Estevanico

Estevanico
(aka Estevan, Esteban, Estebanico, Black Stephen, Stephen the Moor)

Biography, Timeline & Facts about the famous explorer, explorations & voyages in the Age of Exploration

Short Biography of the life of Estevanico - Slave and Explorer
The following biography information provides basic facts about the life Estevanico:

• Nationality - North African

• Lifespan - 1500 - 1539

• Date of enslavement - 1513

• Slave and Explorer

• Famous for : exploring Texas and Southwest America and heralded as having been “the first black man in North America.”

Description of Estevanico - Slave and Explorer
Cabeza de Vaca described his explorer companion as follows:
"Estevanico was a large and powerful man, blessed with a shrewd and quick mind." Estevanico was an excellent linguist and was able to quickly learn the languanges of the Native Americans. Estevanico undertook the role of scout and mediator in the explorations of the Cabeza de Vaca party.

Facts, Timeline & History about the life of Estevanico - Slave and Explorer
The following are additional facts and a timeline about the life and history of Estevanico:

• 1490: Estevanico was born at Azamor in Morocco, North Africa

• He was raised in the Muslim religion

• 1513: Estevanico was captured and enslaved by the Portuguese and converted to the Christian, Catholic religion

• 1520: Estevanico  was purchased as a personal slave by Andres Dorantes de Carranza, a captain in the Spanish infantry

• 1527: Andres Dorantes de Carranza heard the stories about the New World and joined the expedition, with his slave Estevanico, to the New World which was lead by Pamfilo de Narvaez

• Pamfilo de Narvaez had been commissioned by Emperor Carlos V to colonize the entire Gulf Coast of the New World from Florida to Mexico

• June 17, 1527: Pamfilo de Narvaez  leaves Spain from Cadiz with 300 men, including Andres Dorantes and his slave, Estevanico

• The expedition and Estevanico reach Hispaniola where they stay for over 1 month

• From Hispaniola they travel to Santiago, Cuba on to Trinidad

• 1528 April 12: Pamfilo de Narvaez and Andres Dorantes and his slave, Estevanico arrive in Florida in the vicinity of Tampa Bay. The men disembark and the land is claimed for Spain

• May 1, 1528: Narvaez announces his plans for the expedition to split between land and sea expeditions

• Various disasters befall the expedition which eventually result in the party which includes Andres Dorantes and his slave, Estevanico is whittled down from 80 men to 15 men and finally, to an expedition of just four men who are captured by natives

• The four remaining explorers, thought to include the first Europeans and black slave in Texas, were:

  • Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca

  • Estevanico

  • Alonzo del Castillo Maldonado

  • Andres Dorantes de Carranza

• Estevanico and the other survivors live on the Isle of Misfortune as slaves but after a year escape to the mainland. They spend the next eight years in abject hardship exploring the land of Texas and Mexico, living and trading with the natives. Estevanico is viewed as a medicine man by the Avavares tribe

• January 1536: Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, Estevanico, Alonso del Castillo and Andres Dorantes meet Spanish soldiers of New Spain in what is now the State of Sinaloa in northwest Mexico

• February 1536: The four explorers arrive at Culiacan, a frontier outpost of New Spain

• July 1536: Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, Estevanico, Alonso del Castillo and Andres Dorantes were welcomed to Mexico City by Hernan Cortes and Antonio de Mendoza, the Viceroy of New Spain

• 1536: Estevanico is given his freedom

• 1539: Estevanicohe accompanies Fray Marcos of Nice as a guide to the Seven Cities of Cibola in western New Mexico

• 1539: Leading the expedition as a guide he reached Hawikuh which was the southern-most of the seven cities

• 1539: Estevanico is killed by the natives in Hawikuh, New Mexico - so ends the Timeline of Estevanico  (aka Estevan, Esteban, Estebanico, Black Stephen, Stephen the Moor)

Interesting Facts, Timeline and Information about Estevanico
Some interesting facts and biography information about the History, Life & Times of Estevanico

Famous Explorers - Estevanico - Slave and Explorer
Additional details, timelines, facts, history and information about the famous European Explorers and events in the great Age of Exploration and Elizabethan Times can be accessed via the Elizabethan Era Sitemap.