Courtesy National Park Service, Harpers Ferry Center, Media Production

Louis Glanzman. Cabeza de Vaca with others crossing the Southwest Plains, 1992.

Published by the National Park Service in "De Soto, Coronado, Cabrillo: Explorers of the Northern Mystery"

This sculpture depicts Estevanico, a Moroccan who was captured during the Portuguese conquest of the port city, Azemmour. Sold into slavery in Europe, he was purchased by Andres de Dorantes. In 1528, both Dorantes and Estevanico accompanied conquistador Panfilo de Narvaez on an expedition to conquer and settle Florida. One of four men not to succumb to disease or attacks, Estevanico arrived in Mexico City and then led an expedition of Franciscan priests from Mexico to a Zuni pueblo in northwest New Mexico. Because he knew the territory and languages of numerous Indian nations, he journeyed ahead of the expedition to prepare the way for the Spanish colonizers. When he reached the Zuni, he was captured and killed, for reasons that remain a mystery.