How Cabeza de Vaca decided to leave Galveston Island. How his companion, Lope de Oviedo, decided he couldn't. And how Cabeza de Vaca first heard rumors of other surviving expeditionaries amongst the native peoples of South Texas.
How the Native population of Galveston Island was decimated. The expeditionaries too. How Cabeza de Vaca was left behind. And how he lifted himself up from "slavery" to become a merchant plying his wares up and down the Texas coast.
How Cabeza de Vaca and his companions were reunited with some of their fellow Narváez expeditionaries, including Alonso Castillo, Andrés Dorantes, and Estevan. How they tried to integrate themselves into the daily rhythms of the Cavoque community. And what happened that first winter when Native American and European immune systems were compromised by hunger, cold, and exposure to diseases they had never met before.
How the expeditionaries debated what to do in the face of 100 armed "Cavoques," as the natives of Galveston called themselves. How the Cavoques offered to take the expeditionaries back to their village. And how the welcoming party they threw for the castaways scared the bejeezus out of them.
How the conquistadors became castaways on Galveston Island. How the natives of Galveston Island found them. And what the natives decided to do with them.
How the Narváez expeditionaries returned to the Gulf of Mexico. How the Gulf "turned" on them. And how all the tools of conquest began to fail them.
How the Narváez expeditionaries "conquered" Apalache. And then had to flee for their lives. How they made it back to the Florida coast. And how they confronted the frightening reality that they had lost contact with their ships.
How the Narváez expeditionaries marched on their Floridian Tenochtitlán. And how the whole story goes a little Gabriel García Márquez upon the colorful entrance of a Floridian native chief.
How the Narváez expeditionaries missed their target by a mere 1,000 miles. How they mistook the western coast of Florida for the eastern coast of Mexico. And how they doubled down on their error after finding the first hints of gold.
How Álvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca and 600 others came to the New World under the command of Pánfilo de Narváez. What the men and women in the Narváez Expedition were hoping to find. And what they actually found instead.
Season 3 of A New History of Old Texas is coming soon.
Selected bibliography here.
Is this the Battlefield of Medina?
Sometime in the 1820's or 30's, a survivor of the Spanish Royalist occupation of San Antonio in 1813 wrote down his (or her?) memories of those tragic events. It is the only contemporary Spanish-language account of these events from the Republican perspective, and our friend Joe Arciniega joins us once again this episode to read it into the historical record.
Royalist General Joaquín de Arredondo teaches San Antonio a lesson they will never forget. The research team compiles the best information they have compiled over the previous year to make one final map.
We do our best to retell what happened on August 18, 1813, somewhere just south of San Antonio, based on the best available information. And we test artifacts from the battle are tested to determine their age.
José Álvarez de Toledo deposes Bernardo Gutiérrez de Lara, sapping the morale of the Republican Army of the North just as Joaquín de Arredondo begins his march on San Antonio. At long last, we find what we believe to be munitions from the Battle of Medina!
Royalist Colonel Elizondo marches on San Antonio and sets up camp on Alazán Creek. The search team uncovers our first body from the Battle of Medina.
For the first time that I know of, we present here to the public the original Texas Declaration of Independence in English – as performed by Joe Arciniega, a direct descendant of the men who were declaring that independence back in 1813!
Texans at last declare themselves free and independent. The research team puts shovels in the ground.
The Republican Army of the North breaks the siege of Goliad and pursues the Royalists all the way to San Antonio. Stephen F. Austin’s maps give us the most concrete clues yet as to the location of the battlefield.
