The Apalaches of 1528

Apalache games in the 1500s

Soon after landing his 300-man force near Tampa Bay, Narváez acquired a small golden rattle and a few other gold samples from the local natives. They surely had come from wrecked Spanish vessels, not from any natural source in the Southeast. Narváez preferred to think the gold had come from another rich kingdom, such as Teotihuacán of the Mexica, which his rival Hernán Cortés had conquered a few years earlier. The local natives around Tampa Bay, hoping to be rid of these brutal foreigners, had indicated there was plenty of that yellow metal to the north in the prosperous chiefdom of Apalache. After a grueling two-month march, the Spaniards reached Apalache to find a village of 40 structures and prosperous farms, but no more gold. Still, Narváez took their chief hostage

and occupied their village. Needless to say, the Apalaches took offense and attacked repeatedly. They proved to be brave and ferocious guerrilla fighters who were sometimes a match for even well-armed Spaniards with horses. During that month in the village, the Spaniards explored the surrounding countryside and found nothing more promising. What’s more, they were unable to subdue the Apalaches, who continued to harass and wound their men and horses. As the situation became untenable, the Spaniards’ best option was to head south to the coast and hope to reconnect with their ships. According to the natives, eight or nine days of travel would take them to the coastal village of Aute with more food supplies. But the trip would be hard and would lead to a fateful decision at the “Bay of Horses.”

In the Narváez story, what if...?

Part of a 1559 map of La Florida, 31 years after the Narváez expedition. The "Baya de Baxos" might indicate the St. Marks, Florida estuary, likely the Narváez "Bay of Horses."

History is full of those fascinating what-if alternatives that we like to think might have changed everything. In the story of the Narváez expedition, the what-ifs are fascinating. For instance, what if instead of first spending a fruitless month searching for treasure around Apalache, Narváez had immediately sent a detachment to the coast to look for and reestablish contact with their support ships, which were still cruising the coast in search of them? Then, after giving up on Apalache, they could have sailed farther west along the coast to a good harbor such as those at Pensacola or Mobile Bay. Rested and reprovisioned, they could have launched another invasion from there and/or founded a colony, which the king had authorized them to do. Narváez might now be famous for having established the first permanent settlement in the U.S. (predating St. Augustine by 37 years). Or what if the debilitated and desperate Spaniards, instead of trying to escape westward to Pánuco (then, a Spanish province and settlement in northeast Mexico) in their handmade boats—a coastal distance of over 1,200 miles—had sailed southeastward and back along the coast toward Tampa Bay to reconnect with their ships at the original landing site, only a couple hundred miles away? Of course, not knowing their longitude or that of Pánuco, they had no idea the distances were so different. Either way, could Narváez have lived longer to become a more famous and enduring character in our history? Given his careless nature, maybe not.

La Florida in the Little Ice Age

The Spanish conquests in the New World took place in the 16th century during a period of cooler drier climate in the Northern Hemisphere. Known as the “Little Ice Age”, it lasted from about 1300 to about 1850. Evidence of it is seen in tree ring data and in its many historical impacts on agriculture and other human endeavors. In his account of the Narváez expedition, Cabeza de Vaca describes the natural environment at Apalache (Tallahassee, FL area) during June and July in 1528, and makes the surprising comment that, “There, the country is very cold.” It surely was cooler on average during the LIA relative to modern times, at least in the Northern Hemisphere. And the Florida panhandle was no doubt cooler than Cuba or Central Florida, where these men had recently come from. Why does this matter for the Narváez history? After six weeks of boat building near St. Marks, FL, they departed on October 2 (modern Gregorian calendar is 10 days later than their Julian calendar) westward along the coast toward Mexico. Their five boats were finally wrecked on the northern coast of Texas around November 16 after delays of a week or so due to cold northerly winds. Had they reached that point a month earlier, more favorable conditions might have allowed them to regather their strength and continue along the coast as it angled more southward. But the die was cast, and all but four perished on or near that coast.

Source: Wikipedia