Alonso Alvarez de Piñeda explores the Gulf of Mexico and Is the First European to See the Mississippi River

Overview

The Gulf of Mexico was the first real entry point to the North American mainland, but by the time Christopher Columbus (c. 1451-1506) came to America in 1492, it was still unexplored. The sixteenth century, however, saw a rapid increase in Spanish exploration of the Americas, with Vasco Núñez de Balboa (1475-1519), Juan Ponce de León (c. 1460-1521), and Hernán Cortés (1485-1547) headlining the major conquests of Cuba, Mexico, and South America. But it was a lesser known and less-fabled explorer, Alonso Alvarez de Piñeda (d. 1520), who first sailed the entire Gulf of Mexico coastline, spotting the Mississippi River and confirming that Florida was not an island, as was previously believed. Piñeda's observations contributed to the exploration of the Mississippi later by Hernando de Soto (c. 1496-1542), opening North America to its era of European discovery.

Background

In 1492 Christopher Columbus landed on the northeastern shore of Cuba, and unable to explore the Gulf side of the island successfully, claimed that Cuba was actually a peninsula, and that no body of water—the Gulf of Mexico—existed. In fact, all of the great bodies of water were thought by the Spanish to be one sea, called "el mar oceana," or "the Ocean Sea."

Columbus, like many of the explorers of the early sixteenth century, was looking for gold, habitable islands, and strategic trading ports for Spain, who had "split" the world with Portugal to explore and exploit. The Spanish were prolific: Juan Ponce de León, in 1508, landed in Puerto Rico, and eventually became governor of the island. By 1510, Diego Velásquez de Cuéllar (1465-1524) had invaded Cuba, planning to conquer the island, and engaged in bloody combat with the Arawak tribe, eventually defeating them and taking control the island. In the mean time, Ponce de León explored the coast of Florida, supposedly in search of the "Fountain of Youth" among other objectives, and declared the peninsula an island. Ponce de León theorized that a channel of water ran across the state, and it would be the impetus for Alvarez de Piñeda's explorations a decade later.

Hernán Cortés, a violent, impulsive man, set out from Cuba to explore the mainland of Mexico in order to confirm reports of the existence of large, native civilizations in the interior. His plan, however, was to conquer these tribes and search for gold, and he eventually would terrorize the Aztecs throughout Mexico. While planning his strategy, he heard about a plan to send four ships from Jamaica to explore the unknown northern coast. The man responsible for the ships was Governor Francisco de Garay of Jamaica, a Spanish business man of sorts who had lucked into his appointed position in Jamaica after the previous governor had died.

Garay, who had sailed with Columbus on his journey to the West Indies, had been in and out of debt before he left for Jamaica and intended to employ the conquered native population there to develop sugar cane and cotton and build the island's economy. Much to his disappointment, most of the natives had left, and his agriculture plans failed. Having used a good portion of his money, and facing debt again, he finally got permission to obtain four ships for exploration of the lands north of him. He was to search between Ponce de León's discoveries and those of Velásquez for the purported channel across Florida that connected what was the Gulf of Mexico to the "South Sea," or the Atlantic Ocean.

While Garay was organizing his expedition, he elected Alonso Alvarez de Piñeda to lead the ships along the coast. Alvarez left Jamaica in March of 1519. By now, Cortés had begun his attacks on the Aztecs, and was thick into the interior of Mexico. Alvarez left through the Yucatan channel and sailed north until he spotted what is now western Florida. Assuming it was an island, as Ponce de León had claimed, he traveled to its tip, never encountering the alleged channel that would send him across to the South Sea. He may not have found the passage, but Alvarez de Piñeda discovered that Florida was indeed a peninsula.

The ships turned back to the west, following along the coast, recording observations of Alabama's coastal islands and the exit of the Mississippi River, which purged a wide, strong current of muddy water into the Gulf. All along the coast Alvarez noted small native villages, fertile land, ports, and rivers. By observing the jewels worn by the Native Americans along his route, he determined that the rivers held "fine gold." He also noted that the people he encountered were friendly, and would therefore be easily converted to the Catholic faith, a habit of the Spanish conquistadors. Alvarez de Piñeda also claimed to have seen giants and dwarfs among the Indians he met.

At this point, after sailing along Texas and claiming it for Spain, Alvarez encountered Cortés in the beginnings of his conquest of the Aztec Empire. He sailed up the Veracruz coast and the Rio Panuco about 20 miles (32 km). Here the ships stayed for 40 days, where the crew resupplied and fortified the vessels. Alvarez then returned to Jamaica and presented Garay with his rough sketch of the Gulf of Mexico, the first of its kind that didn't speculate on the land forms and bodies of water en route, but actually confirmed them. Alvarez had proven Florida's geography and discovered the greatest river in America.

Impact

The officials representing King Charles V of Spain received the map, and claimed that Garay, Velásquez, and Ponce de León had collectively solved the geographic questions of the Gulf of Mexico. Garay was given permission to colonize the land that Alvarez de Piñeda had observed, which was the Texas gulf coast, and call it "Amichel." He sent three ships back, with 240 soldiers, horses, and musketeers with Alvarez de Piñeda as captain. Although the Huasteca Indians were friendly on Alvarez's first journey, they turned violent when he landed with his men. Although no records have proven the crew's fate, it is believed that the Huasteca killed all of the soldiers, horses, and Alvarez de Piñeda.

Garay, in Jamaica, had no idea of the massacre by the Huasteca. In fact, he dispatched two additional ships with more supplies for the new colonizers. The captain of this effort, Miguel Diaz de Aux, arrived on the coast but found no indication that Piñeda had settled. While sailing down the coast, still searching, his ships were caught in a squall, and he brought them ashore, only to have his men join Cortés's ongoing conquest of the Aztecs.

It wasn't until 1539, when Hernando de Soto sailed back to Florida, that the Mississippi River was more thoroughly explored. In 1541 he arrived at the river south of what is now Memphis, Tennessee. While de Soto had hoped to conquer the Indians and find gold in their river, he and his crew were repeatedly attacked by tribes along the shore. In the end it was the Mississippi floods that beat down the Spanish, and de Soto, who was buried there, never established his empire. Nevertheless, the initial discoveries by Alvarez along the Gulf Coast were the first steps in the long and turbulent history of the European colonization of the Americas.

LOLLY MERRELL