Oh my! Shipwrecked on the west coast of Florida in 1527, Cabeza de Vaca and three other survivors spent the next nine years seeking “Christians” in the midst of Indians as they traversed the U.S., ending in New Spain, what is now Arizona. There were none. This small band was the first. In the beginning, they were reviled and enslaved. By the end, they were worshipped as healers and gods. In Arizona, they were discovered by a group of Spanish soldiers on an expedition to capture Indian slaves.
A rare first-hand account and an easy, short read -- a “must” read if you are interested in American history – and how completely populated the entire south of the now U.S. was with native tribes.