The History of Texas

Justin Day

The History of Texas is a chronological narrative podcast telling the story of Texas from the ancient past to the modern age. Hosted by Justin Day, the show follows the people, cultures, conflicts, frontiers, disasters, victories, and contradictions that shaped Texas long before and long after it had a name. Support the show and find more links: https://linktr.ee/texasruneforge

Episodes

  1. Aug 14

    Episode 10 - The Warning Spain Ignored

    The Narváez expedition entered North America with an army and lost almost everyone. Four survivors eventually crossed the continent using Native food, knowledge, diplomacy, healing, trade, and adaptation. That was the warning their journey offered. But it was not the lesson Spain chose. In Episode 10, “The Warning Spain Ignored,” we follow Cabeza de Vaca after his return to Spain. We examine his failed partnership with Hernando de Soto, his controversial governorship in Río de la Plata, his trial before the Council of the Indies, and the conclusions Spain drew from the survivors’ extraordinary journey. Instead of questioning the dream of conquest, Spain prepared larger expeditions to pursue it. Hernando de Soto believed he understood what Narváez had done wrong. The question was whether that would save his men, or merely prolong their demise. Become a supporter on Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/thehistoryoftexas Supporters help me research, write, record, and preserve these stories of Texas History. Thank you for listening to The History of Texas. Follow The History of Texas: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-history-of-texas/id1896845677 Support for The History of Texas comes from: Texas Rune Forge Western grit. Nordic tradition. https://texasruneforge.com Fiscal Fairy Bookkeeping QuickBooks cleanup, reconciliation, and ongoing bookkeeping for small businesses. https://fiscalfairybookkeeping.com Subscribe for new episodes of The History of Texas. Music: "Anamalie" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License ⁠http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/⁠ Primary source: Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, La Relación, translated by David Carson, TexasCounties.net: https://www.texascounties.net/articles/discovery-of-texas/theaccount-cabezadevaca.htm

  2. Aug 7 ·  Bonus

    Q&A Intermission One - Narvaez and Cabeza de Vaca

    Before we leave Cabeza de Vaca behind, this first intermission pauses the main narrative to answer some of the biggest lingering questions from the Narvaez expedition. In this episode, we examine how historians reconstruct the survivors’ route, the differences between the 1536 Joint Report and Cabeza de Vaca’s later La Relacion, when he returned to Mexico City, and why parts of his journey remain disputed nearly five centuries later. Become a supporter on Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/thehistoryoftexas Supporters help me research, write, record, and preservethese stories of Texas History. Thank you for listening to The History of Texas. Follow The History of Texas: Apple Podcasts:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-history-of-texas/id1896845677 More links: www.texasruneforge.com Music: "Anamalie" by Kevin MacLeod(incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License ⁠http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/⁠ Primary source: Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, La Relación, translated by David Carson, TexasCounties.net: https://www.texascounties.net/articles/discovery-of-texas/theaccount-cabezadevaca.htm

  3. Jul 24

    Episode 9 - The Price of Rescue

    After nearly eight years of shipwreck, hunger, enslavement, captivity, healing, and wandering, Cabeza de Vaca and his three surviving companions finally return to the Spanish world. But rescue does not mean safety for everyone. As the four survivors encounter Spanish soldiers, they find Native communities fleeing into the mountains, abandoned fields, and people threatened with chains. The authority they earned as healers now collides with the machinery of conquest. In Episode 9, the survivors complete their journey to Mexico City. The men who return are not the same men who entered Florida seeking treasure and glory, and the consequences of their survival are only beginning. The first listener Q&A is coming soon. Submit your questions by Sunday, August 2 at 8 p.m. Central. Frontier Scout and higher-tier Ko-fi supporters receive priority. Become a supporter on Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/thehistoryoftexas Supporters help me research, write, record, and preserve these stories of Texas History. Thank you for listening to The History of Texas. Follow The History of Texas: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0QQ3yhHCr3hNFGp9j5ih6f Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-history-of-texas/id1896845677 More links: texasruneforge.com Music: “Anamalie” by Kevin MacLeodLicensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Primary source: Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, La Relación, translated by David Carson, TexasCounties.net: https://www.texascounties.net/articles/discovery-of-texas/theaccount-cabezadevaca.htm

