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Juan Garrido | |
|---|---|
 Black conquistador in the Codex Azcatitlan, possibly Garrido himself. | |
| Born | c. 1480 |
| Died | 1550 (aged 69–70) |
| Occupation | Conquistador |
| Employer | Hernan Cortés |
Juan Garrido (c. 1480[1] – c. 1550[2]) was an Afro-Spaniard conquistador known as the first documented black person in what would become the United States. Born in West Africa, he went to Portugal as a young man. In converting to Catholicism, he chose the Spanish name Juan Garrido.
Juan Garrido joined a Spanish expedition and arrived in Santo Domingo (Hispaniola) about 1502. He participated in the conquest of present-day Puerto Rico and Cuba in 1508. In 1513, as part of Juan Ponce de León's entourage in search of gold, the expedition landed in Florida. He is the first known African to arrive in North America.[1] By 1519, he had joined Cortes's forces and invaded present-day Mexico, participating in the siege of Tenochtitlan. He married and settled in Mexico City, where he was the first known farmer to have sowed wheat in America. He continued to serve with Spanish forces for more than 30 years, including expeditions to western Mexico and to the Pacific.[3]
Other black conquistadors included Estevanico, Juan de Villanueva, Beatriz de Palacios, Juan Valiente, Juan Beltrán, Pedro Fulupo, Juan Bardales and Antonio Pérez.
- ^ a b "Juan Garrido (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved 2022-08-27.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Gerhardwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Alegría, Ricardo E. (2004). Juan Garrido: el conquistador negro en las Antillas, Florida, México y California (in Spanish). Centro de Estudios Avanzados de Puerto Rico y el Caribe. pp. 6, 127–138. ISBN 978-0-942347-92-0.
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