document_title: Blue Bell Creameries

question_text: where is blue bell ice cream sold in virginia

text: Blue Bell Creameries

text: History[edit]

text: The company has its roots in the Brenham Creamery Company, which opened in 1907 to purchase excess cream from local dairy farmers and sell butter to people in Brenham, Texas, a town situated approximately 70 miles northwest of Houston. In 1911, the creamery began to produce small quantities of ice cream.[4]

text: By 1919, the creamery was in financial trouble and considered closing its doors. The board of directors hired E.F. Kruse, a 23-year-old former schoolteacher, to take over the company on April 1, 1919. Kruse refused to accept a salary for his first few months in the position so that the company would not be placed in further debt.[5] Under his leadership, the company expanded its production of ice cream to the surrounding Brenham area and soon became profitable. At his suggestion, the company was renamed Blue Bell Creameries in 1930 after the Texas Bluebell, a wildflower native to Texas, and which like ice cream thrives during the summer.[3][4]

text: Until 1936, the creamery made ice cream by the batch. It could create a 10-US-gallon (38 L) batch of ice cream every 20 minutes. That same year, in 1936, the company purchased its first continuous ice cream freezer, which could make 80 US gallons (300 L) of ice cream per hour. The ice cream would run through a spigot, allowing it to be poured into any size container.[6]

text: Kruse was diagnosed with cancer in 1951 and died within 8 weeks. His sons Ed and Howard took over leadership of the company. By the 1960s, the company completely abandoned the production of butter and began focusing solely on ice cream. After many years of selling ice cream only in Brenham, the company began selling its ice cream in the Houston area, eventually expanding throughout most of Texas including the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex and the state capital of Austin. By the end of the 1970s, sales had quadrupled, and by 1980 the creamery was producing over 10 million gallons (37,850,000 liters) of ice cream per year, earning $30 million annually.[7]

text: In 1989, Blue Bell began selling its ice cream in Oklahoma, and throughout the 1990s expansion pushed throughout the South Central and Southern United States, eventually expanding out to New Orleans and Jackson, Mississippi. In 1992, Blue Bell built a new manufacturing facility in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.[3] Four years later, in 1996, Blue Bell opened a third manufacturing facility opened in Sylacauga, Alabama, east of Birmingham, and eventually expanded into Atlanta and Miami. Once Blue Bell establishes itself within a market, word-of-mouth usually ensures that consumers in adjacent areas become aware of the brand. Blue Bell has been slow to expand: company executives say they thoroughly research each new market and ensure that all employees in the new markets are fully trained in Blue Bell practices so that product quality can be upheld.[8] Blue Bell often tends to expand to markets during March each year, expanding to Colorado on March 14, 2011, followed by the Richmond and Hampton Roads areas of Virginia in 2013, and Las Vegas in 2014.[9][10] These expansions are accompanied with the purchase and/or construction of distribution centers in new markets that serve areas within a 75-mile radius.

text: In 2015, Blue Bell issued a series of recalls that eventually shut down production and led to all of its products being recalled on April 20, culminating in job cuts and furloughs (as well as the reduction of its 23-state sales territory) resulting from the shutdown the following May. In conjunction with factory cleanup procedures and agreements with state and federal authorities, the company returned to production three months later on a limited basis, returning its products to the market on August 31 in portions of Texas and Alabama as part of a five-phase plan to return to much of its pre-recall distribution territory, which has been reduced to 16 states based on Blue Bell's limited distribution capabilities in the near term.

text: Operations[edit]

text: As of 2015, the company operated three manufacturing facilities, with the largest facility in Brenham, and auxiliary facilities in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, and Sylacauga, Alabama. Before the 2015 recalls, there were 50 sales and distribution centers, known as branches, spread throughout its 23-state market. These facilities employed a combined 2,800 employees, with 850 of the employees working out of Brenham. In 2006, annual sales exceeded $400 million.[11]

text: Blue Bell retains control over all aspects of its business, primarily to ensure quality control and the use of the freshest ingredients available.[8] The Kruses claim "the milk we use is so fresh it was grass only yesterday."[12] The company uses milk from approximately 60,000 cows each day, and the cream used during each day's production run is always less than 24 hours old. All production and packaging takes place within Blue Bell facilities, which are able to produce over 100 pints per minute.[12][13] Drivers of delivery vehicles personally stock store shelves so they can ensure it is handled properly.[6]

