Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca
By Dustyn Baumgartner
The Isle of Misfortune
Cabeza de Vaca landed in FLorida in 1527. He started his voyage with more than 300 men. While on his voyage his men fought to survive starvation, disease and other struggles. Vaca and only a handful of his men survived and made it to Florida. While they were there he said in a letter, "We were the very image of death. Suddenly the North wind started to blow and the Indians came looking for us. They sat with us and all of them began to cry".
Living Differently
Vaca had regained his strength and began to live as one of the Indians. When he first began to live with them he was kept as a slave taking by care of his hosts and doing chores. After a long time of doing these things he didn't want to live their lifestyle. He moved to a different tribe and was treated in a kinder way.
Finding the Rest
Vaca had lived with a nomadic tribe for 5 years. He eventually had grown used to the lifestyle. One day he heard of the other survivors living down the coast. Once hearing of them he wanted to go home. The newly reunited 4 felt much more safe in a group so they left to return home. They supposedly used a route along the Gulf of Mexico to leave.