Andrés Dorantes de Carranza

Andrés Dorantes de Carranza
Born	ca. 1500 Béjar del Castañar, Salamanca (or in Gibraleon), Spain
Died	1550 New Spain?
Nationality	Castillan
Occupation	Explorer

Andrés Dorantes de Carranza (ca. 1500 – 1550), was an early Spanish explorer in the Americas. He was one of the four last survivors of the Narváez expedition, along with Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca, Dorantes' slave Estevanico, and Alonso del Castillo Maldonado. They were the first non-native people to travel in the Southwest region of the modern United States.

Dorantes was born in Béjar del Castañar,Salamanca (or possibly in Gibraleon), Spain, ca. 1500. His father was Pablo Dorantes and he was raised in a poor hidalgo family. His family was of an ancient lineage and had mayorazgos of quality. Carranza traveled to the Americas to enrich himself under Captain Pánfilo de Narváez. When the expedition was organized, he and Castillo Maldonado got a boat under his command.

Thus, Dorantes and Estevanico traveled to Florida in 1527. In April 1528, the expeditionary group survived a hurricane near Cuba and arrived on the western shore of Florida, in an area near present-day Tampa Bay. They claimed the newly discovered land for the Castilian Crown. However, several hurricanes and fights with the Native American locals caused the death of many expedition members. In addition, after leaving Florida, with fewer men on board (for the reasons before mentioned), three of the vessels sank during the travels to Mexico, leaving only two afloat, with about 80 men. The vessels landed at the coast of Galveston Island, Texas. In this place, however, their troubles continued: the harsh winter and lack of food caused the death of most of the expedition's members, with only 15 men surviving, including Dorantes, Castillo, Estevanico, and Cabeza de Vaca. In the spring, the men traveled along the Colorado River, walking through the deserts of modern Mexico, New Mexico, and Texas.

...
Wikipedia