Curated OER
Cabeza de Vaca
Fourth graders observe the 1529 map of the Gulf of Mexico and describe the accuracy of the map, including the unknown landscape that Cabeza de Vaca would traverse. They read the discuss the excerpt of his journey including his treatment...
Curated OER
What's In a Name?
Pupils research Cabeza de Vaca and other conquistadors. They review how names were given to Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca's family and discuss the achievements, risks, experiences, and characteristics of de Vaca. They write an acrostic...
Curated OER
Cabeza de Vaca Meets the Coahuiltecans
Seventh graders examine Cabeza de Vaca's journal and differentiate between primary and secondary sources. They, in groups, design posters that portray the culture of the Coahuiltecan Indians in Texas during the 16th century.
Curated OER
History Matters: "All Over the Land Nothing Else Was Spoken Of"
History Matters provides this fascinating account from Spanish conqquistador, Cabeza de Vaca, about his encounters with the varous Native Americans in the Southwest who came to him for medical attention.
PBS
Pbs: New Perspectives on the West: Journey of Alvar Nunez Cabeza De Vaca
Read the incredible story of Cabeza de Vaca in his own words. He tells of his many years-long journey across the South, and writes as an ethnologist about the Native Americans he encounters. A fascinating account!
PBS
Pbs the West: Alvar Nunez Cabeza De Vaca
A biography of this Spanish explorer who was born in 1490. Click on "route" for a map of his travels, and click on "account" for a translation of his published account of his experiences.
PBS
Pbs: New Perspectives on the West
This in-depth resource presents a history of the American West from pre-Columbian times until World War I with profiles, documents, and images. It encourages visitors to link these into patterns of historical meaning for themselves....
PBS
Pbs: Conquistadors: Cabeza De Vaca
Click on "The Marvelous Adventure" to follow Cabeza de Vaca's several year journey through the Southeast and Texas. Part of a larger site on the Spanish conquest of the Western world, these pages focus on Cabeza de Vaca. Includes de...
PBS
Pbs: The Conquistadors
A huge website that provides a virtual field trip exploring the Spanish adventurers who quested for gold and land in the New World. The site has information on Pizarro, Orellana, Cabeza de Vaca, Cortes as well as extensive information...
Other
Eldritch Press: Cabeza De Vaca's Adventures in the Unknown Interior of America
Read this fascinating account by Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, one of four survivors who traversed Florida and the Southwest for eight years, from 1529-1537.Read the preface which gives a background to this narrative before delving into...
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: American Passages: Cabeza De Vaca
Explorer Cabeza de Vaca is considered the first true Chicano writer, having been born in Spain and then absorbed into the Native American culture, highlighting this new culture in his writings. Click on "Cabeza de Vaca Activities" for...
Cengage Learning
Literature of Discovery and Exploration
Teaching approach that examines the writings of European New World explorers from the late 1400s through the 1600s. Includes Christopher Columbus, Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, Rene Goulaine de Laudonniere, Pedro Menendez de Aviles, Fray...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Harcourt: Biographies: Alvar Nunez Cabeza De Vaca
Gain insight into the life and adventures of Spanish explorer, Cabeza de Vaca, whose expeditions led him to Texas and Mexico.
Other
Houston Institute for Culture: Early Texas History: Spanish Exploration
Read about Cabeza de Vaca, one of the first Europeans to extensively explore Texas after an accidental landing at Galveston Island.
University of Texas at Austin
University of Texas: Exploration and Settlement Before 1675
A great map showing the explorations of Spanish, French, and English explorers in North America between 1530 and 1675. A detailed key identifies each explorer and route. From the Perry-Castaneda Collection
Other
American Journeys: Map of the Spanish Entrada Into North America [Pdf]
Map showing the routes taken by fourteen Spanish explorers in the Americas between 1509 and 1543.
Library of Congress
Loc: Parallel Histories: Alvar Nunez Cabeza De Vaca
A brief description of de Vaca's accomplishments with links to information, original illustration and documents, and timeline on Spanish exploration.
Walled Lake Consolidated Schools
Loon Lake Elementary School: Cabeza De Vaca
A biography of Cabeza de Vaca (1490-1557), a Spanish explorer in both North and South America. This site has a Google widget that will translate the page into many languages.
Walled Lake Consolidated Schools
Loon Lake Elementary School: Estevanico
A biography of Estevanico (1490-1539) who was also called Esteban. He was a black slave from Morocco who became one of the first explorers of the Southwestern United States. His tales of the fabled Seven Cities of Cibola led to the...
Texas State Library and Archives Commission
Texas State Library and Archives Commission: Native American Relations in Texas: Introduction
How did a Spanish explorer become a "medicine man and the first European trader in Texas"? Who authored the "first ever written description of Texas Indians"? Read this brief article to begin learning about the early relations between...
Curated OER
Florida Memory: Image of Alvar Nunez Cabeza De Vaca
Spanish postage stamp with an image of explorer Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca.