Brutal journey : the epic story of the first crossing of North America. Paul Schneider.

"A John McRae book."

Includes bibliographical references (p. [337]-350) and index.

A continent to call his own -- The company gathers -- Across the ocean sea -- Into the gulf -- The requirement -- In Tocobaga's charnel house -- Leaving safety harbor -- Across the Withlacoochee -- The sound of flutes -- In the land of the Apalachee -- Chest-high in hell -- Into the gulf-- again -- Father of waters -- Castaways -- The isle of bad fortune -- Figueroa's attempt -- The news from Malhado -- The traveling salesman -- Pecans and prickly pears -- The burning bush -- The traveling medicine show -- Six hundred hearts of deer -- Peace in the valley -- Lost in the New World.

This book tells the story of an army of would-be conquerors who came to the New World on the heels of Cort�es. Bound for glory, they landed in Florida in 1528. But only four of the four hundred would survive: eight years and a 5,000-mile journey later, three Spaniards and a black Moroccan wandered out of the wilderness to the north of the Rio Grande and into Mexico. The survivors brought nothing back other than their story, but what a tale it was. They had become killers and cannibals, torturers and torture victims, slavers and enslaved, faith healers, arms dealers, canoe thieves, and spider eaters--whatever it took to survive long enough to reach an outpost of the Spanish empire. Now, by combining the accounts of the explorers with findings of archaeologists and academic historians, Schneider offers an authentic narrative to replace a legend of North American exploration.--From publisher description.