I’m a history teacher…. One of the most fascinating books I’ve read is “A Land So Strange” about Cabeza de Vaca.
Amazon link below. Devoured the book in a day, could not put it down.
A Land So Strange: The Epic Journey of Cabeza de Vaca changed my life. Since I was having trouble describing it succinctly, I'll just paste the Amazon description here, This is a MUST-read book, especially if you would like a glimpse into the very early days of first European contact with the indigenous peoples of the Americas. It's a journey of incredible survival, and I love a survival story.
Here's what Amazon says: "In 1528, a mission set out from Spain to colonize Florida. But the expedition went horribly wrong: Delayed by a hurricane, knocked off course by a colossal error of navigation, and ultimately doomed by a disastrous decision to separate the men from their ships, the mission quickly became a desperate journey of survival. Of the four hundred men who had embarked on the voyage, only four survived-three Spaniards and an African slave. This tiny band endured a horrific march through Florida, a harrowing raft passage across the Louisiana coast, and years of enslavement in the American Southwest. They journeyed for almost ten years in search of the Pacific Ocean that would guide them home, and they were forever changed by their experience. The men lived with a variety of nomadic Indians and learned several indigenous languages. They saw lands, peoples, plants, and animals that no outsider had ever before seen. In this enthralling tale of four castaways wandering in an unknown land, AndréResndez brings to life the vast, dynamic world of North America just a few years before European settlers would transform it forever."
A Land So Strange: The Epic Journey of Cabeza de Vaca by Andre Resendez.
>In 1528, a mission set out from Spain to colonize Florida. But the expedition went horribly wrong: Delayed by a hurricane, knocked off course by a colossal error of navigation, and ultimately doomed by a disastrous decision to separate the men from their ships, the mission quickly became a desperate journey of survival.
>Of the three hundred men who had embarked on the journey, only four survived—three Spaniards and an African slave. This tiny band endured a horrific march through Florida, a harrowing raft passage across the Louisiana coast, and years of enslavement in the American Southwest. They journeyed for almost ten years in search of the Pacific Ocean that would guide them home, and they were forever changed by their experience. The men lived with a variety of nomadic Indians and learned several indigenous languages. They saw lands, peoples, plants, and animals that no outsider had ever seen before.
An amazing book covering events coinciding with Cortes' conquering of the Aztecs, things I was never taught in history class in the U.S.