text: According to figures gathered by Statista, a market data and statistics portal, while combined private labels sold more, in 2014 Blue Bell was the best-selling ice cream brand in the United States.[14] The sales area is primarily concentrated in the Southern United States, and has been sold as far west as Las Vegas, as far north as Indianapolis and Denver, and as far east as Richmond, Virginia. Overall, this area comprises only 20% of the United States.[15] By comparison, each of Blue Bell's top four competitors sells its products in over 86% of the United States. To become one of the three biggest ice cream manufacturers, Blue Bell has consistently been the top seller in the majority of the markets the company has entered.[8] For example, in its home state of Texas, the company has a 52% market share.[16] Within five months of its entry into Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the company had garnered 35% of the ice cream market.[17] People living outside the sales area can have the ice cream shipped to them (although this has temporarily been halted while the company is ramping up production after the recalls), and former President George W. Bush (a former Governor of Texas) often had the ice cream shipped to Camp David during his administration.[18] In 2006 and 2012, astronauts aboard the International Space Station were also treated to Blue Bell ice cream "to help out (the crew's) happiness quotient."[19]

text: Products[edit]

text: Blue Bell produces over 250 different frozen products. Of these, 66 are flavors of ice cream. Twenty of the flavors are offered year-round, while an additional two to three dozen are offered seasonally.[20] In addition to ice cream, the company produces frozen yogurt, sherbet, and an array of frozen treats on a stick.[20] Unlike competitors which have reduced their standard containers to 48-56 fluid ounces (1.42-1.66 L), Blue Bell continues to sell true half-gallon (64 fl oz/1.89 L) containers, a fact it mentions prominently in its advertising.[21]

text: Blue Bell introduced its flagship flavor, Homemade Vanilla, in 1969[3] and was the first company to mass-produce the flavor Cookies 'n Cream.[22] Although the company at one time made Cookies 'n Cream from Nabisco's Oreo cookies, buying ordinary retail packages, today it bakes its own cookies.[12] As of 1997, Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla was the best-selling single flavor of ice cream in the United States,[6] and in 2001, Forbes named Blue Bell the best ice cream in the country.[23]

text: R.W. Apple, Jr., of The New York Times claimed in 2006 that "[w]ith clean, vibrant flavors and a rich, luxuriant consistency achieved despite a butterfat content a little lower than some competitors, it hooks you from the first spoonful. Entirely and blessedly absent are the cloying sweetness, chalky texture, and oily, gummy aftertaste that afflict many mass-manufactured ice creams."[12]

text: Occasionally, when Blue Bell enters a market the company marks the occasion with the introduction of a regional flavor within that market. For example, when it entered Colorado on March 14, 2011, Blue Bell introduced a new flavor exclusive to Colorado, Rocky Mountain Road, made with more premium ingredients (including chocolate-covered nuts and a marshmallow swirl) compared to its year-round Rocky Road. While the test market was in the Denver metropolitan area, there was speculation that the rest of the state would soon see Blue Bell on store shelves.[24] Eventually, this flavor would be distributed to Blue Bell's entire sales territory.

text: 2015 Listeriosis outbreak[edit]

text: In 2015, Blue Bell issued its first recall in its 108-year history. The recall was issued on an assortment of items produced at its creameries, due to the discovery of five cases of listeriosis in Kansas believed to be caused by products produced at its creamery in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.[25] Three of the five patients with listeria died.[26]

text: Despite a series of subsequent recalls, and the temporary shutdown of its Broken Arrow plant, "an enhanced sampling program" launched by Blue Bell produced "several positive tests for Listeria in different places and plants", including three further cases in Texas.[27] As a result, on the evening of April 20, 2015 the company took precautionary measures and expanded its recall to cover all of its products—a recall of over eight million gallons, to be disposed of in a sanitary landfill.[28][29]

text: At the same time, the company shut down production and commenced cleanup and repair operations at its manufacturing facilities. The FDA found that the company failed to follow standard practices to prevent contamination; two years prior to the recalls, the company "repeatedly found listeria" in its Broken Arrow facility.[30] At its main production facility in Brenham, one of its production machines (which produced most of the recalled products) was so contaminated that Blue Bell announced it would permanently stop using the machine, and condensation was also reported in parts of the Brenham facility.[31]

text: Although a spokeswoman for Blue Bell had previously demurred on the subject of job losses,[32] on May 15, Blue Bell announced a series of job cuts and furloughs.[33] 1,450 (or 37 percent) of the company's employees would be laid off, while another 1,400 employees were furloughed until cleanup/repair operations concluded, and the remaining 1,050 involved in essential operations and cleanup/repair operations had wage reductions imposed on them.[34]

