The Route and Ordeal of Cabeza de Vaca - Paperback

by James J. Drexler (Author)

The first Europeans known to have crossed the North American continent were a group of four Spanish explorers who started their trek in the present State of Florida and journeyed to the northwestern Pacific coast of Mexico. These four were the only survivors of a three hundred man expeditionary land force to ever reach civilization again. This book describes their trials and tribulations on the way from the southern coast of the Gulf of Mexico in Texas through the deserts and mountains of West Texas and parts of New Mexico and Arizona and into the northern states of Mexico in 1535-1536. The book also traces the route of these Spaniards, with the help of modern satellite images and topographic maps, directly from the Spaniards own descriptions of the land through which they passed. Mr. Drexler has well substantiated his interpretation of the route and has compared it to several other routes proposed by other authors in the past.

Author Biography

James J. (Pete) Drexler has had an interest in the history of the Southwest since he was a kid growing up in Texas and New Mexico. He has made several road trips to the parts of Mexico covered in this story and he lived in Arizona for several years. Drexler's familiarity with the region through which Cabeza de Vaca journeyed certainly contributed to his treatment and interest in this story. Mr. Drexler has authored one other book on the early Spanish history of the Southwest. In "Coronado's Journey to the Seven Cities of Gold" he discovered the route taken by that explorer's expedition in 1540-1542.