After surviving a shipwreck
in Florida, Cabeza de Vaca and two other men spent seven years
wandering across America as the slaves of Indians. (Click here for more) This map shows the
route of their extraordinary odyssey. After crossing the
continent they were finally reunited with their countrymen in
Mexico. This was the first recorded transcontinental
adventure by a European.
Cabeza de Vaca, the first European to cross the North