After nearly eight years of shipwreck, hunger, enslavement, captivity, healing, and wandering, Cabeza de Vaca and his three surviving companions finally return to the Spanish world.

But rescue does not mean safety for everyone.

As the four survivors encounter Spanish soldiers, they find Native communities fleeing into the mountains, abandoned fields, and people threatened with chains. The authority they earned as healers now collides with the machinery of conquest.

In Episode 9, the survivors complete their journey to Mexico City. The men who return are not the same men who entered Florida seeking treasure and glory, and the consequences of their survival are only beginning.

The first listener Q&A is coming soon. Submit your questions by Sunday, August 2 at 8 p.m. Central. Frontier Scout and higher-tier Ko-fi supporters receive priority.

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Music: “Anamalie” by Kevin MacLeod
Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
https://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