Which explorer explored tampa bay

Narvaez never saw his ships again. He embroiled himself in a war with the fierce Timucuan Indians and faced starvation by the time he reached Apalachee late in June. In a desperate attempt to travel to Mexico, the Spaniards ate their horses and built makeshift boats.

Narvaez disappeared in a hurricane and a handful of survivors washed up near present-day Galveston Texas. One of the others, a Moor slave named Esteban, represents the first African to visit Florida. After a harrowing journey in which de Vaca became a slave, a trader, and a spiritual healer, de Vaca returned to Mexico and sailed for Europe in He later returned to South America leading another expedition, but de Vaca's most important achievement was the writing of his recollections from the Narvaez campaign.

The Indians of Florida were adept at resisting the invading Spanish, because the high abundance of food gave them the ability to concentrate in great numbers. An estimated 10, Indians lived throughout Florida, and only a few hundred faced the conquistadors at any one time. What enabled the Indians to counter the explorers so handily was their method of warfare and tactics. Instead of engaging the Spaniards on open ground, the Indians constantly harassed the Spaniards when they were preoccupied doing every day chores, or on the move in bad terrain.

They would quickly shoot many accurate arrows at the Spaniards and then slip away. The Indians could fire three to four arrows in the time it took to reload an arquebus or crossbow, and they were faster than the soldiers who would give chase. Their cane arrows also splintered and caused damage to the Spaniards with armor, because the splinters would go through weak parts of their armor. Setting out from Panama to Nicaragua and later Honduras, de Soto quickly proved his worth as an explorer and trader, reaping large profits through his bold and commanding exchanges with the natives.

De Soto played a fundamental role in organizing the conquest of Peru and engaged in a successful battle to capture Cuzco. In de Soto returned to Spain a wealthy man. His share of the Incan Empire's fortune amounted to no less than 18, ounces of gold. Despite having a new wife and home in Spain, de Soto grew restless when he heard stories about Cabeza de Vaca's exploration of Florida and the other Gulf Coast states. Enticed by the riches and fertile land de Vaca had allegedly encountered there, de Soto sold all his belongings and used the money to prepare for an expedition to North America.

He assembled a fleet of 10 ships and selected a crew of men based on their fighting prowess. On their way to the United States, de Soto and his fleet stopped in Cuba. While there, they were delayed by helping the city of Havana recover after the French sacked and burned it. By May 18, , de Soto and his fleet at last set out for Florida. On May 25 they landed at Tampa Bay.

For the next three years, de Soto and his men explored the southeastern United States, facing ambushes and enslaving natives along the way. Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. In , while leading an expedition in search of gold, he sighted A decade later, he was serving as governor of the eastern province of Hispaniola when he decided to explore a nearby island, which became In , Coronado led a major Spanish expedition Francisco Pizarro was an explorer, soldier and conquistador best known for conquering the Incas and executing their leader, Atahuapla.

He was born around in Trujillo, Spain. The story of North American exploration spans an entire millennium and involves a wide array of European powers and uniquely American characters. Amerigo Vespucci was an Italian-born merchant and explorer who took part in early voyages to the New World on behalf of Spain around the late 15th century.

By that time, the Vikings had established settlements in present-day North America as early as 1, A. John Cabot or Giovanni Caboto, as he was known in Italian was an Italian explorer and navigator who may have developed the idea of sailing westward to reach the riches of Asia while working for a Venetian merchant. Though the exact details of his life and expeditions are the Henry Hudson made his first voyage west from England in , when he was hired to find a shorter route to Asia from Europe through the Arctic Ocean.

After twice being turned back by ice, Hudson embarked on a third voyage—this time on behalf of the Dutch East India Company—in Live TV. This Day In History. History Vault.