Cabeza de Vaca's Adventures in the Unknown Interior of America (Unabridged‪)‬

Cabeza de Vaca was part of a 1527 Spanish expedition to explore the region north of the Gulf of Mexico. His group lost contact with their ships, and traveled on foot across Florida, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and northern Mexico for the next eight years. 

This work, written in 1542 as an official report to the king of Spain, is a rich source of information on the ancient Southwest: the indigenous people, the climate, and the flora and fauna. Cabeza de Vaca’s group were the first Europeans to see animals like the opossum and the buffalo, and the book contains the earliest account of a Caribbean Hurricane.