Cabeza de Vaca's Adventures in the Unknown Interior of America (Zia Book)

"Cabeza de Vaca was not only a physical trailblazer: he was also a literary pioneer, and he deserves the distinction of being called the Southwest's first writer.... The Relacion, while not fiction, possesses most of the attributes of a good novel."--William T. Pilkington

I found that this short historical report could work in a literature class under such themes as a Quest/Personal Journey tale, or as Discovery epic, or as a report on Native-American societies in the inland of the Continent, or as a solid Adventure story. Cabeza de Vaca survived a 9-year "Outward Bound" challenge.

At whatever level or approach that you want to encounter this book, just be sure that you make time for it. Remarkable, it really is.


Stunning true story   March 18, 1999
John (CA)
14 out of 15 found this review helpful

After reading Cabeza de Vaca's account, it is hard to believe his tale hasn't been made into an epic movie. Of course, the story's treatment of Indians as real, complex people would not have worked in the era of the cowboy-and-Indian movies. Ironically, now that attitudes toward Native Americans would allow a sensitive treatment, such a vast story would be prohibitively expensive to shoot and take several hours to tell properly. But the payoff would be immense. When the lights came up, the viewers would wonder how they ever could have settled for the mythical movie "Dances with Wolves".

Note: Cabeza de Vaca's story is paraphrased in a book called "Journey into Darkness". It helps greatly in understanding the true nature of his journey, telling, for example, what Indian tribes he may have been encountering and where exactly he was at a given time. Incidently, Cabeza de Vaca greatly underestimated the distance he had traveled.


The best 500 year old account you'll ever read   May 9, 2001
Scott Swindle (Iraq)
13 out of 13 found this review helpful

Cabeza de Vaca and some of his fellow Spaniards went through some incredible hardships as some of the first Europeans in the New World. They first set out on an ill-advised voyage from Cuba to Florida, where they lost their ships. They built primitive boats which they intended to sail around the coast to Mexico. They went past Mobile Bay, then cut across the Gulf to Texas, where they were captured by the local tribe. Of the 300 Spaniards who left out on the voyage, only 4 survived to tell the tale. De Vaca spent years as a slave to the Indians. He was half-starved (as were his hosts), regularly beaten, and naked. He eventualy linked up with some of his surviving comrades, including a Moorish slave, and they began an epic journey across what is now the Southwest United States and Northern Mexico. He gained a reputation as a medicine man, and soon had an entourage of thousands that travelled with him from village to village. When he finally reached Spanish settlements on the Pacific, the only thing his fellow 'civilized' men were interested in were his followers, which they saw as easy prey for slaves. De Vaca tried in vain to stop the slavers. This was a man who never lost his faith in God or his faith in man. It is simly an incredible journey, and one that does not get enough attention. Though this account is nearly half a millenium old, the translation is easy to read and not at all boring.


An Unknown Chapter in American History   September 14, 2002
John R. Foulks (Pueblo West, CO United States)
12 out of 14 found this review helpful

When I first moved to the Southwest, I asked locals to recommend books to learn about the area. I am so glad someone recommended this. I had never heard of Cabeza de Vaca. His peregrinations through the terra incognita of America in the early 1500's led me to the whole obscured chapter of the history of North America: when much of it was a colony of Spain. Cabeza de Vaca & his few companion shipwreck survivors started it all. His tales of what he'd seen (& heard of) in what's now the American Southwest led to Coronado's quest for the golden Cities of Cibola (guided by Esteban,a black servant who had been one of de Vaca's companions); & directly to the European settlement of the region centuries earlier than it otherwise would have happened. In most history books, the Spanish colonization is-AT BEST-a footnote in a history that begins with the Pilgrims (a century LATER).
And to archaeologists: take heed! Not all explorers of a new land leave distinctive artifacts to mark their passage. If not for de Vaca's written description of his experiences, which led directly to the Coronado expedition, this journey would be "unknown".
Its a shame that history books are so biased toward the "east-to-west" Anglo. version of American history; nobody should miss wonderful episodes like Cabeza de Vaca's 8-year odyssey. This chapter in history shouldn't be "unknown" to anybody!


Why isn't Cabeza de Vaca better-known among Christians?   November 8, 2002
10 out of 18 found this review helpful

I asked myself that question after I finished re-reading this book recently. Part of the answer may be that it has something to embarass Christians of every stripe.

For Catholics, we have a group of laymen doing miracle healings through prayer, and more to the point, they did so even though they had no contact with a priest for 6+ years.

For Protestants who believe that signs and wonders ceased with the Apostles, the miracle healings are again an embarassment. For Pentacostals, we have them being done by Catholics, at a time (circa 1530) when Catholicism was probably at its absolute rottenest.

And most disturbingly, for those who assure others that God will bail us out materially when we enter into hard times, we have the spectacle of a distinguised nobleman soldier who ends up becoming the naked slave of the poorest Indians on the Texas coast, from whom he escapes only by undertaking a journey on which he is constantly on the verge of dying from cold, starvation, and thirst.

As a Protestant missionary, this last aspect is the most instructive. As much as we like to tell people that God will indeed bail them out, we have to remember that we are indeed His creatures, and that His kingdom may well be advanced best by stripping us of all we have and sending us naked into the brush for 6 years to do His work. Personally, I find that reality much more believable than the claim that God wants us all to be materially prosperous.

I might also note that those who believe that America was a paradise bbefore the White Man will get a real jolt from Cabeza de Vaca's description of warfare, slavery, and infanticide among Indians.

So buy this book--it's almost certain to offend you somehow!