María Estrada

María de Estrada (c. 1475 or 1486 – between 1537–48) was a Spanish woman who participated in the expedition of Hernán Cortés to Mexico in 1519–24. It is widely accepted that she fought there as a conquistador, and there is also some evidence that she had previously spent several years as a castaway among the native inhabitants of pre-colonial Cuba.

María de Estrada (the surname is given as Destrada or Estrada in some sources) was born in Seville, although her father came originally from northern Spain. Her brother, the conquistador, Francisco de Estrada, had accompanied Christopher Columbus as a cabin boy, and when he returned to the New World to settle permanently in 1509, Maria probably travelled with him.

According to a widely accepted identification, María joined an early expedition to the Gulf of Darién, perhaps accompanying her brother or an unrecorded husband. Their attempt to establish a settlement was a failure, and on the return journey to Santo Domingo, her vessel was shipwrecked on the island of Cuba.

At first, the locals treated the marooned Spanish crew well, helping them to travel along the coast; but at the place later known as Matanzas, the castaways were betrayed and massacred. The woman identified as Maria de Estrada was one of a handful of survivors, taken captive by one of the local chiefs who had led the attack.

For several years, she lived among the natives, one of the first Europeans to become acculturated to indigenous life in the Americas. In 1513, she was released thanks to the arrival of conquistadors on the island. Soon afterwards, she married one of these Spanish colonists, named Pedro Sánchez Farfán.

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