Nehaveigur

The Narváez expedition departed Spain in 1527 to explore Florida. Things went wrong and only four out of 600 men made it back to Europe after trekking through what today is Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and Mexico for eight years, much of it while being enslaved by Indian tribes. Paul Schneider’s Brutal Journey from 2007 is based on the account of one of those explorers by the name of Cabeza de Vaca. For many of the tribes he encountered, his words are the first and last written record we have before they disappeared forever. As for Cabeza de Vaca’s and the other three survivors of the Narváez expedition, nothing today approaches the physical hardship they experienced.