Sixteenth century man measures the altitude of the sun with a mariner's astrolabe. Pedro de Medina, "Libro segundo," Regimiento de Navegación, 1543. Institute of Texan Cultures, 77-123

This is a series of improbable, probable, and certain stories about explorers of that area of the world later called Texas. The text is not an attempt to prove the improbable or to discredit the supposed certain; it is an examination of the nature of historical fact and evidence through exploring a question.

"Who were the first people to explore this place?" is one of the most frequently asked questions anywhere. Curiosity alone may lead to speculation, and determinations of historical "firsts" seem to attract wild stories, guesses, or questionable documents as well as to generate abundant historical teeth-gnashing. A few people have spent lifetimes and wagered reputations digging for and presenting the facts. But what are facts?

Many stories claiming "first arrivals" are hard to prove. Some of the stories mentioned here are accepted as fact, or as proven, by very few people. But proving stories is not the object of this text. Happily, neither a full proof nor a single established fact is the only end product of a search or of an exploration.

This text speaks of three things. First, it collects some of the more controversial stories of Old World explorers who may have come to the Texas area before 1520 C.E. Excluded, of course, are Native Americans--the Indians, as they were known for centuries. Not only are their stories largely unknown as yet, but--although explorers were in their ranks--Native Americans are immigrants and settlers.

The second topic concerns the nature of explorers: what they do and how they are different from others such as settlers or immigrants, colonists or empresarios.

The third and main topic concerns the nature of facts and proof, truth and evidence. What are they? Just what is a fact in the humanities? If something is doubtful, what good is it? These are important considerations not only in the context of early explorers but also for everyday life.

—John L. Davis