A Land So Strange: The Epic Journey of Cabeza de Vaca

This is why I browse, no number of trips to Amazon would have landed me here. A western books catalog that I think I discovered while in Idaho (93-94) brought this to my attention.

_A Land So Strange_ is a vivid account of a bit of history that I did not know. Starting in 1528, the 300 survivors of a wrecked expedition walked from present-day Tampa Bay to Apalachee Bay, where the Panhandle starts, then rafted to the Texas coast. In Texas the natives enslaved the helpless explorers for several years. Eventually four of them, three royal servants and a Moroccan slave, were able to escape and keep walking... to the Pacific Coast of Mexico!!! They then struck south, and encountered a group of Spanish Calvary on a slaving mission near Culiacan, Mexico. In 1536.

As the castaways headed west from Texas their reputation preceded them, and they became known as great healers of the sick. They did posses some knowledge, and performed a couple of successful operations. Mainly, however,they relied on the sign of the cross and their faith. By the end of their disastrous tour of the new (to them) continent, they were convinced they truly on a mission from God.

The Moroccan was killed by natives while acting as a scout for a later expedition to Northern Mexico. The two other lieutenants settled in Mexico and lived the rest of their days as landed gentry.

Cabeza de Vaca, who started out as the expedition's Treasury Secretary, was most affected. Once reunited with his countrymen, he traveled back to Spain to urge the King to take a more humanitarian course with his future subjects. Failing this, he sought and was granted his own expedition, to modern day Rio de Plata, in South American Uruguay, Paraguay, and Argentina.

He attempted a more enlightened approach but failed. The natives in the Rio de Plata region balked at his attempted forced conversions. His fellow conquistadors, lacking his humanitarian insights, demanded their due and eventually had their leader sent back to Spain in chains, humiliated.

A fascinating look at North America in the early 1500s, and insight into the growth of a man of faith, and his eventually fall. Highly recommended.

History written with intelligence and flair! A real page turner, about a small group of Spaniards who got stranded in Florida and who made their way (on foot) to Mexico - it took them 9 years!. Pick up a few good tips about survival - just in case you ever find yourself in similar circumstances. yes there is life without 911, GPS and a cell phone