In the early 16th century, Panfilo de Narváez led a disastrous expedition to Florida as a Spanish explorer and conquistador. Panfilo de Narváez was born in 1480 in Spain, perhaps at Narváez or Tidels. A conquistador, Narváez was an integral part of Cuba’s conquest in 1511.
A year later, Narváez attempted to arrest Hernán Cortés on orders from Juan Velasquez, the governor of Cuba. In 1526, in an adjudication of the dispute by the Spanish king, Charles V sided with Cortés, even though he granted Narváez land in Mexico.
Narváez accidentally landed in Florida in 1528 when a storm drove his fleet of five ships off the coast of Cuba. He was sailing to claim his grant on the northern Gulf Coast. As a result of the unintended detour, Narvaez decided to land to resupply water. When he left the city, he thought he was heading to Bah*a Honda (Tampa Bay).
After sending his ships ahead to meet them, Narváez marched his 300 men north despite the fact that he was already northwest of the location he intended to explore. His ships were never seen again. When Navaráez’s men reached the Withlacoochee River, they couldn’t find a bay at its mouth, so they moved inland. As they headed north in northwest Florida, they encountered several Timucua villages.
Pánfilo de Narváez found more natives inland settled by the Apalachees, more food resources, but no gold. Narváez ordered an immediate attack upon encountering the first Apalachee village. Nevertheless, the Apalachees continued to attack the Spanish from then on.
With supplies running low, the expedition made its way west towards the coast, hoping to meet its ships. The men built rafts and sailed along the coast of Mexico, trying to reach Mexico when they reached the Gulf of Mexico. However, they were not able to see the ships. An offshore raft had been swept out to sea by a sudden storm in November 1528, stranding Narváez.
After wandering in what is today the southwest United States and northern Mexico for several years, only a handful of survivors made it to Mexico. It was one of the survivors, Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, who published a memoir about their troubles. In search of the gold-filled lands and cities that Cabeza de Vaca claimed existed, Hernando de Soto explored the Southeast, while Francisco Coronado explored the Southwest.
The de Soto expedition later found Juan Ortiz in Florida, another survivor of the Pánfilo de Narváez disaster who later proved to be an invaluable guide and translator. Pánfilo de Narváez died in 1528. Read More – The History of Jamestown Virginia
