Mustafa Azemmouri

Mustafa Azemmouri, known to history as Estevanico, was born in the Atlantic port city of Azemmour, Morocco. Enslaved during Portuguese incursions, he was taken to Spain and joined the ill-fated 1527 Narváez expedition to Florida. Shipwrecked on the Texas coast, Mustafa and three Spaniards—including Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca—survived eight years wandering through Texas, northern Mexico, and the Sonoran desert.

Gifted in learning Native American languages and signs, Mustafa was celebrated as a healer. In 1539, he served as lead scout for the expedition searching for the Seven Cities of Cibola, becoming the first historical figure from Africa and the Old World to reach Arizona and New Mexico before his death at the Zuni village of Hawikuh.