Panfilo de Narváez led an expedition of 600 men into Florida in 1527. A long string of disasters followed, culminating in the group trying to sail through the gulf of Mexico in homemade rafts. Most got wrecked in coastal Texas, where the remaining survivors either died quickly or became slaves of various Native American tribes.
Four survivors would find themselves jumping from tribe to tribe over the next eight years. The Expedition’s Treasurer: Cabeza de Vaca. Two minor noblemen: Alonso del Castillo and Andres Dorantes. And finally, Dorantes’s slave he’d brought from Morocco by the name of Estabanico.
The group would eventually become well known healers throughout Texas, amassing a horde of thousands of Native Americans that worshipped and followed them wherever they went.
Making their way south, they would eventually run into a Spanish slaving party that had been raiding the area for laborers. You could say they were pretty confused.
The four survivors were taken to Mexico city, where Dorantes would eventually sell Estabanico to Antonio de Mendoza, who sent him as a scout and interpreter on an expedition into New Mexico.
There’s a lot of conflicting accounts, but most point towards Estabanico being killed by a tribe of Zuni after being sent to them as a diplomat.
1 Comment
CONTEXT
Panfilo de Narváez led an expedition of 600 men into Florida in 1527. A long string of disasters followed, culminating in the group trying to sail through the gulf of Mexico in homemade rafts. Most got wrecked in coastal Texas, where the remaining survivors either died quickly or became slaves of various Native American tribes.
Four survivors would find themselves jumping from tribe to tribe over the next eight years. The Expedition’s Treasurer: Cabeza de Vaca. Two minor noblemen: Alonso del Castillo and Andres Dorantes. And finally, Dorantes’s slave he’d brought from Morocco by the name of Estabanico.
The group would eventually become well known healers throughout Texas, amassing a horde of thousands of Native Americans that worshipped and followed them wherever they went.
Making their way south, they would eventually run into a Spanish slaving party that had been raiding the area for laborers. You could say they were pretty confused.
The four survivors were taken to Mexico city, where Dorantes would eventually sell Estabanico to Antonio de Mendoza, who sent him as a scout and interpreter on an expedition into New Mexico.
There’s a lot of conflicting accounts, but most point towards Estabanico being killed by a tribe of Zuni after being sent to them as a diplomat.