Why Did Cabeza Survive

In the spring of 1527, five spanish ships set sail from the Spanish Mainland to the New World but tragedy struck and left only 4 survivors. One of the survivors was a man named Cabeza de Vaca, he and 600 settlers took place on this tragic expedition on June, 17, 1527 to the established colonies on the northern shores of the Gulf of Mexico. He and four other fellow castaways, a person shipwrecked or stranded, were the only survivors of the expedition so experts came up with some reasons on how Cabeza de Vaca had survived this 8-year struggle of survival. The three main reasons are he survived by drinking out of a hollowed out horse leg, he befriended his captors, and he did a life-saving operation on a Native American.
The first reason Cabeza was able to survive was that he survived by drinking out
Good evidence of this is when Cabeza in Document C described how he did the operation on the Native American because he had to remove the point of the arrow that was resting over his heart. He then ended by saying “ I removed the two stitches from the Indian and he was healed and this cure gave us a great reputation among them throughout the whole land”. This evidence also explains how Cabeza stayed alive because by him saving one of their own, it gave him and his fellow castaways a better chance at staying alive by the great reputation that was stimulated among doing this procedure.
In conclusion, the three main reasons Cabeza survived was drinking freshwater stored in a hollowed out horse leg, befriending his captors, and doing a life-saving operation on a Native American. Therefore, the reason the story of Cabeza de Vaca’s survival is important today because it shows us an insight on how exploration was back in them days and how valuable resources, skills, and abilities were used to survive when tragedy struck during expeditions such as this