Chronicle of the Narvaez Expedition

Cabeza de Vaca was born sometime between 1485 and 1492 in Andalusia, Spain. After a serving a series of dukes, his military career began with the first Spanish incursion to Naples under the Duke of Medina Sedonia, a powerful noble of Castille. Cabeza de Vaca served with the duke again in 1520, during the Comunero Revolt that opposed the new king, Carlos V. In 1527, Cabeza de Vaca joined Pánfilo de Narváez on his expedition to La Florida.

After the Narváez expedition to La Florida failed, Cabeza de Vaca and the only other three survivors wandered the southwest of the United States and northern Mexico over a period of many years. They reached Mexico City where they co-wrote a report of their travels, but this Joint Report no longer exists. All we have is a 16th-century summary by the Spanish historian Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo from his Historia general y natural de las Indias (General and Natural History of the Indies). Cabeza de Vaca eventually returned to Spain in 1537.

In 1540, Cabeza de Vaca was rewarded the title of adelantado, or governor, of the Río de la Plate region in South America (modern-day Argentina and Uruguay). In 1542, he published his first chronicle about the Narváez expedition. Within two years, however, Domingo Martinez de Irala, another conquistador, accused him of poor administration. Cabeza de Vaca was arrested and removed as governor of the region. He was eventually acquitted of the accusations brought against him but was never awarded another governorship.

In 1555, Cabeza de Vaca published the revised edition of his chronicle of the Narváez expedition. He died a few years later in Seville, Spain.

Narváez was born sometime in the 1470s in Spain. Little is known about his early life. He was a participant in the Spanish conquest of Jamaica in 1509 and in the conquest of Cuba in 1511. In 1519, Hernán Cortés began his expedition into Mexico. The governor of Cuba did not trust Cortés and ordered the expedition to return, sending Narváez to bring Cortés back. However, Narváez’s attempt to subdue Cortés failed miserably: Narváez lost an eye, was imprisoned for two years by Cortés, and all the men under Narváez joined Cortés.

In 1527, King Carlos V granted Narváez the title of adelantado, or governor, of La Florida, following the death of Ponce de León. The expedition left Spain and met with trouble soon after arriving in the Americas, losing two ships to a tropical storm. The expedition refitted in Santo Domingo and Cuba, and eventually made landfall in Florida in the Tampa Bay region. Most of the expedition accompanied Narváez inland while the ships sailed northwards, looking for a suitable harbor. They attempted to live off the Indigenous people and the land, but skirmishes and a lack of supplies weakened their forces to the point that Narváez decided to call off the expedition. However, because the men had lost contact with the ships and had no way to leave Florida, the expedition was forced to build rudimentary boats. When they tried to sail away, Narváez’s boat was separated and he was never heard from again.

Castillo was one of the four survivors of the Narváez expedition, along with Cabeza de Vaca. Little is known about him prior to his participation in the expedition other than what Cabeza de Vaca provides in his chronicle: Castillo was born in Salamanca, Spain, and was the son of Dr. Castillo and Doña Aldonza Maldonado. Eventually, he arrived in New Spain (Mexico) along with the other survivors and remained there. He most likely died sometime in the 1540s.

Dorantes was born around 1500 in Salamanca, Spain. He was born into a relatively poor but prestigious hidalgo family; he joined the Narváez expedition to improve his circumstances. Like Cabeza de Vaca and Castillo, he was one of the four sole survivors of the doomed expedition. After he and the other survivors reached New Spain (Mexico), he attempted to sail back to Spain with Cabeza de Vaca. However, his ship met with problems and returned to New Spain. He remained there until his death sometime in the 1550s.