Spanish Exploration in Texas

Spanish Thoughts about Texas

Indians were rich Indians lived in highly concentrated communities Differences between cultures could easily be taken advantage of

Indians had a natural ability to understand Christianity When exploring, ANYTHING GOES!

Spanish Explorers

Cabeza de Vaca Explored Left Cuba in 1528 in search of Rio Panuco (river through Mexico) Hit huge storm when travelling (Oct. 1528) ----”Everyman for himself” Shipwrecked just east of Galveston (only 15 survived) 1 st Spaniard in Texas

Father Marcos de Niza Seven Cities of Cibola (City of Gold)

Francisco Vazquez de Coronado Explores from Excited about Niza’s report about Cibola Searches all over south for Cibola Finds Grand Canyon Went through the Llano Estacado (Panhandle) Coronado failed because he found no gold

Hernando de Soto and Luis de Moscoso Explored from Goal was to find Cibola Travelled all over southeast…found nothing! De Soto dies in 1542 Moscoso leads expedition into East Texas Encountered the Caddo tribe Became scared and retreated!

Juan de Onate Explored from Marked the beginning of Spanish in Northern New Spain Conquered modern New Mexico Founded Santa Fe in 1609

Father Juan de Salas Explored from 1629 to 1632 Encountered the Jumanos in 1629 The “Woman in Blue” ----Sister Maria de Jesus de Agreda went into trances from Spain and taught Indians Christianity Jumano misson of Isleta founded in 1632

Juan Dominguez de Mendoza Explored from 1683 to 1684 Explored the Upper Rio Grande Valley Jumano-Apache conflict scared Mendoza Mendoza discovers Big Bend Founded San Clemente mission

The Ugly Truth about Texas

The Indians were NOT rich! Indians did not like being tied down or too settled Indians did not like the Spanish

Most Indians did not care for Christianity Texas was “a wasteland”, and only useful as a buffer zone to the north