From Florida to Mexico: The Fate of the Narváez Crew

Pánfilo de Narváez’s story is one of the most dramatic early chapters in Florida history, and it began on April 14, 1528, when he arrived along the Pinellas coast with soldiers, horses and a royal order to claim land along the Gulf Coast.  This would mark the first inland expedition of the U.S by Europeans.

Things went wrong almost immediately. After sending his supply ships ahead to a nearby harbor, Narváez and his men marched inland, expecting to meet them later.

The ships never found the right inlet, searched for nearly a year and eventually returned to Spain. Narváez and his men were stranded in a place they barely understood. The group pushed north toward the Apalachee, near present day Tallahassee, but the journey turned tense after they seized food and took a chief hostage.

Constant attacks and illness weakened the expedition, and with supplies running out, Narváez led his men to the Gulf to build five crude barges from pine, pitch and whatever fabric they had left.

In September 1528, they set out for Mexico, only to be hit by storms along the coast. Most of the men died, including Narváez. Only four survivors reached Mexico City years later, including Estevanico, an enslaved Moroccan Moor and the earliest documented African explorer in North America, as well as Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, whose account “ La Relacion” shaped future expeditions.