TEXAS HISTORYUvalde Junior High

In the late 1400s Christopher Columbus persuaded Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain to pay for his expedition to find a direct water route to Asia. Columbus was Italian and knew that the world was round. He wanted to open trade with Asia which would be valuable to Spain. On August 3rd 1492 Columbus set sail for Asia on the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria.

Land was sighted on October 12th 1492. Columbus landed in what he believed was the Indies in Asia. He named the island he landed on San Salvador and the people he saw Indios.

Columbus spent several months searching for riches. Spain paid for several more expeditions and he was told to conquer the lands in the name of Spain.

Columbus’s voyages inspired other European explorers to further discover, explore, and colonize Texas.

Claiming Territory

Columbus established the first permanent colony on Hispaniola and called it Santo Domingo.

A colony is land claimed for and controlled by a distant nation.

Columbus made a total of four separate expeditions but failed to find a water route to Asia or bring riches back to Spain. The King and Queen cut off his support when they found out he was torturing and enslaving thousands of people

in the Caribbean.

From 1492 to 1519 Spain established colonies in what is known as the Indies. They began to hear about great civilizations that were rich. Spanish explorers known as conquistadors wanted to conquer these societies and take its wealth for themselves.

In 1519 Alonzo Alvarez de Pineda was sent to explore the Texas coast. He was the first European to observe and map the Texas coastline.(1519)

Hernan Cortez

Hernan Cortes was commissioned to conquer the continent. A commission is a grant of power to carry out task. Cortes landed in Mexico with 11 ships and 508 soldiers and founded Veracruz.

Cortes reached Tenochtitlan. Montezuma believed he was the god Quetzalcoatl. Cortes wanted the Aztec gold and defeated the Aztecs. He renamed Tenochtitlan, Mexico City.

Panfilo de Narvaez

In 1526 Panfilo de Narvaez was granted Florida and was told to conquer all lands between Florida and Mexico. He took 400 men to explore and conquer the land. He ships did not meet him and he tried to build rafts to get to Mexico. He was drowned in a hurricane in 1528. 80 survivors beached at Galveston Bay. They were the first Europeans to set foot in Texas. 6 years later only 4 of them survived. The Karankawas tried to help them but many died of disease caught from the explorers.

Cabeza de Vaca

Two of the survivors were Cabeza de Vaca and an African named Estevanico. They decided to travel to Mexico overland. They walked for 18 months. They learned how to survive from the Karankawas. They were the first Europeans to explore the interior of Texas. They arrived in Culiacan in 1536 then later traveled to Mexico City and Spain. He told the Spanish of the legendary seven cities of gold, Cibola.

Antonio de Mendoza, the viceroy of New Spain, sent Friar Marcos de Niza, Estevanico, and others to confirm the Cabeza de Vaca’s story. Estevanico was killed by Zuni natives. Friar Marcos continued to look for the cities and he believed he found it in the Arizona-New Mexico area. He saw a shiny city at a distance and went to report his find. He likely saw the sun reflecting off the roof of a Zuni pueblo, a village made of adobe.

On January 6th 1540 Coronado set out to find Cibola. He took 1,000 soldiers, 300 horsemen, and 1,500 horses to the Zuni village of Hawikuh. They only found adobe houses.

The expedition split up with one half going west where they discovered the Grand Canyon. Coronado went east and met a native names The Turk who told him of a wealthy land called Quivira.

He asked The Turk to lead him in search of Quivira. They went into West Texas. They saw a buffalo herd for the first time. They made it to the Palo Duro Canyon near Amarillo.

Coronado suspected The Turk was lying to him and ordered his men back. They never found Quivira and he had The Turk killed.

Coronado then claimed the land for Spain and headed back to Mexico City.

In1539 a second expedition left Spain to look for the Seven Cities of Cibola led by de Soto. It set sail from Florida and was unable to find Quivira. He searched for riches in the Geogia, Tennessee area and discovered the Mississippi river in 1541. He turned back and died before reaching the coast. Luis Moscoso de Alvarado led his men overland to Texarcana but they ran out of food and had to turn back to the Mississippi. This was the first major exploration of the interior of North America.

The Spanish established Catholic missions during the 1600’s to 1800’s. They were built because the Catholic Church was growing and it needed to be protected, to teach Christianity and Spanish culture to the Native Americans.

Spain lost interest in finding riches in North America. But when the English started to explore the Americas Spain decided to establish a Spanish colony in North America. In 1598 Juan de Ornate settled New Mexico and set up the capital city of Santa Fe in 1610.

Robert La Salle

Sent by King Louis XIV to colonize the Texas coast for France

Shipwrecked on Matagorda Island while looking for the mouth of the Mississippi River

He established Fort St. Louis on Matagorda Bay. The colony only lasted two years because of disease, failed crops, Indian attacks and failed leadership.

He did however claim the entire Mississippi River Basin for France and called it Louisiana.

Reasons for Exploration

3 G’sGod-Spread the Catholic religionGold-Find gold for the country financing

their expeditionGlory-to receive recognition for

exploration of the New World

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