The following article is part two in a series examining the history versus the myths of the region.

While the idea that an early Welsh explorer could have landed in North America, and at Mobile Point no less, is intriguing to say the least.  However, it is equally fascinating and within the realm of possibility that the region was discovered, scouted and explored by the Europeans that written history has given us.  The Spanish, French and English explorers and settlers have, in their own right, a fascination that cannot be equaled by the perceived tall tale that is the Madoc legend.  Three early explorers in this area can be traced through documentation and provide an enthralling account of the earliest known European advancement into the Gulf of Mexico and onto the North American Gulf Coast.  The adventurers Alonso Alvarez de Pineda and Panfilo de Narvaez were the first explorers to visit the coast of present-day Alabama while the Hernando de Soto party forced their way into the interior by 1539.

In 1519 Pineda led a Spanish expedition that sailed along the coastline of the Gulf of Mexico from Florida to Mexico in order to map the region.  He and his men became the first to chart the Gulf region between the previous discoveries of Juan Ponce d Leon in Florida and Diego Velazquez in Mexico.  Pineda’s intent was to explore the land between the two discoveries in an attempt to uncover a waterway to the Pacific Ocean.  At that time the Spanish still hoped to find a direct link to Asia from the Atlantic via the Gulf of Mexico.  The expedition consisted of four ships with 270 men that sailed from Jamaica in March 1519.  It is also believed that Pineda sailed up the Mississippi River that same year after having named it Rio del Espiritu Santo.

Pineda was, throughout his life, a shadowy character.  In birth and in death he was only slightly known mainly through the writings of Spaniards that he was associated with and worked for as a commander of men.  It is through sources not of his own making that we know of his contributions to American history.  Much more is known and documented about the exploration led by Panfilo de Narvaez in 1527.  Narvaez convinced Spanish King Charles V to allow him the opportunity to explore North America in search of wealthy empires rumored to rival that of the Aztec.  In the spring 1527 he sailed with a compliment of five ships and around 600 Spanish soldiers for the coast of Florida.  The group landed near present day Tampa Bay in the spring 1528.

Soon after making landfall the unit advanced inland through the Florida panhandle.  They immediately began to take advantage of the inhabitants of the region raiding their storehouses to replenish quickly dwindling supplies.  As a result they faced ever increasing levels of tension and animosity from the Indian population.  The scant supplies managed by the Spanish and their subsequent pillaging of the locals became a harbinger of things to come for the expedition.

Unaccustomed to the harsh environment of the palmetto swamps they encountered and as a result of the reduced rations the Spanish became weaker and succumbed to heat exhaustion and exposure.  What’s more, as a result of the ill treatment they levied on the Indians they encountered the group was constantly harassed by angry natives seeking revenge.

In the end Narvaez sought a way out for his beleaguered men and doomed expedition by sailing away from Florida.  Unfortunately he had lost contact with his ships which remained for a time in the Gulf awaiting his arrival.  He had his men construct rafts in order to make their escape.  The rafts were wrecked in a storm and most of the men on them were lost.  It is believed by some historians that Narvaez was lost in the sinking of the rafts but there is no definitive answer as he was never seen again after the rafting accident.  Only four of the men that Narvaez began his journey with survived to tell their story after a harrowing journey overland back to Mexico.  The most far reaching expedition, however, was yet to occur.  In May 1539 Hernando de Soto plunged headlong into the wilderness of Alabama and with him history was changed.  We will examine his journey next week.