  4. Jul 17

    Episode 8 - Horses and Chains

    In Episode 8, the four survivors move farther west and enter a changing world. After years of hunger, captivity, healing, and wandering, Cabeza de Vaca, Dorantes, Castillo, and Estebanico begin finding fixed houses, corn, beans, cotton clothing, trade goods, turquoise, copper bells, and signs of long-distance exchange. The land is no longer the starving world of the coast. It is settled, connected, and far more complex than the Spaniards had understood. But their reputation has become dangerous. The same belief that feeds them and opens roads also brings fear. People believe the four men can heal, bless, curse, and even kill by willing it. The survivors must manage that fear carefully, because the road ahead depends on Native trust. Then, at last, they hear news of other Spaniards. Men with beards. Horses. Lances. Chains. For years, Cabeza de Vaca had dreamed of finding Christians again. But when he finally nears the Spanish world, the reunion is not simple rescue. It is the beginning of a painful collision between the world that kept him alive and the world he came from. Become a supporter on Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/thehistoryoftexas Supporters help me research, write, record, and preserve these stories of Texas History. Thank you for listening to The History of Texas. Follow The History of Texas: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0QQ3yhHCr3hNFGp9j5ih6f Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-history-of-texas/id1896845677 More links: texasruneforge.com Music: "Anamalie" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License ⁠http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/⁠ Primary source: Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, La Relación, translated by David Carson, TexasCounties.net: https://www.texascounties.net/articles/discovery-of-texas/theaccount-cabezadevaca.htm

  5. Jul 10

    Episode 7 - Children of the Sun

    Episode 7 follows Cabeza de Vaca, Andrés Dorantes, Alonso del Castillo, and Estebanico as their reputation grows into something far larger than survival. No longer just starving castaways, the four men are received as healers, holy men, and dangerous figures of power. Villages feed them. Crowds follow them. The sick are brought forward. Food is blessed before anyone will eat. But their growing authority also brings darker consequences. As the survivors move west, some groups use their reputation to frighten and rob others. The journey becomes a strange chain of healing, fear, honor, celebration, and plunder. This episode also follows one of the most dramatic moments in the entire account: Cabeza de Vaca performing crude surgery to remove an arrowhead lodged near a man’s heart. After that, the legend surrounding the four survivors only grows stronger. By the end of this stage, the men who entered the New World dreaming of conquest, treasure, and empire have been remade by dependence, hunger, Native guides, Native villages, and a world far more connected than they ever expected. They have crossed from starvation into abundance. From captivity into legend. But they are not home yet. And ahead of them waits the most dangerous meeting of all. If you enjoyed this episode, please follow the podcast on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts, leave a review, subscribe to the newsletter via Substack, and share the podcast with someone who loves history. Become a supporter on Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/thehistoryoftexas Supporters help me research, write, record, and preserve these stories of Texas History. I’m currently looking to upgrade to a professional quality microphone, and perhaps eventually sound paneling, and every contribution helps bring me closer to providing the highest quality audio possible to you, the listener. Thank you for listening to The History of Texas. Follow The History of Texas: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0QQ3yhHCr3hNFGp9j5ih6f Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-history-of-texas/id1896845677 More links: texasruneforge.com Music: "Anamalie" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License ⁠http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/⁠ Primary source: Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, La Relación, translated by David Carson, TexasCounties.net: https://www.texascounties.net/articles/discovery-of-texas/theaccount-cabezadevaca.htm

