USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Spanish explorer Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca first set foot on land that would become Texas in 1528, when his crude raft ran aground near Galveston Island. The raft held survivors of an ill-fated Spanish expedition to settle Florida.

Detailed explanation-2: -Karankawas were the first people Spanish explorer Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca met when he washed up on the Texas shore near Galveston Island in 1528. Their meeting was the first documented encounter between American Indians and Europeans in present day Texas.

Detailed explanation-3: -All of the craft eventually made landfall along the Texas coast from near Galveston Island to Matagorda Peninsula. The raft captained by Cabeza de Vaca came ashore on present-day Follets Island, as did another, leaving about ninety Spaniards and at least one African slave on soil of the future Lone Star State.

Detailed explanation-4: -Captured by the Karankawa Natives, they lived in virtual bondage for nearly two years. Only after Cabeza de Vaca had won the respect of the Karankawa by becoming a skilled medicine man and diplomat did the small band win their freedom.