Juan Garrido
Juan Garrido (c. 1480 – c. 1550) 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 | |
|---|---|
Black conquistador in the Codex Azcatitlan, possibly Garrido himself. | |
| Born | c. 1480 West Africa |
| Died | 1550 (aged 69–70) New Spain, Spanish Empire |
| Occupation | Conquistador |
| Employer | Hernan Cortés |
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. 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.
Other black conquistadors included Estevanico, Juan de Villanueva, Beatriz de Palacios, Juan Valiente, Juan Beltrán, Pedro Fulupo, Juan Bardales and Antonio Pérez.