Estêvão Gomes

Estêvão Gomes, also known in the Spanish versions of his name as Estevan Gómez or Esteban Gómez, (Porto, Kingdom of Portugal, c. 1483 - Paraguay River, 1538), was a Portuguese cartographer and explorer. He sailed at the service of Castile in the fleet of Ferdinand Magellan, but deserted the expedition before reaching the Strait of Magellan, and returned to Spain in May 1521. In 1524 he explored present-day Nova Scotia sailing South along the Maine coast. While historical accounts vary, Gomes may have entered New York Harbor and seen the Hudson River. Because of his expedition, the 1529 Diogo Ribeiro world map outlines the East coast of North America almost perfectly.

Gomes was born in Porto, northern Portugal, and probably sailed in Portuguese ships during his youth. In 1518, he moved to Castile (Spain), where he was appointed a pilot in the Casa de Contratación in Seville.

In 1519, Gomes 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.

Gomes was able to convince the Emperor Charles to finance a new expedition to find a northern passage to the Spice Islands, the fabled Northwest Passage. A 50-ton caravel, La Anunciada, was built for the purpose.

The expedition sailed on September 24, 1524 from A Coruña, with 29 men forming the crew. He arrived in Cuba and later sailed north. Gomes' expedition reached Cabot Strait and Cape Breton (in today's Nova Scotia province of Canada) in February 1525. As soon as he was able to renew his search for the passage, and probably thinking that an even Northern passage would not present much better conditions than what he remembered from the Strait of Magellan, he decided to sail South. He passed through Maine, where he thought the estuary of the Penobscot River to be the passage. He entered Upper New York Bay and the Hudson River (which he named the "San Antonio River"). Gomes returned to Spain on August 21, 1525. During his voyage, Gomes abducted over 50 natives and took them back to Spain as evidence of a potentially lucrative slave trade. Charles V was reportedly horrified and set them free.

As a result of his expedition, the 1529 Diogo Ribeiro world map 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.

In 1535, Gomes joined Pedro de Mendoza's expedition to Río de la Plata. During the expedition, he was killed in the Paraguay River by Indians (1538).