The Narváez expedition entered North America with an army and lost almost everyone. Four survivors eventually crossed the continent using Native food, knowledge, diplomacy, healing, trade, and adaptation.

That was the warning their journey offered. But it was not the lesson Spain chose. In Episode 10, “The Warning Spain Ignored,” we follow Cabeza de Vaca after his return to Spain. We examine his failed partnership with Hernando de Soto, his controversial governorship in Río de la Plata, his trial before the Council of the Indies, and the conclusions Spain drew from the survivors’ extraordinary journey.

Instead of questioning the dream of conquest, Spain prepared larger expeditions to pursue it. Hernando de Soto believed he understood what Narváez had done wrong. The question was whether that would save his men, or merely prolong their demise.

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Music: "Anamalie" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License ⁠http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/⁠

Primary source: Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, La Relación, translated by David Carson, TexasCounties.net: https://www.texascounties.net/articles/discovery-of-texas/theaccount-cabezadevaca.htm