Hernando DeSoto
c.1497 – May 21, 1542
born in Spain.
Spanish navigator and conquistador
Voyage With Others
He participated in the conquest of Panama and took a very active role with Francisco Pizarro in the Spanish conquest of Peru, South America. In 1514, de Soto accompanied Pedro Arias de Ávila to the Spanish colonies, landing in Panama. His only possessions then were a shield and his sword. In 1516, he became leader of a cavalry unit and went with Francisco Fernandez de Cordoba on his discovery and colonization voyage through Nicaragua and Honduras.
First expedition – South America
In 1528 de Soto captained his own expedition along the coast of Yucatan, hoping to find direct connection by sea from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean.
With a group of fifty men, he discovered an Inca road to Cuzco, the capital of the Inca Empire, and became the first European to talk to the Sapa Inca Atahualpa. De Soto gained fame as an excellent horseman, fighter, and tactician, but was known for extreme brutality when dealing with native peoples of the Americas.
He returned to Spain in1536, taking with him approximately 100,000 golden Pesos which was his share of the conquest of the Inca Empire. At this time, De Soto was famous for being the hero of the battle of Cuzco.
Second Voyage
After returning to Spain he begin hearing about the exploration of Magellan and others who had seen the continent of North America. De Soto, having seen the legendary resources in Peru and read a report written by Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, suspected a similar wealth in Florida. De Soto sold all of his worldly goods to equip an expedition into the unexplored lands of Florida. His mission was to conquer, settle, and "pacify" the unknown territories. In May 1539, he landed with approximately 600 to 700 men, twenty-four priests, nine ships, and 220 horses on the western coast of Florida, in what would become Bradenton, Florida, south of Tampa, Florida.
De Soto's aim was to colonize the area, preferably from the center of a city like Cuzco or Mexico City. Therefore, he brought several tons of equipment, tools, arms, cannons, dogs, and pigs. The dogs, mostly Irish Wolfhounds, became weapons and instruments of punishment for the army. In addition to the sailors, the ships brought priests, blacksmiths, craftsmen, engineers, farmers, and merchants. Few of these men had ever traveled outside of Spain, or even their home villages.
The exact course of De Soto's expedition is subject to controversy among Historians. The primary historical sources are journals left by the Spaniards, including De Soto's secretary. The commonly assumed De Soto Trail runs in a west-northwest direction across the United States (Mississippi, Arkansas and Oklahoma until he reached Texas). Other opinions argue for a northern route across Kentucky and Indiana to the Great Lakes. It is known for sure that De Soto explored Florida and large parts of the Southern United States.
In Florida, his misfortune began. Instead of being full of gold, the country was full of swamps and mosquitoes, and was extremely hot and humid. Also, the Native Americans that he brought with him from previous explorations angered the local native tribes.
De Soto's troops were brutal. They captured the natives to use as workers and guides, and looted villages in their search for food for their men and horses. Most often, de Soto let the villages burn down and set up a Christian cross on the sacred places of the natives. In addition to slaves and guides, the Spaniards often captured the tribes' chieftains in order to gain safe passage.
The first winter encampment of the expedition took place in Anhaica, the capital of the Apalachee, close to Lake Tallahas. The site is also near "Bahia de Caballos" where the members of the Narváez expedition were forced to eat valued horseflesh for survival. This is the only place on the entire route where the archeologists agree that De Soto's expedition had been.
Sometimes, the members of the expedition traded the pigs they brought with them on the ships for other food. Othertimes, they tried to get what they needed by force.
Having heard of the famous gold treasure of the Cofitachequi, and accompanied by their enemies, the Acute, the expedition continued on to the Carolinas. During weeks of marches, through hunger and thirst, they realized that the Acute were not sure of their way through the territories of the Cofitachequi. Nonetheless, in the middle of May, the expedition discovered the capital of the tribe, situated at the site of today's Columbia, South Carolina.
The Spaniards were received in a relatively friendly manner — especially considering that they looted and pillaged several villages of the Cofitachequi on their way. The Cofitachequi princess seemingly turned over her tribe's sacred burial sites, pearls, and anything the Spaniards valued to Don Hernando. However, the Spaniards demanded to see the city's gold at once. Upon closer examination, the "gold" emerged as simple copper. The Spaniards raided the city's burial temples, looting ancient treasures. They found some pearls and weapons in the city, took the young and charismatic female leader as a hostage, and ventured on in their search for wealth, across the Carolinas, Georgia, and Alabama. On their further travels, they were led by wrong promises of giant gold reserves in the east. In northern Alabama, they stumbled upon the city of Mauvila (or Mabila). The Choctaw tribe, under chieftainTascalusa, ambushed them on the central place of the strongly- fortified city. The Spaniards managed to fight their way out, then attacked the city over and over again. In a battle of nine hours, twenty Spaniards died, almost all were wounded, and twenty more died during the next few days. All Choctaw warriors in the area — between 2,000 and 6,000 in number died fighting, in the fires, by executions, or by suicide. Mauvila was burned down.
Even though the Spaniards won the battle, they lost most of their possessions and forty horses. They were wounded, sickened, and almost without equipment in an unknown territory, surrounded by enemies. With the battle of Mauvila, the natives' respect for the Spanish expedition also decreased. The Spaniards were attacked more and more often by guerrillas and in the open.
While his men had lost their hopes for riches and now only wanted to reach the coast to meet ships that were to come from Cuba, De Soto still strived for new discoveries. The expedition wintered in Chicasa in modern-day Mississippi. The expedition returned upcountry to the north, where they met the Chickasaw tribe. De Soto demanded 200 men as porters from the Chickasaw. They denied his claim and attacked the Spanish camp during the night. The Spaniards lost about forty men and the remainder of their equipment. According to participating chroniclers, the expedition could have been destroyed. Luckily for the expedition, the Chickasaw let them go, intimidated by their own success.
On May 8, 1541, De Soto's troops reached the Mississippi River. It is unclear whether he, as it is claimed, was the first European to see the Mississippi River. However, he is the first to document this fact in official reports.
De Soto was not really interested in this discovery. He recognized the vast river as a stumbling point to his mission. He and 400 men had to cross the broad river, which was constantly patrolled by hostile natives. After about one month, and the building of several floats, the Straggley explorers finally crossed the Mississippi and continued their adventure westwards through modern-day Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas
. They wintered in Autiamique, on the Arkansas River. Eventually, the Spaniards returned to the Mississippi River.
de Soto died on May 21, 1542 allegedly after contracting a fever. It is contested that possibly it was from an infected wound inflicted during the battle fought with the local Native Americans. Either way, since he had told the natives a myth that Christians would not die, his men had to conceal his death. They hid his corpse in blankets weighted with sand and sank it in the river. (
However, both Lake Providence, Louisiana and Lake Village, Arkansas claim that De Soto is buried in their respective lakes.
de Soto's expedition roamed through the southeastern part of what is now the United States for three years without finding the expected treasures or a place to begin their colonization. After one more year of wandering, De Soto’s remaining men finally reached Spanish territory in Mexico, via the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. On their return journey, the Natchez and other tribes, who had united against the Spaniards, heavily attacked them.
Out of the initial 700 participants, 311 found their way home to Europe.
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