Estebanico: The First African Explorer of the North American Southwest

Estebanico (also Estevanico, Esteban the Moor) was a Moroccan enslaved man brought on the 1527 Narváez expedition. After shipwreck in Florida, he trekked with Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca and others across the Gulf Coast, Texas, and northern Mexico—reaching the Pacific (California region) years before other recorded Africans. He became the first person of sub-Saharan African descent to explore the North American Southwest. Later, he guided Marcos de Niza's 1539 expedition seeking the Seven Cities of Cíbola but was killed at Hawikuh (Zuni Pueblo). His journey predates other known Black explorers in the region by centuries.