Cabeza De Vaca was a Spanish explorer who quickly tried to claim Florida and explore this for te Spanish in the sixteenth century. Historian professor Andres Resendez at the University of Cal-Davis has written perhaps the best account of the epic journey this would be Spanish conquistador and his men and their disastrous expedition to conquer the natives of the Gulf Coast. The expedition ran into the massive water pressure of the Gulf Coast that made shipping through this area treacherous for the most impressive boats of the era and best crew Spanish gold and silver could buy at the time. The expedition turned into desperate journey for survival and Mr. Resendez recalls the journey of the three hundred or so men sent into the interior of Florida to scout the land and explore before meeting up with the damaged ships that stayed near the coast. these explorers were actually trying to enter central Mexico which a decade before had seen the Aztec Empire conquered and Spanish explorers were just learning the difficulties of navigating the Gulf Stream.
The five ships that set out from Spain with an eventual goal of colonizing Florida and find what riches may lay behind were in store for a incredible journey where only four would survive to find their way back to Spain. This book offers an insight into the aspirations of these first explorers and why so many were willing to make this arduous journey. The shipwrecked souls battle Florida Indians and the story and contact between the first encounters of natives and Europeans is detailed din excellent minutia by this professor and the eventful construction of rafts the Spaniards construct in recalled as the men set sail again and try to reach Central Mexico via coastline of Texas. The rafts provided little safety and all five of the constructed rafts would wash up in Texas and the varying outcomes of the three hundred men depended on where they landed. Some of the raft crews may have resorted to cannibalism and some of the rafts fell directly into the path of cannibal Indian tribes called the Camones. Contrary to public opinion it was not common for Native Americans to be cannibals but along the shores of Texas this was not unknown One of the main leaders of this expedition Panfilo Navarez and three other men stayed on one of the other rafts fearful of Indian attacks and a breeze carried the few men away from the landed compatriots and they were never heard from again. Without the raft the others walked their way South and camped for the winter while dying off. professor Resendez knows his shit and perhaps this book gives a reader of a more understanding of the diverse Indians that inhabited conquistador era Texas and the little contact they had with he Spanish as it was evident the Indians struggled to survival in a meager harsh environment. 
As far as the other two rafts of Cabeza De Vaca Indian slavery would be a brutal condition. At first taken refuge of Texas Indians as the Indians eventually demanded the Spaniards pull their weight and bring something to the table for living with them. throughout this book professor Resendez does detail work recounting the travels of the few last remaining Spanish survivalists who survived to the spring as the winters of Texas were much harsher than they are now. Cabeza would make various travels with the three other survivors through Indian country and modern day Mexico as the Indians soon regarded these guys as some mysterious medicine men able to heal. Eventually Cabeza and the other three guys would be rescued in 1536 and he would pen down all his odd adventures from Florida though Texas and the trials and tribulations he faced through this adventure and survival from traveler, to slave to celebrity.
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