<P> Native Americans determined the fate of European explorers and settlers depending on whether a tribe was kind or warlike . Friendly tribes taught newcomers how to grow indigenous crops, prepare foods, and hunting methods for the wild game . Warlike tribes made life difficult and dangerous for explorers and settlers through their attacks and resistance to European conquest . Many Native Americans died of new infectious diseases, which caused high fatalities and disrupted their cultures in the early years of colonization . In the 19th century, they resisted European and American expansion, and there was frequent warfare . After the American Civil War, the United States Army was used to suppress resistance in the Indian Wars . </P> <P> Three federally recognized Native American tribes reside in Texas: the Alabama - Coushatta Tribes of Texas, the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas, and the Ysleta Del Sur Pueblo of Texas . A remnant of the Choctaw tribe in East Texas still lives in the Mt . Tabor Community near Overton, Texas . </P> <P> The first European to see Texas was Alonso Álvarez de Pineda, who led an expedition for the governor of Jamaica, Francisco de Garay, in 1520 . While searching for a passage between the Gulf of Mexico and Asia, Álvarez de Pineda created the first map of the northern Gulf Coast . This map is the earliest recorded document of Texas history . </P> <P> Between 1528 and 1535, four survivors of the Narváez expedition, including Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca and Estevanico, spent six and a half years in Texas as slaves and traders among various native groups . Cabeza de Vaca was the first European to explore the interior of Texas . </P>

Who was the first european explorer in the area where texas is now located