text: In addition, due to limited supply and distribution capabilities expected in the near term, Blue Bell announced it would suspend operations at 15 of its over 50 distribution centers indefinitely, though it has not ruled out returning to these markets eventually.[35] The affected distribution centers included:

text:
Phoenix, Arizona (2 branches)
Tucson, Arizona
Denver, Colorado
Indianapolis, Indiana
Kansas City, Kansas
Wichita, Kansas
Louisville, Kentucky
Las Vegas, Nevada
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Charlotte, North Carolina
Raleigh, North Carolina
Columbia, South Carolina
Richmond, Virginia
Suffolk, Virginia (Hampton Roads area)

text: The recalls were so severe that they threatened to shut down the company; executives warned shareholders that they faced a "capital crisis."[30] On July 14, 2015, Sid Bass, a prominent Texas investor, became a partner and investor with the company; Blue Bell secured a $125 million loan to continue operations.[36] Around the same time, Blue Bell's plant in Sylacauga, Alabama resumed production, creating test batches as part of a "test and hold" procedure in which ice cream is not packaged for sale until the batch tests negative for all strains of bacteria including the strain of listeria responsible for the aforementioned recalls.

text: Return[edit]

text: On August 17, 2015, Blue Bell announced a five-phase plan to return to store shelves:[37]

text:
Phase 1: Houston and Austin areas of Texas, plus Birmingham and Montgomery areas of Alabama (near the company's Sylacauga facility).
Phase 2: North central Texas (Dallas-Fort Worth) and southern Oklahoma including Tulsa (near the company's Broken Arrow facility).
Phase 3: Southwest Texas (San Antonio) and central Oklahoma including Oklahoma City.
Phase 4: Majority of Texas plus southern Louisiana including Baton Rouge and New Orleans.
Phase 5: Remainder of Texas, Alabama, Oklahoma and Louisiana, plus all of Arkansas, Florida and Mississippi and parts of Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.

text: Even in those states where Blue Bell plans to return, it will not necessarily return to all of its pre-recall markets by the final phase. However these markets, including Charlotte, Kansas City, Louisville, Phoenix and Richmond, may be added in the future based on whether or not Blue Bell can effectively service these areas.

text: Phase 1 began on August 31, 2015. Phase 2 began in November, 2015. A month later phases 3 and 4 began.

text: The day following its initial rollout, September 1, Blue Bell resumed production at its Broken Arrow, Oklahoma facility.[38]

text: On January 28, 2016, the company resumed distribution to large portions of the Southeastern US.[39]

text: Justice Department investigation[edit]

text:
External video

 "Department of Justice investigating Blue Bell Listeria outbreak". CBS Evening News report dated December 29, 2015, outlining the United States Department of Justice investigation into Blue Bell Creameries.

text: In December 2015, CBS Evening News reported that the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) had launched a federal criminal investigation into Blue Bell Creameries, to determine "what exactly Blue Bell executives knew about the contaminations and unsanitary conditions, when they knew, and what they did in response".[40][41][42][43] The investigation, by the DOJ's Consumer Protection Branch, is reportedly led by trial attorney Patrick Hearn, who successfully prosecuted executives of the Peanut Corporation of America in 2015.[44][45] Mark Abueg, a DOJ spokesman, told the Houston Press: "As a matter of policy, the Justice Department generally neither confirms nor denies whether a matter is under investigation."[46]


document_title: Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca

question_text: who wrote the first book relating to texas called relacion

root

text: Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca

text: Early life and education[edit]

text: Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca was born around 1490 into a hidalgo family, the son of Francisco Núñez de Vera and Teresa Cabeza de Vaca y de Zurita, in the town of Jerez de la Frontera, Cádiz, Spain. Despite the family's status as minor nobility, they possessed modest economic resources. In 16th-century documents, his name appears as "Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca".[5]

tag: p

text: Álvar Núñez's maternal surname, Cabeza de Vaca (meaning “head of cow”) was said to be associated with a maternal ancestor, Martín Alhaja. He had shown the Spanish king a secret mountain pass, marked by a cow’s skull, enabling the king to win the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa against the Muslim Moors in 1212.[4]

text: Some sources indicate that after his parents died when he was young, the boy Álvar was taken in by relatives (most likely his aunt and uncle or his paternal grandfather, Pedro de Vera). Evidence suggests that he probably had a moderately comfortable early life. He was appointed chamberlain for the house of a noble family in his teen years then participated in the conquest of the Canary Islands where he was appointed a governor.[4] In 1511, he enlisted in the Spanish army, serving in Italy (with distinction), Spain and Navarre. He received several medals of honor and became more of a political figure in Spain.[2] In 1527, Núñez joined the Florida expedition of conquistador Pánfilo de Narváez during which he served as treasurer and marshal.[2]

