Page:History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century Volume 1.djvu/60



became the hunted “cliff dwellers,” who sought a last refuge in the sides of the deep gorges where some of the cliff houses have been preserved, It is generally believed that the remote ancestors of the North American Indians were the conquerors of the “Mound Builders.”

The discovery of America by Columbus was followed by an era of adventure, and successive expeditions for conquests in the new world, in which the nations of Europe vied with each other for supremacy. Visions of rich gold fields, vast empires of fertile lands for planting colonies and enlarging the domain of the nations of the old world, stimulated the spirit of adventure and opened unlimited fields for the acquisition of wealth and official rank and power. No scheme was too visionary to enlist men and money to launch it. Spain was at this time one of the powerful nations of Europe. Her countrymen led in all of the most daring expeditions. Her navigators were the most courageous of that period. Her armies were renowned for their valor. Her religious leaders were as zealous as they were cruel and unscrupulous. Her noblemen were ambitious for wealth and increased power.

All of these elements now united in race for discovery and conquest in the unexplored regions of the far West. Then followed an era of cruelty that rivaled the most inhuman raids of the Dark Ages. As new lands were discovered, they were overrun by reckless adventurers, the inhabitants were robbed and enslaved with as little restraint as though they had been wild beasts. Spain, by virtue of discovery, claimed all of the region lying south of a line running west from Manhattan Island. It was held under the name of Florida, and extended south to include Mexico. The West India Islands and all south of Mexico to Brazil was also claimed by Spain. But north of the Gulf of Mexico and in the far West was a vast region yet wholly unexplored.

In 1528 Panfilo Narvaez, a Spanish nobleman, was appointed by Charles V. Governor of Florida. He was