ESTEVANICO and the Golden City of Cíbola

 

   Probably the most extraordinary yet uncelebrated survival story in American history is that of a young African slave born a world away.

   Destined for infamy, Estevanico – or ‘Little Esteban’ – is arguably the first African slave to have ever set foot on continental American soil.

   One of only four survivors of Pánfilo de Narváez’s ill-fated 400-man expedition to colonize Florida in 1528, he wandered hopelessly lost in the New World for eight years, traversing lands which would one day become Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona.

   Finally rescued by a Spanish cavalry patrol in northwestern Mexico in 1536, he returned to the New World three years later as guide for an expedition seeking the legendary Seven Cities of Gold. In June 1539 he discovered Cíbola, the first of the fabled cities, only to be killed by its inhabitants – murdered in a golden city that never truly existed.

 

   From ancient pueblos of the American Southwest to the shipwreck-strewn shores of the Caribbean, suspense, intrigue and historical revelation abound as Carl K Scott, drawing deep from the wells of his own true-life adventures, artfully blends colorful fiction with shadowed history to paint with words this action-packed portrait of a monumental modern-day treasure hunting adventure.