El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1898-03-05
AN INTREPID SPANIARD.
Ca beZa de Vaca the First White Man
i'm Texas.

III
The history of Texas is q history Of
wonderful adventure, f effort prod :
gious, of wars tha will ever thrill. of
humanity unma' ched. OF recent yeara
Il attent; on CT ruany able writers has
been turned to the unwritten history OF
this great stare, and much valuable
information Is being brought to light.
Gao of the most valuable agencies
for thu purpose If st INITIATING historic
a. research n TINS state is the IeXa,
State Histori cal citation, organized
at Austin about vrar ago. 1t is using
every method pcssibl. to encourage in
vesti cation of the ear y history of the
state end to promote the interest of
Texas citizens in this line of study.
The University OF Texas is closely
connected with this movement. and it's
g uden tss are helping to gather bits OF
history that are certainly worth pre-
serving.
In the last issue Of the quarterly of
the Texas State Hist orlcal association
paper By Miss B own Ponton and
Bates II. Mcfarland, two students of
the State University. tells of the many
adventures of Eivar Nunez CabeZa de
Vaca. the first white man to enter
Texas, and gives Il minute description
OF his rout@ in crossing Texas into
Mexico. This article is worthy of q
permanent place in the historical lite
nature of the sOuthweat end coma ms
many strong points. Part of it is Civ
ep below:
Outsi.,, of the Arabian Nights snd
the realms of fairy tales and fiction,
there is perhaps no stranger story OF
adventure than that Of C&beza de
Vaca's ten years wanderinss in Texas
and Mexico.
Toe first that we hear of this ir-
teresting Spauiard is in 1927, when he
was made chief treasurer of an expedi-
ton under PamphilO de Narvaez,
bound for the gulf shoe of the N wv
World. Notwithstanding, "says Buck
iuoham Smith, 1.-The most Jealous de-
voticn OF scholars, and the ceaseless
delvings of antiquaries, the place and
period, both of his birth and decease,
have evaded their rese arch"
But as he was a man in 1927, his
box hood, youth aud early manhood
must have been spent in one OF the
most wonderful periods of time-the
age in which the Old World found the
New-the age in which the warm
southern blood of Italy, Spain and
France, as well as the cold northern
blaod cf England, was being intoxicat-
ed with the love of adventure, with the
cream o. untold wealth. Every ex-
plorer believed that in this new land
ay his Mexico, his palace Of MocteZu-
ma, waiting for him its Cortez.
Oae of toe many expeditions bearing
the Spanish flag WIS that OF de Mar
vaez, with whom as we have said went
Caheza de Vaca as treasurer. me tract
VIII ch had be n granted to NarVaez
stretched from the southern part OF
Florida to the Rio de las Palmas,
which has been idebt tilted with the Rio
Graude As was usual. the expedition
first stopped in Cuba. While waiting
here two vessels were sunk by ter
rible storm and sixty men were lost
Terrified by this, Narvaez waited here
until the following spring, when,
pilot having been found, he sailed for
his grant. When only few days out,
strong westerly wind arose, and,
beaten out of their track, the ships
were driven OFF the coast OF FLORIDA.
The pilot assured the Spaniards they
were near the Rio de las Palmas. Mar
.vaez then, strongly advised to the Coz
trary by Cabeza, di oided his man into
two parties, one to sail the vessels
along the coast, the other to make
an inland expedition, of which he him
self was to be the leader. These two
parties, he said, would unite at some
good harb Dor, md taking with him some
Cebezs, he star ed inland. Let me an
ticipate hare, and say that after
years fruitless searching, those aboard
the vessels returned to the islands,
bearing the sad news that Narvaez
and his men had persisted on the
mainland.
What in truth was the fate of this
luckless expedition? Necessarily un-
able to carry but q few days pro-
visions, they soon began to suffer from
hunger True, they found Indian viii
lagos, but in them they found very
little food, and no treasure. Farther
on. the Indians said in The village of
there are treasures and all
ttose things that white men desire.
Weary and wrrn, they pushed on
Twice they came to the village OF APP
palache, which proved bitter disap-
poi ntment. No treasure was found,
and the Indiana were treacherous and
hostile. However, they stayed here
several months. living chiefly on
m aize. The Indians here told them OF
another village, Aute, nine or
ten DAYS south Of there on the seacoast.
Towar d this point they directed their
course.
They reached Aute in the last stages
of despair, after fighting their way
through swamps and forests, frequently
in water that came above the knees
The Indians were hostile: there was
little to eat. Weak and emac'ated
from hunger and travel, hampered by