- Esteban Gómez
Esteban Gómez, also known as Estevan Gómez and Estêvão Gomes (c. 1483-1538), was a Spanish cartographer and explorer, of Portuguese origin.
Biography
Gómez was born in
Porto , northern Portugal, and probably sailed in Portuguese ships during his youth. In 1518, he moved to Spain, where he was appointed a pilot in theCasa de Contratación inSeville .In 1519, Gómez sailed with Magellan in the First Circumnavigation of Earth, as the captain of the "San Antonio". Before reaching the
Strait of Magellan , though, he deserted the expedition, returning to Spain in May 1521. He was immediately jailed, but when the remaining ship reached Spain, and the surviving crew related their terrible experience, he was freed.Gómez was able to convince the Emperor Charles to allow and finance a new exploration trip to find a passage to the
Spice Islands , this time through the North. A 50-ton caravel, "La Anunciada ", was built for the purpose.The expedition sailed in September 1524 from
Corunna , with 29 men forming the crew. He reached theCabot Strait and Cape Breton (in today'sNova Scotia province ofCanada ) in February 1525, and spent the winter there. As soon as he was able to restart the trip, and probably thinking that an even Northern passage would not present much better conditions than what he remembered from theStrait of Magellan , he decided to sail South. He passed throughMaine , where he thought the estuaire of thePenobscot River to be the passage. He entered theNew York Harbor and theHudson River (which he named the "San Antonio River"), and eventually reachedFlorida in August 1525, when he decided to go back to Spain.As a result of his expedition, the 1529
Diego Ribero worldmap outlines the East coast of North America almost perfectly. For a long time, the Northern half of the current US coast was named on maps as Tierra de Esteban Gómez.[
.jpeg|thumb|200px|right|Nineteenth_Century_hand-drawn_detail_of_the_American_coast_from_a_world_map_by_)
Diego Ribero (1529), where the Northern Half of the East coast of the current US is named as Tierra de Esteban Gómez]In 1535, Gómez joined
Pedro de Mendoza 's expedition toRío de la Plata . During the expedition, he was killed in theParaguay River by Indians (1538).ee also
*
Map
*Cartography
*List of explorers
*List of cartographers
*List of conquistadors External links
* [http://www.biographi.ca/EN/ShowBio.asp?BioId=34383 Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online]
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