swap_horiz Captain John Smith Alternatives

1

Meriwether Lewis

Meriwether Lewis was an American army officer and explorer who, with William Clark, led the Lewis and Clark Expedition f...

American 19TH Century North America Terrestrial

8.3 Great

2

Samuel de Champlain

Samuel de Champlain was a French navigator, cartographer, explorer, and colonial administrator active in northeastern No...

French Canada Great Lakes Terrestrial

8.2 Great

3

William Clark

William Clark was an American soldier, explorer, territorial official, and Indian agent who co-led the Lewis and Clark E...

American 19TH Century North America Terrestrial

8.2 Great

4

Vasco Núñez de Balboa

Vasco Nunez de Balboa was a Spanish explorer and colonial administrator active in the early 16th century. In 1513 he cro...

Spanish Pacific Panama Terrestrial

8.1 Great

5

Alexander Mackenzie

Alexander Mackenzie was a Scottish-born fur trader and explorer whose journeys mapped major waterways across what is now...

18TH Century Canada British Terrestrial

8.1 Great

6

Richard Francis Burton

Sir Richard Francis Burton was a British explorer, army officer, diplomat, translator, and linguist active during the ni...

19TH Century British Terrestrial Africa Middle East

8.1 Great

7

Francis Drake

Francis Drake was an English mariner, privateer and naval commander active during the reign of Elizabeth I. His expediti...

Privateer British Maritime Circumnavigation

8.0 Great

8

Wilfred Thesiger

Wilfred Thesiger was a British explorer who between 1945 and 1950 made two crossings of the Arabian Empty Quarter, becom...

Desert 20TH Century British Terrestrial

8.0 Great

9

Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca

Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca was a Spanish explorer who, after a failed 1527 expedition to Florida, spent eight years wand...

Spanish North America Terrestrial Age Of Exploration

7.8 Good

10

Freya Stark

Freya Stark was a British-Italian travel writer and explorer known for journeys through the Middle East, particularly du...

20TH Century Female British Middle East

7.8 Good

11

John Cabot

John Cabot, also known as Giovanni Caboto, was an Italian navigator who sailed under the authority of England's King Hen...

North America Maritime Atlantic Italian British

7.7 Good

12

Isabella Bird

Isabella Bird was a British traveler, writer, photographer, and natural observer whose journeys took her through North A...

Global 19TH Century Female British

7.7 Good

13

Mary Kingsley

Mary Kingsley was a British writer and traveler who undertook extensive journeys in West and Central Africa during the 1...

19TH Century Female British Africa

7.6 Good

14

John McDouall Stuart

John McDouall Stuart was a Scottish-born explorer whose expeditions mapped large areas of inland Australia during the ni...

Australia 19TH Century British Terrestrial

7.5 Good

15

Mungo Park

Mungo Park was a Scottish surgeon and explorer best known for his two major expeditions to trace the course of the Niger...

19TH Century British Africa Terrestrial

7.4 Good

16

Francisco de Orellana

Francisco de Orellana (c. 1511–1546) was a Spanish conquistador and explorer credited as the first European to navigate...

Spanish South America Terrestrial Age Of Exploration

7.4 Good

17

Hernando de Soto

Hernando de Soto was a Spanish explorer and conquistador who led an expedition from Cuba into Florida in 1539 and across...

Spanish North America Terrestrial Conquistador

6.9 Fair

18

Francisco Vásquez de Coronado

Spanish explorer who from 1540 to 1542 led an expedition through the American Southwest searching for the mythical Seven...

Spanish North America Southwest Terrestrial

6.8 Fair

19

Juan Ponce de León

Spanish explorer who in 1513 led the first known European expedition to Florida and is traditionally credited with searc...

Spanish Florida North America Terrestrial

6.7 Fair

20

Walter Raleigh

English explorer and courtier who sponsored expeditions to North America in the 1580s and organized the failed Roanoke C...

British South America Guiana Terrestrial

6.6 Fair