text: Narváez Expedition and early Native American relations[edit]

text: In 1527, Pánfilo de Narváez was sent by Spain’s King Charles V to explore the unknown territory which the Spanish called La Florida, including not only present-day Florida but a large, poorly-defined section of what today is the southeastern United States.[6] Cabeza de Vaca was attached to this expedition as the expedition’s treasurer. Records indicate that he also had a military role as one of the chief officers on the Narváez expedition, noted as sheriff or marshal.[7] On June 17, 1527, the fleet of five ships set sail towards the province of Pánuco (which was on the western border of Florida). When they stopped in Hispaniola for supplies, Narváez lost approximately 150 of his men, who chose to stay on the island rather than continue with the expedition.[6]

text: The expedition continued to Cuba, where Cabeza de Vaca took two ships to recruit more men and buy supplies. Their fleet was battered by a hurricane, resulting in the destruction of both ships and loss of most of Cabeza de Vaca’s men. Narváez arrived days later to pick up the survivors.[6][8] By February 1528, the remaining ships and men resumed their expedition, reaching Florida in April. They anchored near what is now known as the Jungle Prada Site in  St. Petersburg, claiming this land as a possession of the Spanish crown.

text: After communicating with the Native Americans, the Spanish heard rumours that a city named Apalachen was full of food and gold. Against the advice of Cabeza de Vaca, Narváez decided to split up his men. Some 300 were to go on foot to Apalachen and the other would sail to Pánuco.[6] Apalachen had no gold but had only corn, but the explorers were told a village known as Aute, about 5 or 9 days away, was rich. They pushed on through the swamps, harassed by the Native Americans. A few Spanish men were killed and more wounded. When they arrived in Aute, they found that the inhabitants had burned down the village and left. But the fields had not been harvested, so at least the Spanish scavenged food there.[6] After several months of fighting native inhabitants through wilderness and swamp, the party decided to abandon the interior and try to reach Pánuco.

text: Slaughtering and eating their remaining horses, they gathered the stirrups, spurs, horseshoes and other metal items. They fashioned a bellows from deer hide to make a fire hot enough to forge tools and nails. They used these in making five primitive boats to use to get to Mexico. Cabeza de Vaca commanded one of these vessels, each of which held 50 men. Depleted of food and water, the men followed the coast westward. But when they reached the mouth of the Mississippi River, the powerful current swept them out into the Gulf, where the five rafts were separated by a hurricane. Some lives were lost forever, including that of Narváez.

text: Two crafts with about 40 survivors each, including Cabeza de Vaca, wrecked on or near Galveston Island (now part of Texas). Out of the 80 or so survivors, only 15 lived past that winter.[6] The explorers called the island Malhado (“Ill fate” in Spanish), or the Island of Doom.[9] They tried to repair the rafts, using what remained of their own clothes as oakum to plug holes, but they lost the rafts to a large wave.

text: As the number of survivors dwindled rapidly, they were enslaved for a few years by various American Indian tribes of the upper Gulf Coast. Because Cabeza de Vaca survived and prospered from time to time, some scholars argue that he was not enslaved but using a figure of speech. He and other noblemen were accustomed to better living. Their encounters with harsh conditions and weather, and being required to work like native women, must have seemed like slavery.[10] The tribes to which Cabeza de Vaca was enslaved included the Hans and the Capoques, and tribes later called the Karankawa and Coahuiltecan. After escaping, only four men, Cabeza de Vaca, Andrés Dorantes de Carranza, Alonso del Castillo Maldonado, and an enslaved Moroccan Berber named Esteban (later called Estevanico), survived to reach Mexico City.

text: Traveling mostly with this small group, Cabeza de Vaca explored what is now the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the northeastern Mexican states of Tamaulipas, Nuevo León and Coahuila, and possibly smaller portions of New Mexico and Arizona. He traveled on foot through the then-colonized territories of Texas and the coast[which?]. He continued through Coahuila and Nueva Vizcaya; then down the Gulf of California coast to what is now Sinaloa, Mexico, over a period of roughly eight years. Throughout those years, Cabeza de Vaca and the other men adapted to the lives of the indigenous people they stayed with, whom he later described as Roots People, the Fish and Blackberry People, or the Fig People, depending on their principal foods.[10]

