Estéban de Dorantes, also known as Estévanico, was an enslaved Moroccan man. It is believed that he was born about 1500, and while a youth he was enslaved. In 1520 he was sold to Andrés Dorantes de Carranza, a Spanish explorer. The two men became members of the Narváez expedition to the Gulf Coast. After arriving in what is now Florida in 1528, he and others undertook an arduous journey to what is now Mexico City. In the 1530s he served as a scout and guide on a Spanish mission seeking gold in the American Southwest. He is thought to be the first African to visit what is now Texas and the first non-Native American to explore the Colorado Plateau, traveling through present-day Arizona and New Mexico. He was reportedly killed during an encounter with the A:Shiwi (Zuni) people in 1539.
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