragments of that pillar still exist.

After reaching Prince’s Island, just to the southwest of the Cameroons, along with the Gold Coast, Dias appeared in Lisbon in December of 1488. The result of his travels was some 1,260 miles of discovered coast. In fact, he had traveled from Pero de Covilhao, being credited for solving the earlier mystery of an ocean route around Africa to the West Indies and then traveled and explored many other fascinating lands of East and South Asia.

Born in Augsburg sometime around 1475, Bartholomeus Welser lived until 1559. During his early days, he was in charge of a banking firm called Welser Brothers, claiming descent from the Byzantine general named Beliasarius. Welser was a rich name. With the finances to support him, he created an amazing empire. Eventually, Welser was made privy councilor to the emperor, loaning him great sums of money for repayment granted in 1527 when the province of Venezuela was discovered.

Welser went on to conquer the country using his own money. To accomplish this, he had enlisted just Flemish and Spanish troops. Together, they headed out with four vessels over the course of two expeditions to build two cities and three forts, all within a two-year period. Soon, word went out that there was gold. With this, Welser received permission to send out 150 German miners.

According to the contract Welser had, he took a fleet, sailing from San Lucar de Barrameda in 1528 while under Ambrosio Alfinger’s command. Soon, Alfinger was appointed as captain general. However, when he died in 1531, the new captain general would become Georg Von Speier. Soon, a new expedition was organized, setting sail in 1534. In 1540, Speier also dies. At this time, Spain’s crown was claimed to appoint the governor. Then in 1546, Charles V. revoked Welser’s charter.

Working hard, Welser tried to re-establish his trade between Germany, South America, and the Low Countries. Doing such as great job, he was commended by a number of famous writers. In fact, Welser is eulogized by Henry Ternaux-Compans in his wonderful collection of writings. However, as far as interest of bankers, these writings hurt Welser who lost in colonization schemes, actually being estimated around three million florins.

Today, the Welser’s banking house still stands along with the Welser family mansion. In fact, the mansion remains a common place of intrigue and interest for locals and visitors to the city of Augsburg.

When it comes to journeys, one of the most incredible feats of the Americas exploration was done by Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca. Although much of Cabeza de Vaca’s early life is virtually unknown, we do know that he was born into Spanish nobility in 1490. However, historians can prove that he made a great career for him in the military but in 1527; he chose to leave Spain on a royal expedition with the intention of occupying North America’s mainland.

Soon leaving the shoreline of Cuba, the Cabeza de Vaca’s fleet was caught in a horrific hurricane, causing significant damage. To continue on to Florida, they secured a new boat, landing near today’s Tampa Bay in 1528. The expedition’s leader, Panfilo de Narvaez claimed legal possession of the Spanish empire. Although Narvaez was confident about his claim, the expedition would soon be hit by disaster. Narvaez had made the decision to split the land and sea, which proved to be a huge mistake since the ships were never able to coordinate with the land expedition.

Making matters worse, the party had overstayed their welcome in northern Florida with the Apalachee Indians, going as far as capturing the Indian’s leader. During the Indians in full pursuit, they were met with several diseases. The Indians not affected were left in a coastal swamp area, being forced to live off the meat of the horses. Then in 1528, the Apalachee Indians constructed a few rafts made from the horsehides and trees and with that, set sail with anticipation of returning to Cuba.

The entire expedition had been reduced to around 80 survivors when another hurricane dumped Cabeza de Vaca and his companions near the current Galveston, Texas in the Gulf Coast. Although initially welcomed, with about 50% of the natives dying from bowel disease, Cabeza de Vaca and his men were blamed for the deaths. Over the next four years, the number of people with him continued to decline. Living in an unknown world of natives, he was able to transform himself from a masterful conquistador into a healer and trader.

By the year 1532, just three members of the original expedition were alive - Andres Dorantes de Carranca, Alonso del Castillo Maldonando, and Estevan, an African slave. The three along with Cabeza de Vaca decided to move west and then south with the hope of reaching the Spanish Empire’s outpost located in Mexico. With this, they would become the first men from the Old World to enter the American West. Although their exact route is not quite clear, experts estimate they would have traveled from today’s Texas possibly into Arizona or New Mexico, and then through the northern provinces of Mexico.

During the summer of 1536 near current day Sinaloa, known then as Culican, the group of men met a group of fellow Spaniards on a slave-taking expedition. In his journal, Cabeza de Vaca wrote that the people seemed dumbfounded by his appearance since he was oddly dressed and traveling with Indians. As you can imagine, Cabeza de Vaca was friends with Indians so seeing the way in which the other Spaniards were treating them appalled him.

Returning to Spain in 1573, Cabeza de Vaca published his account of this and other experiences, trying to encourage the crown to develop a more generous policy. From there, he served as the governor of a Mexican territory but soon after was accused of corruption with many believing it had something to do with him speaking out about the poor conduct toward Indians. When he returned to Spain, he was tried and convicted but receiving a pardon in 1552, Cabeza de Vaca was actually permitted to become a judge in Seville, Spain where he remained until he died in 1557.

Born in 1455, Alonso de Ojeda grew up to become a famous Spanish conquistador. Although Ojeda succeeded at a number of voyages, he is best known for sailing with Christopher Columbus on his second voyage. Then in 1499, Ojeda sailed with Vespucci while exploring South America’s northeast coast.

Nine years later in 1508, Alonso de Ojeda was appointed as governor over the north South American territories. Then, Ojeda was defeated by the Native Americans near today’s Cartagena. During this trying time, Diego de Nicuesa came to his rescuing, getting him out of a very bad situation.

Unfortunately, even after being rescued, Ojeda once again ran into trouble with the Native American. With this, Ojeda left his men behind under the control of Francisco Pizarro while he decided to get help in Hispaniola. He soon reached Cuba but sadly, his actions and adventures prior to reaching Cuba are very, unclear. What we do know is that Ojeda’s men abandoned the colony. However, they picked Ojeda up fairly close to Cartagena where he ended his life of exploration.