Facts, Timeline & History about the life of Alonso Alvarez de Pineda - Explorer and Cartographer
The following are additional facts and a timeline about the life and history of Alonso Alvarez de Pineda:

• Little is known about the early life of Alonso Alvarez de Pineda. He was born in Spain during the great Age of Exploration
• The voyage of Christopher Columbus in 1492 had opened up a whole New World to be discovered - For specific facts and information about America please refer to Colonial America
• 1508: Spain's chart-making establishment, the Casa de la Contratacion, established a navigation school for pilots and cosmographers was in Seville. Clear procedures and objectives were established for the men who would travel to the new uncharted lands
• The pilots and the map makers were important members of the exploration ships
• Francisco de Garay, who had travelled with Columbus in 1493, had become governor of Jamaica
• 1518: Francisco de Garay backed an expedition to discover whether there was a link between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific to enable a direct trade route with China
• 1518: The expedition consisted of a small fleet of three ships. The pilot was the highly experienced Anton de Alaminos. Anton de Alaminos had travelled to the New World on the second voyage of Christopher Columbus and had acted as pilot on expeditions led by Ponce de Leon , Jean de Grijalba and Francisco Hernando de Cordoba
• Francisco de Garay appointed Alonso Alvarez de Pineda to command the fleet
  • 1518: Alonso Alvarez de Pineda first landed on the South West coast of Florida but were attacked by hostile natives
• Alonso Alvarez de Pineda sailed up the Mississippi River and named it Rio del Espiritu Santo, the River of the Holy Spirit. Alonso Alvarez de Pineda spent a month exploring the river and making contact with the natives
• Alonso Alvarez de Pineda then left the Mississippi River and sailed around the Gulf as far as Rio Panuco in Mexico
• 1519: Alonso Alvarez de Pineda reached Texas but were continuously attacked by hostile Aztec natives
• 1519: Alonso Alvarez de Pineda was killed at Chila by the Aztec Indians and they burned two of the ships
• 1519: The remaining ship returned to Vera Cruz and reported their voyage of discovery to Francisco de Garay. The gruesome death of Alonso Alvarez de Pineda was described. He was flayed and his skin was hung in an Aztec temple as a trophy
• Alonso Alvarez de Pineda was the first European in Texas
• By exploring and mapping the Florida coast to the Mississippi River Alonso Alvarez de Pineda verified Ponce de Leon's claim that Florida was not an island