Explorers

Age of Contact(Era of European Exploration

1500-1600)• Spanish• French

• Cabeza De Vaca• LaSalle

• Fort St. Louis• Pineda mapping Texas• Spanish conquistador

Imagine you are an explorer – You are going to a dangerous

land you have never seen before. You don’t know what to expect

but you take the challenge.

• What will be the purpose of the voyage?• What are you expecting to find on the

voyage?• What kind of preparations do you think you

have to do to go on a voyage?• What kind of dangers would people face when

exploring new places?

• Do you think that the people who came to explore Texas had to do the same

preparation?• Same dangers?

• Did they have a purpose in coming?

The Impact of the Spanish Defeat of the Moors on Overseas Exploration

• The Moors gain control of Spain• 800 years of struggle (Reconquista), begin as

Spain fights to retake land• Spain drives the Moors out

• The defeat of the Moors inspires Spain to explore other lands

• Spain funds Columbus’s overseas voyage• His success leads to the voyages of more

explorers

Voc

• Conquistador – conqueror – leaders in the Spanish conquests of the Americas – 1st Europeans to explore Texas

3 G’s

• GOLD

• GLORY

• GOD

Gold – the Spanish heard that there was gold in Texas by Native Americans. The Spanish wanted to

increase their global wealth.

Glory – expeditions were led by conquistadors looking for wealth and fame for themselves.

God – the Catholic Church agreed to help support the expeditions to convert Native Texans to

Christianity and increase wealth of the Church.

Alvarez de Pineda

was the first explorer to map the coast of Texas.

Panfilo de Narvaez

• Disaster from the start – landed in Florida – men built rafts and floated into the Gulf – 1 raft survived and landed near Galveston – named the island Malhado (misfortune) – 1st group to step foot on Texas soil

• Many died from disease

Alvar Nunnez Cabeza de Vaca

• Member of the Narvaez expedition – lived among Native Americans (probably Atakapans or Karankawas

• Trader – (met up with Estevanico)• (Shaman) - Once performed surgery using a

stone knife and a deer bone needle – he removed an arrowhead from a man’s chest

Known as the first European to explore what is now Texas and the Southwest. After being shipwrecked in 1528 on what

is now Galveston Island, he was captured by the Karankawas and enslaved. He traveled as a captive

throughout southern and western Texas for seven or eight years; during which time he was recognized as a healer or

shaman. Upon his return to Spain, he wrote La Relacion, an account of his time in the Southwest. Written in 1542, it

describes the natives and their way of life. He was the first European to see the American buffalo. The name Cabeza

de Vaca means “head of a cow”; it was given to an ancestor who won a great battle, the place of which was marked with

the skull of a cow.

1537 – Cabeza de Vaca reports on Texas

Marcos de Niza and Estevanico

• In search of the Seven Cities of Cibola

Fransico Vasquez de Coronado

• Searched for the Cities of Gold – followed a Native American (Turk) – looking for Quivera – expedition went across the Texas plains – no gold

• Said land north of Mexico had little to offer

Francisco Vasquez de Coronado –

A Spanish explorer, while looking for gold, explored and wrote about the plains of Texas

and named the settlement of Amarillo. He failed in his quest for treasure as he

searched for the Seven Cities of Cibola in what is now Arizona.

De Soto and Moscoso

• Searched for wealth – no luck • 1st to discover the Mississippi• Entered East Texas• Discovered black gold – petroleum

Juan de Onate

• Crossed the Rio Grande near present day El Paso – established a settlement – found no treasure

• Spanish government begin to lose interest in northern territories

• When other nations started to show interest, Spain revived their interest

French

• The French never found much gold, but they did find a different sort of treasure – furs

• Trade

Rene Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle

1685 – LaSalle establishes Fort St. Louis

Rene-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de LaSalle was given ships, colonists, and soldiers by the French King to start a new colony at the mouth of the Mississippi. He landed at Matagorda Bay instead. He tried to establish a colony, but failed because of attacks by Native Americans and disease. LaSalle left the colony to find a way home and was believed to be shot by his own men. The survivors were found by Spanish soldiers. Spain feared that France would try to claim Texas and renewed their colonization efforts in Texas.

• Spain learned that they would need to pay more attention to Texas if they wanted to

control it.

Conflicts reinforced Spanish claim to Texas, which led to more missions and presidios in Texas.

1. What was the main purpose of European explorations?

2. Do you think motivation is behind all exploration?3. What event happened in Spain that led to the

exploration of Texas?4. Who were the important explorers that explored

Texas?5. What are the 3 - G’s?

6. What prompted France to claim land for France?

Did Spain and France have similar reasons for exploring Texas?

What was the same and what was different?

Create a timeline

Identify the major explorers who settled Texas.

Identify what country each explorer is associated with.

Identify major eventsDraw an illustration of each event.

1519 - 1721