1. Explorers

2. (Era of European Exploration 1500-1600)
Age of Contact
(Era of European Exploration )
Spanish
French
Cabeza De Vaca
LaSalle
Fort St. Louis
Pineda mapping Texas
Spanish conquistador

3. 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.

4. 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?

5. Did they have a purpose in coming?
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?

6. 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

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

8. 3 G’s
GOLD
GLORY
GOD

9.  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.

10. was the first explorer to map the coast of Texas.
Alvarez de Pineda
was the first explorer to map the coast of Texas.

12. 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

13. 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

14. 1537 – Cabeza de Vaca reports on Texas
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.

15. Marcos de Niza and Estevanico
In search of the Seven Cities of Cibola

16. 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

17. 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.

18. De Soto and Moscoso Searched for wealth – no luck
1st to discover the Mississippi
Entered East Texas
Discovered black gold – petroleum

19. Juan de Onate
Crossed the Rio Grande near present day El Paso – established a settlement – found no treasure

20. Spanish government begin to lose interest in northern territories
When other nations started to show interest, Spain revived their interest

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

22. Rene Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle
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.
1685 – LaSalle
establishes
Fort St. Louis

23. 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.

24. 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?

25. Did Spain and France have similar reasons for exploring Texas?
What was the same and what was different?

26. Create a timeline Identify the major explorers who settled Texas
Create a timeline Identify the major explorers who settled Texas. Identify what country each explorer is associated with. Identify major events Draw an illustration of each event