c. 1500

Azemmour, Morocco

1539

Hawikuh (a Zuni pueblo in New Mexico)

Explorer and "medicine man"

Portrait: Estevanico. Reproduced by permission of The Granger Collection, New York.

"After [Estevanico] had left the friars, he thought he could get all the reputation and honor himself, and that if he should discover those settlements with such famous high houses, alone, he would be considered bold and courageous."

Pedro de Casteñeda Estevanico.

Estevanico (also known as Estevan, Estebanico, or Esteban) was a Moroccan slave who, along with an expedition of Spanish explorers, traveled from Florida along the Gulf of Mexico into the southwestern United States. He was captured by Native Americans and escaped to become a successful "medicine man" (a priestly healer). After an epic journey he finally reached the Spanish outpost of Mexico City. Estevanico was the first Westerner to reach some areas of the southwestern United States. He preceded Spanish...