text: During his wanderings, passing from tribe to tribe, Cabeza de Vaca later reported that he developed sympathies for the indigenous peoples. He became a trader and a healer, which gave him some freedom to travel among the tribes.[11] As a healer, Cabeza de Vaca used blowing (like the Native Americans) to heal, but claimed that God and the Christian cross led to his success.[10] His healing of the sick gained him a reputation as a faith healer. His group attracted numerous native followers, who regarded them as "children of the sun", endowed with the power to heal and destroy. As Cabeza de Vaca grew healthier, he decided that he would make his way to Pánuco, supporting himself through trading.[6][8][10] He finally decided to try to reach the Spanish colony in Mexico. Many natives were said to accompany the explorers on their journey across what is now known as the American Southwest and northern Mexico.

text: After finally reaching the colonized lands of New Spain, where he first encountered fellow Spaniards near modern-day Culiacán, Cabeza de Vaca and the three other men reached Mexico City. From there he sailed back to Europe in 1537.

text: Numerous researchers have tried to trace his route across the Southwest. As he did not begin writing his chronicle until back in Spain, he had to rely on memory. He did not have the instruments (clock and astrolabe) to determine his location; he had to rely on dead reckoning, and was uncertain of his route. Aware that his recollection has numerous errors in chronology and geography, historians have worked to put together pieces of the puzzle to discern his paths.

text: Return to America[edit]

text: In 1540, Cabeza de Vaca was appointed adelantado of the Río de la Plata in South America. The colony comprised parts of what is now Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay. Cabeza de Vaca was assigned to find a usable route from this colony to the colony in Peru, on the other side of the Andes Mountains on the Pacific Coast.[6]

text: En route, he disembarked from his fleet at Santa Catarina Island in modern Brazil. With an indigenous force, plus 250 musketeers and 26 horses, he followed native trails[12] discovered by Aleixo Garcia overland to the district's Spanish capital, Asunción, far inland on the great Paraguay River. Cabeza de Vaca is thought to have been the first European to see the Iguaçu Falls.

text: In March 1542 Cabeza de Vaca met with Domingo Martínez de Irala and relieved him of his position as governor.  The government of Asunción pledged loyalty to Cabeza de Vaca, and Irala was assigned to explore a possible route to Peru. Once Irala returned and reported, Cabeza de Vaca planned his own expedition. He hoped to reach Los Reyes (a base that Irala set up) and push forward into the jungle in search of a route to the gold and silver mines of Peru.[6] The expedition did not go well, and Cabeza de Vaca returned to Asunción.[6]

text: During his absence, Irala had stirred up resistance to Cabeza de Vaca’s rule and capitalized on political rivalries.[6] Scholars widely agree that Cabeza de Vaca had an unusually sympathetic attitude towards the Native Americans for his time.[6][8][10] The elite settlers in modern Argentina, known as encomenderos, generally did not agree with his enlightened conduct toward the Natives; they wanted to use them for labor. Because he lost elite support, and Buenos Aires was failing as a settlement, not attracting enough residents, Martínez de Irala arrested Cabeza de Vaca in 1544 for poor administration. The former explorer was returned to Spain in 1545 for trial.

text: Although eventually exonerated, Cabeza de Vaca never returned to South America. He wrote an extensive report on the Río de la Plata colony in South America, strongly criticizing the conduct of Martínez de Irala. The report was bound with his earlier La Relación and published under the title Comentarios (Commentary). He died poor in Seville around the year 1560.

text: La relación of Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca[edit]

text: La relación of Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca is the account of his experiences with the Narvaez expedition and after being wrecked on Galveston Island in November 1528. Cabeza de Vaca and his last three men struggled to survive.[13] They wandered along the Texas coast as prisoners of the Han and Capoque American Indians for two years, while Cabeza de Vaca observed the people, picking up their ways of life and customs.[14] They traveled through the American Southwest and ultimately reached Mexico City, nearly eight years after being wrecked on the island.

text: In 1537, Cabeza de Vaca returned to Spain, where he wrote his narratives of the Narvaez expedition. These narratives were collected and published in 1542 in Spain. They are now known as The Relation of Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca. The narrative of Cabeza de Vaca is the “first European book devoted completely to North America.”[15] His detailed account describes the lives of numerous tribes of American Indians of the time. Cabeza de Vaca showed compassion and respect for native peoples, which, together with the great detail he recorded, distinguishes his narrative from others of the period.[15]

text: Role of observer[edit]

text: Cabeza de Vaca reported on the customs and ways of American Indian life, aware of his status as an early European explorer. He spent eight years with various peoples, including the Capoque, Han, Avavare, and Arbadao. He describes details of the culture of the Malhado people, the Capoque, and Han American Indians, such as their treatment of offspring, their wedding rites, and their main sources of food.[14] Cabeza de Vaca and his three fellow survivors at times served as slaves to the American Indians to survive.[13] Through his observations, Cabeza de Vaca provides insights into 16th-century American Indian life near the present-day Mexico-Texas border.