  6. Jul 3

    Episode 6 - What the Smoke Revealed

    After nearly six years along the Texas coast, Cabeza de Vaca, Dorantes, Castillo, and Estebanico finally make a run for freedom during the prickly pear season. But escape does not mean safety. They walk into hunger, cold, unknown languages, unfamiliar peoples, and a world no European had ever described before. In this episode, the four survivors encounter the Avavares, hear the chilling story of La Mala Cosa — The Bad Thing — and watch their reputation as healers begin to spread across the land. They are no longer conquerors. They are wanderers. Healers. Men surviving only because Native communities feed them, guide them, fear them, and begin passing their story from village to village. Before Texas was Texas, this was the world already here. Become a supporter on Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/thehistoryoftexas Supporters help me research, write, record, and preservethese stories of Texas History. Thank you for listening to The History of Texas. Follow The History of Texas: - Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0QQ3yhHCr3hNFGp9j5ih6f - Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-history-of-texas/id1896845677 More links: texasruneforge.com Music: "Anamalie" by Kevin MacLeod(incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License ⁠http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/⁠ Primary source: Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, La Relación, translated by David Carson, TexasCounties.net: https://www.texascounties.net/articles/discovery-of-texas/theaccount-cabezadevaca.htm

  7. Jun 26

    Episode 5 - Bleeding Hands and Bitter Roots

    Episode 5: Bleeding Hands and Bitter Roots After years of hunger, captivity, and survival on the Texas coast, the scattered survivors of the Narváez Expedition finally found each other again. Cabeza de Vaca, Estebanico, Andrés Dorantes, and Alonso del Castillo were reunited, but reunion did not mean rescue. They were still trapped in a world far from the Spanish settlements they hoped to reach, surrounded by Native peoples whose trade routes, customs, and survival skills now shaped every part of their lives. In this episode, the story turns from endurance to escape. The four survivors begin preparing for the journey west, following rumors of other Spaniards while facing bitter roots, wounded bodies, uncertainty, and the growing realization that they would have to cross Texas not as conquerors, but as dependent strangers. Their escape would become one of the most remarkable journeys in early Texas history. Follow The History of Texas as we continue tracing the story of Cabeza de Vaca and the first Europeans to cross what would become Texas. Become a supporter on Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/thehistoryoftexas Supporters help me research, write, record, and preserve these stories of Texas History. Thank you for listening to The History of Texas. Follow The History of Texas: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0QQ3yhHCr3hNFGp9j5ih6f Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-history-of-texas/id1896845677 More links: https://texasruneforge.com/ Music: "Anamalie" by Kevin MacLeod(incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License ⁠http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/⁠ Primary source: Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, La Relación, translated by David Carson, TexasCounties.net: https://www.texascounties.net/articles/discovery-of-texas/theaccount-cabezadevaca.htm

  8. Jun 19

    Episode 4 - The Island of Ill Fate

    Episode 4 - The Island of Ill Fate After the storm, the survivors of the Narváez expedition were no longer conquerors, soldiers, or explorers in control of their fate. They were castaways. Stranded on the Texas coast, hungry, sick, and surrounded by a world they did not understand, Cabeza de Vaca and the remaining Spaniards were forced to depend on the Native peoples of the coast for survival. This episode follows the first brutal chapter of their life after the wreck, as the story of exploration becomes a story of endurance, captivity, adaptation, and survival in early Texas. Become a supporter on Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/thehistoryoftexas Supporters help me research, write, record, and preserve these stories of Texas History. Thank you for listening to The History of Texas. Follow The History of Texas: YouTube: The History of Texas - YouTube Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0QQ3yhHCr3hNFGp9j5ih6f Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-history-of-texas/id1896845677 More links: https://texasruneforge.com/ Music: "Anamalie" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Primary source: Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, La Relación, translated by David Carson, TexasCounties.net: https://www.texascounties.net/articles/discovery-of-texas/theaccount-cabezadevaca.htm

