Arizona weekly citizen., 1884-05-03
l. Y. COWsHEAD.
The First White Man Who Visited A rIzona His gaptivity-An Error Rectifed.

! The First White Man Who Visited rIzona His Cap,ivity-An Error Rectiaed.
 4. \. Cow head is the name of the
 first white man who is known to have
 visited what IS now the present territory
 of Arizona. Ills full name in Spanish
 was Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Yaca. He
 wrote an accom-; of his travels called
 "RelacioD." Buckingham Smith hes
 translated the "Relacion." Bryant, in
 his History of the Uni.ed States has
 quoted extensively from Smiths transla-
 tion of Mir. Cowshead's "Relacion.' The
 story is that Mir Cowshesd was treas
 urer oi an expedition fitted out in 1927,
 in Spain, under the command of Pam
 phiio of Narvaez, for the exploration of Florida. Charles V. was then king
 Pamphilo left Spain in l527 with five ships and five hundred men. The winter of l527-o was spent in the West Indies. In March, 1928, Pamphilo sailed for Florida, direct, with four ships, one brig antine. eighty horses and four hundred men. 1t Is not stated what had become of phe missing one hundred men, or how one of the ships bad contracted into a brigantire. Two days before Easter of 1928 they landed at Tampa bay, Florida. By May lst the command had decreased to three hundred men and forty hoTs, s. On that date, with short ratIOns
 they began q march into the interior of the country. juue 2jth they were at the headwaters of the Apaiachia river, in what is now tue State Of Georgia. Dis deartened at not acquiring sudden wealth they tUrned south to the gulf coast of Florida, which they reached about July 10th. and built small vessels at the bay of St. Marks. In these boats
 they sailed September 22nd for the Spanish colony ot PanUco on the Texan coast. Cowsheads boat was separated from the others in storm and wrecked uu an island, which he called MathadO. supposed to be near Galveston. One of the boats company joined them. making eighty souls iu all. By the spring of l529 this company was reduced to fifteen. This number was soon reduced tO four. CowsGead's companions were Dorantes, Cassello and negro nick named Stevie. For six years they wandered as Indian captives through what are now the tarTitOr.es of Texas, New Mexico and Arizona, and were finally rescued b. ,he Spanish in Sonora in 1535 Such is the story as 1t comes to us from COwShead through Smith and Bryant
 Cowhead's route from St. Marks to Galveston leaves the mouth of the Mis- sissippi to the north. How is this fact reconciled with the statement Tn tine "Resources of Arizonu," page s. lines 36 and g. that ''they (COwshead and bis companiOns) discovered and crossed the | Father or Waters two years before De Soto stood upon its banks Bryant se.s the date oi D. Spto's discovery of the Mississippi in 15t1. some thirteen years after CowsheGd had unknowingly saiied past is mouth.
 Bryant gives no particulars of Cows heads captivity and rescue beyond the fact that the wandering SpanIard re- turned to his European home, and by the story of his travels greatly helped to organize De Soto's ill-fated enterprise.
 h l539 a priest named Mark attempt ed to explore Arizona. lte was a rehg- ious enthusiast from the city of Nice, Italy. Antonio, Of Mendoza, vlceroy, of Mexico, jealous of the honors Cortez had won by the discovery of Lower Cal ifornia, then supposed to be an island, furnished the coin for the priests expe- dition. Mark had negro guide named Stevie, probably the same fellow who had been a captive with Cowshead some four years before, and hence had some acquaintance with the country. Mark started from Cuhacan, then the north ernmost Spanish post, and got as far ss the Moqui towns, where Stevie was killed by jealous Indian husbands. Mark, then being without Q guide, re- turned to Cuhacan, and nothing more Is known of Cowsheai or of hls compan- ions. HIsTOEICUs.