text: For many peoples the accounts of Cabeza de Vaca and Hernando de Soto are the only written records of their existence. By the time of the next European contact, many had vanished, presumably from the diseases Cabeza de Vaca and his companions unknowingly exposed them to.

text: Ambassador for Christ[edit]

text: One of Cabeza de Vaca's greatest achievements of his journey, was that he played an important role as an ambassador to bring peace throughout the land. As the party of travellers passed from one tribe to the next, warring tribes would immediately make peace and become friendly, so that the natives could receive the party and give them gifts. Cabeza notes in his personal account of his journey that in this way; "We left the whole country in peace." Cabeza saw these events as part of his mission and purpose in America, acknowledging in his account that he believed that: "God was guiding us to where we could serve Him.".[16]

text: Cabeza's greatest challenge as an ambassador came when he attempted to bring peace between the conquering Spanish army and the natives. As Cabeza approached Spanish settlement, he and his companions were very grieved to see the destruction of the native villages and enslavement of the natives. The fertile land lay uncultivated and the natives were nearly starving, hiding in the forest, for fear of the Spanish army.[16]

text: Cabeza then encountered Diego de Alcaraz, commander of a slavery expedition of about 20 horsemen and attempted to negotiate peace between them and the natives. However, as soon as they departed, Diego went back on his word and plundered Cabeza's entourage of natives that he had sent back home. Not long after this, Cabeza encountered the chief Alcalde (Spanish captain of the province) named Melchor Diaz. Melchor Diaz ordered Cabeza to bring the natives back from the forests so that they would re-cultivate the land. Cabeza and Melchor invited the natives to convert to Christianity and the natives did so willingly. Cabeza instructed them to build a large wooden cross in each village, which would cause members of the Spanish army to pass through the village and not attack it. Soon afterward the Diego de Alcaraz expedition returned and explained to Melchor that they were shocked at how, on their return journey, not only did they find the land repopulated, but the natives coming to greet them with crosses in hand and also gave them provisions. Melchor then ordered Diego that no harm be done to them.[16]

text: Personal report[edit]

text: Cabeza de Vaca wrote this narrative to Charles V to “transmit what I saw and heard in the nine years I wandered lost and miserable over many remote lands”.[14]  He wanted to convey “not merely a report of positions and distances, flora and fauna, but of the customs of the numerous indigenous people I talked with and dwelt among, as well as any other matters I could hear of or observe”.[14] He took care to present facts, as a full account of what he observed. The Relation is the only account of many details concerning the indigenous people whom he encountered.[14] The accuracy of his account has been validated by later reports of others, as well as by the oral traditions of descendants of some of the tribes.

text: Cabeza’s account also served as a petition to the King of Spain to both establish a permanent Christian mission and eventually establish the native tribes as a nation under the governance of Spain. In his reflection Cabeza writes to the king of Spain:

text: May God in His infinite mercy grant that in the days of Your Majesty and under your power and sway, these people become willingly and sincerely subjects of the true Lord Who created and redeemed them. We believe they will be, and that Your Majesty is destined to bring it about, as it will not be at all difficult.[16]

text: Cabeza continued to be a strong advocate for the rights of Native American Indians throughout his lifetime.[6][8][10]

text: American Indian nations noted by name[edit]

text: Cabeza De Vaca identified the following peoples by name in his La Relacion (1542). The following list shows his names, together with what scholars suggested in 1919 were the likely tribes identified by names used in the 20th century. By that time, tribal identification was also related to more linguistic data.[17]

text: Possible Karankawan groups:

text:
Capoques – Cocos
Deaguanes – Cujanes
Quevenes – Copanes
Guaycones – Guapites
Camones – Karankaguases?

