Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca
An item at American Writers Museum
Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca was the treasurer of a 1528 expedition intended to claim the Gulf Coast for the Spanish crown. Instead, a series of calamities forced Cabeza de Vaca to spend eight years wandering the region encircling the Gulf of Mexico-walking from central Florida across southern Texas, eventually arriving in Mexico City.
Cabeza de Vaca's 1537 narrative about his remarkable experience was the first detailed account by a European about what is now the United States. His writings introduced readers to the wondrous flora and fauna of this new world, as well as to its indigenous people, and inspired subsequent expeditions to America.
AMERICAN VOICES
An exhibit at American Writers Museum
American writing is distinctive, diverse, and comes in many forms from across the nation. The 100 authors featured here represent the evolution of American writing. Learn more about each writer on the timeline by turning the panels below their portraits. Explore centuries of writing by pulling, turning, and touching the interactive elements on the counter.
This is not meant to be a list of the greatest or most influential writers. Instead, we present authors and works as part of the American story as it grows and changes. Taken together, this rich literary heritage reflects America in all of its complexity: its energy, hope, conflict, disillusionment, and creativity.