Cabeza deVaca explores Texas Territories

In the late 1600s, French and Spanish explorations in Texas. A noteable explorer of the area was Cabeza deVaca, a Spanish explorer of the New World, and one of four survivors of the 1527 Narváez expedition. He traveled on foot through the then-colonized territories of Texas and the Gulf Coast, but encountered no other Europeans. During eight years of traveling across what is now the US Southwest, he became a trader and faith healer to various Native American tribes before reconnecting with Spanish civilization in Mexico in 1536.  Cabeza de Vaca is sometimes considered a proto-anthropologist for his detailed accounts of the many tribes of Native Americans that he encountered. Tonkawa Indians are noted in the area.