tag: ul

text: Related to Karankawa:

text:
Charruco – Bidai-Orcoquiza
Han – Bidai-Orcoquiza

text: Possible Tonkawan groups:

text:
Mendica – Tamiques
Mariames – Jaranames
Iguaces – Anaquas

text: Possible Coahuiltecan or desert groups:

text:
Quitoles
The "Fig People"
Acubadaos
Avavares
Anegados
Cutalchuches
Maliacones
Susolas
Comos – Comecrudo
Cuayos
Arbadaos
Atayos
Cuchendados[18]

text: Comentarios[edit]

text: In 1555, after a four-year position as Adelantado in Rio de la Plata, Cabeza de Vaca wrote from memory a chronicle of the Narvaez expedition in South America.[19]  It is believed that his secretary at the time, Pero Hernández, transcribed Cabeza de Vaca's account in what is known as Comentarios. The publication of Comentarios was appended to La relación as a joint publication in Valladolid, Spain entitled: Naufragios.  At that time, explorers often published their reports of travels in foreign lands.

text: Later editions[edit]

text: In 1906, Naufragios was published in a new edition in Madrid, Spain.[20] The introduction says the intent of this edition was to publicize Cabeza de Vaca's observations and experiences to strengthen authentic representations. This has been described as having the objective of portraying Cabeza de Vaca as less aggressive , while trying to authenticate his role as a sympathetic observer of the natives.[citation needed]

text: Place in Chicano literature[edit]

text: Herrera (2011) classifies Cabeza de Vaca’s La Relacion as the first major contribution to Chicano literature. Scholars have identified five major periods of Chicano literature: Spanish Mexican, Mexican American, Annexation, Chicano Renaissance, and Modern. Cabeza de Vaca is classified as part of the Spanish Mexican period; he recounted eight years of travel and survival in the area of Chicano culture: present-day Texas, New Mexico, and northern Mexico.[21] His account is the first known written description of the American Southwest.[4]

text: Film adaptation[edit]

text: The drama feature film Cabeza de Vaca (1991), a Mexican production, was directed by Nicolás Echevarría and starred Juan Diego. Based on Naufragios, the film was entered into the 41st Berlin International Film Festival.[22] A DVD version was released in 2012.

text: Representation in other media[edit]

text: Laila Lalami's novel, The Moor's Account (2014), is a fictional memoir of Estevanico, the Moroccan slave who survived the journey and accompanied Cabeza de Vaca through the Southwest. He is considered to be the first black explorer of North America. Lalami claims that the chronicle gives him one sentence: "The fourth [survivor] is Estevanico, an Arab Negro from Azamor."[23] However, there are several others referenced to him in the account.

text: Lord Buckley created a monologue The Gasser based on Haniel Long's novella. This was first recorded in 1954 and again in 1959.

text: His story is noted in the first episode of Ken Burns' The West, a PBS documentary which first aired in 1996.

text: Ancestors of Cabeza de Vaca[edit]

text: showAncestors of Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca[citation needed]         16. Gonzalo Gómez de Mendoza      8. Diego Gómez de Mendoza         17. Juana Fernández de Orozco      4. Pedro de Vera y Mendoza Salazar           18. García de Vera      9. María de Vera y de Vargas         19. Aldonza de Vargas      2. Francisco de Vera y de Hinojosa             20.      10.         21.      5. Beatriz de Hinojosa           22.      11.         23.      1. Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca              24. Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca      12. Fernán Ruíz Cabeza de Vaca         25. Teresa Vázquez de Meira      6. Pedro Fernández Cabeza de Vaca           26.      13. Beatriz González de Medina         27.      3. Teresa Cabeza de Vaca y de Zurita             28. Fernando Alfonso de Zurita y Natera      14. Diego Fernández de Zurita y Colsantos         29.      7. Catalina de Zurita y Suárez de Moscoso                  15. Mencia Suárez de Moscoso

tag: table

text: Bibliography[edit]

text: English editions[edit]

text:
Library resources about  Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca
Online books
Resources in your library
Resources in other libraries

text:
Cabeza de Vaca, Álvar Núñez. The Journey of Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca and his companions from Florida to the Pacific 1528-1536. Translation of La Relacion, ed. Ad. F. Bandelier. New York, Allerton Book Co. 1904.
Cabeza de Vaca, Álvar Núñez. The Narrative of Cabeza De Vaca, Translation of La Relacion, ed. Rolena Adorno and Patrick Charles Pautz. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press 2003. ISBN 0-8032-6416-X (one of many editions)
Cabeza de Vaca, Álvar Núñez. Cabeza de Vaca's Adventures in the Unknown Interior of America, Translation of La Relación, Cyclone Covey. Santa Fe, NM: University of New Mexico Press 1983. ISBN 0-8263-0656-X
The Account: Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca's Relacíon. Translated by Martin Favata and Jose Fernández. Houston: Arte Público Press. February 1993 [1542]. ISBN 978-1558850606.
Cabeza de Vaca, Álvar Núñez. Chronicle of the Narváez Expedition, Translation of La Relacion, translated by David Frye, edited by Ilan Stavans. Norton Critical Edition, 2013. ISBN 978-0393918151
Cabeza de Vaca, Álvar Núñez. The Commentaries of Alvar Nunez Cabeza De Vaca., The Conquest of the River Plate, part II. London: Hakluyt, 1891 (first English edition).

