Andrés Dorantes de Carranza

Andrés Dorantes de Carranza (ca. 1500 – 1550s), was an early Spanish explorer in the Americas. He was one of the four last survivors of the Narváez expedition, along with Álvar Núñez 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.

Andrés Dorantes de Carranza
Bornca. 1500
Béjar del Castañar, Salamanca (or in Gibraleón, Huelva), Spain
Died1550s
New Spain?
NationalityCastillan
OccupationExplorer

Biography

Dorantes was born in Béjar del Castañar,[1] Salamanca (or possibly in Gibraleón[2]), Spain, ca. 1500. His father was Pablo Dorantes and he was raised in a poor hidalgo[3] family. His family was of an ancient lineage and had mayorazgos of quality.[1] Carranza traveled to the Americas to enrich himself[3] under Captain Pánfilo de Narváez. When the expedition was organized, he and Castillo Maldonado got a boat under his command.[3]

Thus, Dorantes and Estevanico traveled to Florida in 1527. In April 1528, the expeditionary group escaped of a hurricane near Cuba and arrived to Florida, landing in an zone located near of Tampa Bay. They claimed the newly discovered land for the Castilian Crown. However, the group was affected by several more hurricanes and by attacks of the Native Americans, which 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.[2] The group resumed its march with only 15 men, including Dorantes, Castillo, Estevanico, and Cabeza de Vaca.[4][3] In the spring, the men walked by the Colorado River's coast and by the modern New Mexico, Texas and Mexico.[2]

In March 1536, after wandering throughout Texas (much of the time spent enslaved by various Native American tribes)[5] the survivors crossed the Mexican states of Chihuahua and Sinaloa, reaching the city of Culiacán, where they connected with other Spanish people.

When New Galicia's governor Nuño de Guzmán heard news about the Spanish castaways who had reached land under their jurisdiction, he gave them horses and clothing and sent them to Mexico City to surrender accounts to the Viceroy of New Spain, Antonio de Mendoza.

Mendoza offered Dorantes a position leading a new expedition, but Dorantes refused and instead made plans to return to Spain. Dorantes sold Estevanico to the Viceroy. However, when he was preparing to leave, his ship was pronounced unfit to sail,[3] so he came back to Veracruz. After this, Dorantes never left New Spain again. He died in the 1550s.[3]

Personal life

Dorantes married María de la Torre, the widow of Francisco de Valdés. De la Torre was the owner of the Asala and Jalacingo encomiendas. After María died, Carranza married Paula Dorantes, who was also a widow. He had more than fourteen children.[3] One of his children was Baltazar Dorantes de Carranza, born in Mexico in the mid-sixteenth century, who served as treasurer of Veracruz and procurator of New Spain in Castile.[1]

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References
  1. Dorantes, Baltasar. PRÓLOGO. - cdigital (en Spanish: "Foreword"), from the book Sumaria relación de las cosas de la Nueva España con noticia individual de los descendientes legítimos de los conquistadores y primeros pobladores españoles por Baltasar Dorantes de Carranza (in Spanish: Summary relationship of the things of the New Spain with individual news of the legitimate descendants of the conquerors and first Spanish settlers by Baltazar Dorantes de Carranza), paleographed from the original by Mr. D. José María de Ágreda y Sánchez. Foreword by Luis González Obregón. Printing of Museo Nacional de México, 1902. Pages 3-4.
  2. Legends of America: Spanish Explorers
  3. Donald E. Chipman (August 6, 2003). "Handbook of Texas Online:Andrés Dorantes de Carranza". Retrieved April 23, 2013.
  4. Martínez Laínez, Fernando and Canales Torres, Carlos. Banderas lejanas: La exploración, conquista y defensa por parte de España del Territorio de los actuales Estados Unidos (Far Flags: The exploration, conquest and defense by Spain of the Territory of the present United States). Page 31-33. Fourth edition: September 2009.
  5. Donald E. Chipman. "ESTEVANICO". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 30 March 2020. They were later captured and enslaved by Coahuiltecan Indians who lived southwest of the Guadalupe River. In fall 1532 the three men were joined in slavery by Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, the sole survivor from a second raft
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