Narváez and Cabeza De Vaca are identified as Spanish conquistadors from the Age of Discovery. The term conquistador, which translates as "conqueror," can also be applied to the explorers and soldiers who were engaged in the mission.
To find the most likely route of the conquistadors, I referred to the 1882 map of Hillsborough County which was published before there were cars or paved roads. The paths shown on the map had been traveled by natives for centuries ‒ longstanding routes used for commerce, hunting, and social interaction.
Transposed current map (Google) with 1882 map.
First excursion
After another day the Governor resolved to penetrate inland to explore the country and see what it contained. We went with him -- the commissary, the inspector and myself, with forty men, among them six horsemen, who seemed likely to be of but little use. We took the direction of the north, and at the hour of vespers reached a very large bay, which appeared to sweep far inland. After remaining there that night and the next day, we returned to the place where the vessels and the men were...
Second excursion
...we again penetrated inland, the same persons as before, with some more men. We followed the shore of the bay, and, after a march of four leagues, captured four Indians, to whom we showed maize in order to find out if they knew it, for until then we had seen no trace of it. They told us that they would take us to a place where there was maize and they led us to their village, at the end of the bay nearby, and there they showed us some that was not yet fit to be gathered.
To find the most likely route of the conquistadors, I referred to the 1882 map of Hillsborough County which was published before there were cars or paved roads. The paths shown on the map had been traveled by natives for centuries ‒ longstanding routes used for commerce, hunting, and social interaction.
The Spanish explorers, traveling in an unknown land, probably stayed near the beaten path which closely follows current day US-19 most of the way. They would have marched northeast through Jungle Prada and Azalea Park to US-19, then north through Lealman, Pinellas Park, Highpoint, Safety Harbor, and Oldsmar.
 |
| Narvaez Expedition on Comic Vine |
April 15th is the anniversary of the Narváez landing in 1528.
⭐ View Post: The Narváez Expedition Lands at the Jungle Prada Site in 1528
Black line follows the paths found on the 1882 map. The excursions began at the Jungle Prada Site at the bottom of the map. Dotted line is where there is no path on map, but the possible route of the explorers.
Red dotted line is the extended route taken on the second trip, as described by Alvar Nuñez Cabeza De Vaca.
First excursion distance is about 16 miles (5+ hours walking).
Second excursion additional distance is about 10.4 miles (4 hours walking), described by Cabeza de Vaca as four leagues (see below).
Excerpts from Cabeza de Vaca's La Relación ("The Account"), translated by Fanny Bandelier (1905)
First excursion
After another day the Governor resolved to penetrate inland to explore the country and see what it contained. We went with him -- the commissary, the inspector and myself, with forty men, among them six horsemen, who seemed likely to be of but little use. We took the direction of the north, and at the hour of vespers reached a very large bay, which appeared to sweep far inland. After remaining there that night and the next day, we returned to the place where the vessels and the men were...
Second excursion
...we again penetrated inland, the same persons as before, with some more men. We followed the shore of the bay, and, after a march of four leagues, captured four Indians, to whom we showed maize in order to find out if they knew it, for until then we had seen no trace of it. They told us that they would take us to a place where there was maize and they led us to their village, at the end of the bay nearby, and there they showed us some that was not yet fit to be gathered.
 |
| Section of 1882 map used in transposed image showing paths (thin dotted lines) used by the natives. |
There certainly must have been shortcuts that natives used to reach the Safety Harbor vicinity from the Jungle, but the explorers had no guides and were completely unaware of their surroundings. They had no destination in mind and were not even searching for the bay, so it is probable that they followed the main pathways. The additional distance on the second excursion (red dotted line to Safety Harbor at the tip of Tampa Bay) corresponds with the account of traveling four leagues along the coast to "the end of the bay nearby."
To my knowledge, a detailed map of the explorers' probable route across the Pinellas peninsula has not been published elsewhere. In 1924, the Florida Historical Quarterly published this map:
 |
| Phinney, A. H. (1924) "Narvaez and de Soto: Their Landing Places and the Town of Espirito Santo," Florida Historical Quarterly: Vol. 3 : No. 3 , Article 5, Available at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/fhq/vol3/iss3/5 |