text: Books about Cabeza de Vaca[edit]

text:
Adorno, Rolena and Pautz, Patrick Charles. Alvar Nunez Cabeza De Vaca: His Account, His Life and the Expedition of Panfilo De Narvaez, 3 volumes, in English; University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, London (1999); hardcover; ISBN 978-0803214637
Howard, David A. (1996). Conquistador in Chains: Cabeza de Vaca and the Indians of the Americas. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press. ISBN 978-0817308285.
Krieger, Alex D.  We Came Naked and Barefoot: The Journey of Cabeza de Vaca across North America. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2002. ISBN 978-0-292-74235-2.
Long, Haniel. Interlinear to Cabeza de Vaca (1936), a fictionalized account of Cabeza de Vaca's journey
Reséndez, Andrés. A Land So Strange: The Epic Journey of Cabeza de Vaca, Basic Books, Perseus, 2007. ISBN 0-465-06840-5
Schneider, Paul. Brutal Journey, Cabeza de Vaca and the Epic First Crossing of North America, New York: Henry Holt, 2007.  ISBN 0-8050-8320-0
Udall, Stewart L. Majestic Journey: Coronado's Inland Empire, Museum of New Mexico Press, 1995. ISBN 0-89013-285-2
Varnum, Robin. Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca: American Trailblazer. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 2014.
Wild, Peter (1991). Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca. Boise, ID: Boise State University, 1991.  ISBN 978-0884301004 OCLC 24515951, 656314379 (print and on-line)

text: Spanish[edit]

text:
Adorno, Rolena and Pautz, Patrick Charles; Alvaro Núñez Cabeza de Vaca: sus logros, su vida y la expedición de Pánfilo de Narváez, 3 volumes, in Spanish; University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, London (September 15, 1999); hardcover; 1317 pages; ISBN 978-0803214545
Caba, Rubén; Gómez-Lucena, Eloísa (2008). La odisea de Cabeza de Vaca: Tras los pasos de Álvar Núñez por tierras americanas [The Odyssey of Cabeza de Vaca: on the footsteps of Álvar Núñez on American lands] (historical essay)|format= requires |url= (help). Terra Incógnita (in Spanish). Barcelona: Edhasa. ISBN 9788435039864.
Caba, Rubén; Gómez-Lucena, Eloísa (October 2008). "Cabeza de Vaca: El Ulises del Nuevo Mundo" [Cabeza de Vaca: the Ulysses of the New World]. Clío Historia (in Spanish) (84): 72–79. ISSN 1579-3532.
Jauregui, Carlos; "Cabeza de Vaca, Mala Cosa y las vicisitudes de la extrañeza." Revista de Estudios Hispánicos XLVIII: 3 (2014): 421-447.
Maura, Juan Francisco, ed. (July 2007). "Carta de Luis Ramírez a su padre desde el Brasil (1528)" (PDF). Lemir. Parnaseo (in Spanish). University of Valencia: AJKDAS;LKJFL;KFHODHSUHYJ. ISSN 1579-735X. Retrieved 2010-04-14.
Maura, Juan Francisco (July 2011). "Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca: el gran burlador de América, Second Edition corrected and augmented" (PDF). Lemir. Parnaseo (in Spanish). University of Valencia. ISSN 1579-735X. Retrieved 2011-07-07.
Maura, Juan Francisco (October 2008). "Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca: el gran burlador de América" (PDF). Lemir. Parnaseo (in Spanish). University of Valencia. ISSN 1579-735X. Retrieved 2010-04-14.
Maura, Juan Francisco. (October 2013).“El libro 50 de la Historia General y Natural de las Indias («Infortunios y Naufragios») de Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo (1535): ¿génesis e inspiración de algunos episodios de Naufragios de Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca (1542)?” Lemir 17, 87-100. University of Valencia http://parnaseo.uv.es/Lemir/Revista/Revista17/06_Maura_Juan.pdf

text: Italian[edit]

text: Giovan Battista Ramusio: Delle navigationi et viaggi Terzo volume , pp. 310–330 – "Relatione che fece Alvaro Nunez detto Capo di vacca" –  Venetia, 1565 (1606 edition)