Answer:
The wave of exploration that began with Columbus’ voyage in 1492 didn’t take long to reach the land that is now Texas. Spain’s conquest of the Americas began on a series of islands in what is now the Caribbean Sea. New colonial cities on those islands soon became hubs for exploration of the mainland. By 1519, exploration had turned to conquest in what is now Mexico, when Hernán Cortés landed on the Yucatán peninsula then pushed inland to the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan.
To the north, on the gulf coast, the focus remained on exploration. A 1519 expedition led by Alonzo Álvarez de Pineda sailed west from Florida toward Mexico, mapping the coastline as they traveled. That map, which is still in existence, shows a long and curving coastline that we can recognize even today. It’s the first map showing the land that became Texas.
Welcome!!