  9. Jun 12

    Episode 3 - Cabeza de Vaca: Conquistador to Castaway

    Episode 3 - Cabeza de Vaca: Conquistador to Castaway The Narváez expedition had marched into Florida chasing rumors of wealth, only to find hunger, disease, violence, and disaster. By the time they returned to the coast, their ships were gone. In this episode of The History of Texas, the survivors make a desperate decision. With no proper tools, no safe harbor, and no clear path home, they begin building crude rafts along the Gulf Coast. What started as a Spanish conquest turns into a fight for survival. Among them is Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, a royal treasurer who entered the New World as a conquistador and would soon become something very different. This is the story of how ambition, desperation, and the sea carried the Narváez expedition toward Texas. Support the show: https://ko-fi.com/thehistoryoftexas   Follow The History of Texas: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0QQ3yhHCr3hNFGp9j5ih6f Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-history-of-texas/id1896845677   More links: https://texasruneforge.com/ Music: "Anamalie" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Primary source: Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, La Relación, translated by David Carson, TexasCounties.net: https://www.texascounties.net/articles/discovery-of-texas/theaccount-cabezadevaca.htm

  10. Jun 5

    Episode 2 - The Narvaez Expedition

    In 1527, a Spanish expedition sailed into the unknown with dreams of wealth, conquest, and glory. Led by Pánfilo de Narváez, hundreds of men crossed the Atlantic under the authority of the Spanish Crown. Their mission was to claim and settle a vast territory called La Florida. But almost from the beginning, the expedition was cursed by storms, confusion, bad decisions, and brutal conditions. In this episode of The History of Texas, we follow the Narváez Expedition from Spain to the Caribbean, then to the shores of Florida, where ambition quickly turns into desperation. The decisions made here will eventually drive a handful of survivors westward, toward the lands that would one day be called Texas. This is where one of the strangest survival stories in North American history begins. Hosted by Justin Day. Support the show:https://ko-fi.com/thehistoryoftexas Follow The History of Texas:Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/0QQ3yhHCr3hNFGp9j5ih6f Apple Podcasts:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-history-of-texas/id1896845677 More links:https://texasruneforge.com/ Music: "Anamalie" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Primary source: Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, La Relación, translated by David Carson, TexasCounties.net: https://www.texascounties.net/articles/discovery-of-texas/theaccount-cabezadevaca.htm

  11. Jun 5

    Episode 1 - Before Texas

    Before it was Texas, it was already ancient. In the first episode of The History of Texas, we go back thousands of years before the Republic, before the Alamo, before Spain, France, Mexico, or the United States ever claimed the land. This episode begins with the earliest people in Texas, from Ice Age hunters and mammoths to stone tools, shifting climates, ancient camps, and the long human story that came before written history. Texas was never an empty place. It was old, difficult, dangerous, and alive long before it had a name. Hosted by Justin Day. Support the show: https://ko-fi.com/thehistoryoftexas Follow The History of Texas: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0QQ3yhHCr3hNFGp9j5ih6f Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-history-of-texas/id1896845677 More links: https://linktr.ee/texasruneforge Music: "Anamalie" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

  12. Apr 10

    Trailer — The History of Texas

    Howdy, and welcome to The History of Texas. This podcast is a chronological journey through the story of one of the most unique and powerful regions in North America—told from its earliest beginnings to the rise of the Lone Star State. From the first peoples who called this land home…To Spanish exploration…To revolution, independence, and beyond… Each episode will build on the last, telling the full story—one chapter at a time. If you’ve ever wanted to truly understand Texas—where it came from, how it was forged, and why it became what it is today—you’re in the right place. Follow now and join me as we start at the very beginning. Support the show:https://ko-fi.com/thehistoryoftexas Follow The History of Texas:Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0QQ3yhHCr3hNFGp9j5ih6f Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-history-of-texas/id1896845677 All links:https://linktr.ee/texasruneforge Music: "Anamalie" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

  • 12 Episodes

Ratings & Reviews

2
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

The History of Texas is a chronological narrative podcast telling the story of Texas from the ancient past to the modern age. Hosted by Justin Day, the show follows the people, cultures, conflicts, frontiers, disasters, victories, and contradictions that shaped Texas long before and long after it had a name. Support the show and find more links: https://linktr.ee/texasruneforge

Information

  • Creator
    Justin Day
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    12
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Justin Day
  • Show Website
    The History of Texas

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