from the Indian and asked what it was. He said it had come from heaven, but when we asked who had brought it, he answered that some men, with beards like ours, had come from heaven to that river; that they rode on animals like very large deer; carried lances and swords; and that they had lanced two Indians.
'As cautiously as possible, we then inquired what had become of those men, and they replied that they had gone to the sea, putting their lances into the water and moving them, and that afterward they saw men on top of the waves heading toward the sunset. We gave God our Lord many thanks for what we had heard, for we had been despairing to ever hear of Christians again.'
During the last days of the journey, Cabeza took an extraordinary interest in Garcilaco, and one morning he cradled the boy's face in his weathered hands and looked deep into his eyes: 'Lad, you were not meant to be a muleteer. But to accomplish anything, you must learn to read and write.' And with an almost furious determination, he taught the lad, as they walked with the mules, the alphabet, and when they stopped to rest he would draw the letters in the ground with a stick.
Cabeza was also eager to share his specific knowledge of the land he had traversed, as if he were afraid that valuable learning might be lost. He described the many Indian tribes, taught Garcilaco some of the phrases they spoke, said that dog was good to eat, and warned of the many dangers the boy would encounter if he ever went 'up there.'
The night before the two parted company, Cabeza grasped Garcilaco's hands and said: 'Lad, if ever the chance arrives, goup there, because that's where fame and fortune will be found—in the fabled Seven Cities of Cibola.'
On the day after the arrival of the mule team in the capital, it was reloaded and back on the trail to Vera Cruz, so that Garcilaco saw Cabeza no more, but many years later, when he was hauling freight to Guadalajara, an army captain said: 'I knew Cabeza de Vaca in Paraguay. Yes, when he returned to Spain he sought the governorship of Florida, but learned to his great disappointment that this plum had already been awarded his fellow explorer Her-
nando de Soto, and he had to settle for a miserable post in Paraguay.'
'Did he succeed in that job?' Garcilaco asked, and the man said: 'Oh, no! They nibbled at him, brought infamous charges against him, and I think he left the country in chains. I know he was in jail for seven years in Spain. My sister-in-law's brother knew him.'
'What happened?' Garcilaco asked, and the captain said: 'I saw him in Africa when I served there. Banished, he was, a man who walked alone, talking with the stars. Years later the emperor came to his senses, brought this honorable man back to court, and paid him a yearly stipend which enabled him to live in relative comfort.'
At age sixty-five, Cabeza de Vaca, the first white man to have journeyed into Texas and across its vast plains, died. Texas, a state which would always honor the brave, had its first true hero.
The miracle of perfect wisdom and sage decision which Garcilaco had expected at age eleven did not materialize; nor at twelve, either. For some days after Cabeza de Vaca's departure the boy wept softly when he went to bed, and for many weeks he recited the alphabet while trudging along with his mules. But one day, when the master caught him looking at the few pages Cabeza had given him, he grabbed them in a rage and tore them up: 'You have no business with learning. Your life is with the mules.' But the master could not take away the boy's knowledge of the stars, and when Orion rose, Garcilaco could see the figure of Cabeza among those brilliant dots of light.
For two long and miserable years he led his mules past the volcanoes, whose charm had fled, and he was supported only by the memory of his brief friendship with Cabeza, foremost of the king's gentlemen, and the hope the latter imparted that day when he took the boy's face in his
'As cautiously as possible, we then inquired what had become of those men, and they replied that they had gone to the sea, putting their lances into the water and moving them, and that afterward they saw men on top of the waves heading toward the sunset. We gave God our Lord many thanks for what we had heard, for we had been despairing to ever hear of Christians again.'
During the last days of the journey, Cabeza took an extraordinary interest in Garcilaco, and one morning he cradled the boy's face in his weathered hands and looked deep into his eyes: 'Lad, you were not meant to be a muleteer. But to accomplish anything, you must learn to read and write.' And with an almost furious determination, he taught the lad, as they walked with the mules, the alphabet, and when they stopped to rest he would draw the letters in the ground with a stick.
Cabeza was also eager to share his specific knowledge of the land he had traversed, as if he were afraid that valuable learning might be lost. He described the many Indian tribes, taught Garcilaco some of the phrases they spoke, said that dog was good to eat, and warned of the many dangers the boy would encounter if he ever went 'up there.'
The night before the two parted company, Cabeza grasped Garcilaco's hands and said: 'Lad, if ever the chance arrives, goup there, because that's where fame and fortune will be found—in the fabled Seven Cities of Cibola.'
On the day after the arrival of the mule team in the capital, it was reloaded and back on the trail to Vera Cruz, so that Garcilaco saw Cabeza no more, but many years later, when he was hauling freight to Guadalajara, an army captain said: 'I knew Cabeza de Vaca in Paraguay. Yes, when he returned to Spain he sought the governorship of Florida, but learned to his great disappointment that this plum had already been awarded his fellow explorer Her-
nando de Soto, and he had to settle for a miserable post in Paraguay.'
'Did he succeed in that job?' Garcilaco asked, and the man said: 'Oh, no! They nibbled at him, brought infamous charges against him, and I think he left the country in chains. I know he was in jail for seven years in Spain. My sister-in-law's brother knew him.'
'What happened?' Garcilaco asked, and the captain said: 'I saw him in Africa when I served there. Banished, he was, a man who walked alone, talking with the stars. Years later the emperor came to his senses, brought this honorable man back to court, and paid him a yearly stipend which enabled him to live in relative comfort.'
At age sixty-five, Cabeza de Vaca, the first white man to have journeyed into Texas and across its vast plains, died. Texas, a state which would always honor the brave, had its first true hero.
The miracle of perfect wisdom and sage decision which Garcilaco had expected at age eleven did not materialize; nor at twelve, either. For some days after Cabeza de Vaca's departure the boy wept softly when he went to bed, and for many weeks he recited the alphabet while trudging along with his mules. But one day, when the master caught him looking at the few pages Cabeza had given him, he grabbed them in a rage and tore them up: 'You have no business with learning. Your life is with the mules.' But the master could not take away the boy's knowledge of the stars, and when Orion rose, Garcilaco could see the figure of Cabeza among those brilliant dots of light.
For two long and miserable years he led his mules past the volcanoes, whose charm had fled, and he was supported only by the memory of his brief friendship with Cabeza, foremost of the king's gentlemen, and the hope the latter imparted that day when he took the boy's face in his
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