Cabeza De Vaca Survival

A Conquistador No More There’s a rustle in the trees, and the area you are in has been known for savage cannibals, while mosquitoes cover your body in the swamp. You have little food and water; you are nauseous because of hunger, thirst, and lack of blood. In this difficult situation and more, Cabeza de Vaca, a famous conquistador, overcame these hardships, along with only 3 other people who all began with 400 other men, and walked for 21 months to Mexico City. He was the treasurer of a ship led by Narvaez in search for treasure and land, but the expedition crashed into modern-day Tampa Bay. A question lingers, how did Cabeza survive? Cabeza survived because of his wilderness skills, success as a healer, and his respect toward the Native Americans. One reason Cabeza survived is his wilderness skills. He came up with many ways to …show more content…
“The journey took 21 months and required… the goodwill of many Native Americans met along the way.” He showed respect to the Indians, so they showed respect back and helped him across the journey.” This leads us to our final reason that Cabeza survived. Our conquistador has respected the Natives, Used his survival skills to live, and our final reason listed is his success as a healer. He had healed a Native American that had been shot by an arrow, and “this cure gave us a great reputation among them throughout the whole land.” (Document C) This reputation bumped him up from the rank of a slave to an appreciated trader. Without this the favor of the Native Americans, Cabeza would probably be dead because of malnutrition or another way of some sort. The helpless explorer survived because of his wilderness skills, success as a healer, and respect toward the Native Americans. Honestly, I come nowhere near to him in any of his street smarts. He wouldn’t be alive without his very special combination of skill and patience. It really is one out of