Early Explorers

Leif Erickson

980 BCE

After spending the winter in Vinland, Leif sailed back to Greenland, and never returned to North American shores. He is generally believed to be the first European to reach the North American continent, nearly four centuries before Christopher Columbus arrived in 1492.

Bartolomeu Diaz

1488

Bartolomeu Dias in 1488, sailed from Portugal southward made it to the bottom of Africa
-discovering the southern tip of Africa, the Cape of Good Hope

Jacques Cartier

1491

Frenchman sailed down the Saint Lawrence river all the way to present-day Montreal, claiming lands for France

Christopher Columbus

1492

Tried to reach Asia by sailing west across the Atlantic, landed in the Americas but believed he had reached Asia.

Franciso Pizarro

1496

Franciso Pizarro. He led an army to the Inca capital in Cuzco, Peru. The arrested and executed the Inca ruler. Pizarro eventually controlled most of the Inca Empire.

Vasco da Gama

1497

Vasco da Gama in 1497, sailed all around Africa and all the way to India
-winning the European race for a sea route to Asia

John Cabot

1497

Italian sailor, sailing for the English, searched for a passage to the Pacific Ocean along the coast of Canada and Newfoundland. This became the basis of England’s claim to North America.

Juan Cabrillo

1499

A maritime explorer best known for investigations of the West Coast of North America, undertaken on behalf of the Spanish Empire.

Amerigo Vespucci

1501

America was named for Amerigo Vespucci, who sailed to South America in 1501.

Francisco Vasquez de Coronado

1510

Francisco Vasquez de Coronado. He explored Arizona and New Mexico. Then they hit a Zuni settlement. Once they were convinced there was not gold they went to Kansas and still found nothing then they went home empty handed.

Vasco Nunez de Balboa

1513

Vasco Nunez de Balboa crossed Central America to discover the Pacific Ocean.

Juan Ponce de Leon

1513

Jaun Ponce de Leon. First Spanish landing on the east coast of Florida in 1513. Apparently Ponce de Leon was not just looking for gold he was also looking for the fountain of youth. His exploration led to the first Spanish settlement in the United states, St. Augustine.

Hernan Cortes

1519

He sailed in 1519 and landed on the east coast of present day Mexico. Cortes defeated the Aztec and took their gold which made him and Spain rich. Cortez inspired many conquistadors.

Ferdinand Magellan

1519

Ferdinand Magellan headed an expedition in 1519 that circumnavigated, the world.

Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca

1528

Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca. He was a part of a Spanish exploration in 1528. They had conflict with the Native Americans so they sailed South toward Mexico in November. Panfilo de Narvaez led that trip.

Hernando de Soto

1539

Hernando de Soto. He led an expedition to explore Florida and the Southeastern United States. They traveled for 3 years and tried to find gold. When they encountered Native Americans it was often not a pleasant experience.

Henry Hudson 1

1607

Henry Hudson had his first voyage in 1607. He was trying to find a northern route to Asia. After icy conditions changed his route for his trip, he landed on some of the islands near Greenland and reported that there were whales, which opened up a brand new hunting territory.

Samuel de Champlain

1608

Samuel de Champlain was a French colonist, navigator, cartographer, draftsman, soldier, explorer, geographer, ethnologist, diplomat, and chronicler. He made between 21 and 29 trips across the Atlantic Ocean, and founded Quebec, and New France, on 3 July.

Henry Hudson 2

1608

In 1608, Hudson sailed again in the Hopewell, again in association with Sir Thomas Smythe, but now with the aim of finding the Northeast Passage, a route to East Asia over the top of Russia. Hudson and his crew of 14 were unable to progress beyond Novaya Zemlya, an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean.

Rene-Robert De La Salle

1678

French explorer in North America, who led an expedition down the Illinois and Mississippi rivers and claimed all the region watered by the Mississippi and its tributaries for Louis XIV of France, naming the region “Louisiana.” A few years later, in a luckless expedition seeking the mouth of the Mississippi, he was murdered by his men.