Born c. 1500,
Extremadura, Spain
Died May 21, 1542,
Mississippi River
By 1539, when his expedition sailed along the coast of Florida, Hernando de Soto was already a seasoned explorer and a wealthy man. He had been drawn to the North American continent by stories about hidden cities that contained vast amounts of gold and silver. De Soto and his party, who traveled for nearly three years in search of treasure, were possibly the first Europeans to sight the Mississippi River.
Born in about 1500 in Extremadura, a Spanish province near the Portuguese border, de Soto embarked on a life of adventure as a young man. In 1524 he joined an expedition to Nicaragua led by Francisco Hernandez de Córdoba, taking part in founding the city of Granada. Sometime after their arrival in Nicaragua, de Soto sided with Córdoba’s adversary, Pedro Arias, in a dispute that resulted in Córdoba’s death. De Soto settled in Nicaragua and began to prosper, partly by engaging in slave trade. Once again lured by adventure, however, he accepted an invitation to join fellow Spaniard Francisco Pizarro (see entry) in Pizarro’s third expedition to Peru.
When the Spaniards landed in Peru in December 1531, they began the conquest of the Inca Empire. With its capital at Cuzco, the empire extended thousands of miles throughout the region. The Spaniards traveled for nearly a year in the Andes, the great South American mountain range. In November 1532 they reached the city of Cajamarca, where Atahualpa, the ruler of the Incas, was camped. Pizarro sent de Soto into the city to meet Atahualpa. The next day Pizarro, pretending to be friendly, invited Atahualpa to dinner and then took him captive.
Having imprisoned Atahualpa, Pizarro became the ruler of Peru. Although there were several uprisings by the Incas, Pizarro stayed in power. During one of the revolts he ordered the execution of Atahualpa. In spite of de Soto’s protests that the life of the emperor should be spared, the execution was carried out. The following year, in 1533, de Soto joined Pizarro in taking Cuzco, the capital. During the siege de Soto nearly lost his life in an ambush. He stayed in Peru for three more years before returning to Spain in 1536.
De Soto’s participation in the conquest of Peru made him a man of wealth and stature. Upon his arrival in Spain, he asked King Charles I to give him an important position in one of Spain’s new territories in the Americas. In April 1537 the king appointed de Soto governor of Cuba. As governor, de Soto was granted the right to conquer and colonize the territory north of Cuba on the mainland of North America, later to become Florida. This land, first visited by Juan Ponce de León (see entry) in 1513, was at the time a vast, unexplored wilderness.
De Soto began preparing for an expedition to Florida. In the meantime, Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca (see entry) returned to Spain after many years of exploring in the area that is now Texas. Cabeza de Vaca told of stories he had heard about the great wealth to be found in the “Seven Cities of Cíbola,” which were said to be somewhere in the southeastern part of North America. While Cabeza de Vaca had failed to find any treasure, de Soto felt encouraged that he himself might discover riches in his new territory. He sailed from Spain on April 7, 1538, with 600 men and 200 horses. After stopping in Cuba for more supplies, they landed at the site of modern-day Tampa Bay, on the western coast of Florida, on May 27, 1539.
Six months later de Soto and his party reached the town of Apalachen near what is now Tallahassee, Florida. In spite of a hostile reception from Native Americans, they spent the winter there. When spring came, they left in search of a place called Cofitachequi, which they had heard was ruled by a powerful and wealthy queen. They arrived at Cofitachequi, about 75 miles from the mouth of the Savannah River in eastern Georgia, in late April 1540. The city was indeed ruled by a queen, but her only treasure was a few freshwater pearls.
The expedition left Cofitachequi two weeks later and moved north to the land of Chiaha, also rumored to be rich in gold. In early June, after crossing the Appalachian Mountains, they reached Chiaha, which turned out to be an island (now named Burns Island) in the middle of the Tennessee River. Once again, promises of wealth proved to be false. From there the disappointed Spaniards traveled south, on the way meeting two great chiefs—Chief Cosa, who lived along the Coosa River north of modern Childersburg, Alabama, and Chief Tuscaloosa, who lived in a village on the shores of the Alabama River.
At Mabila (perhaps near present-day Choctaw Bluff, Alabama) de Soto received news that his ships had sailed into the Gulf of Mexico to meet him. Moving down toward the gulf in November 1540, the de Soto party became involved in a fierce battle with a group of Native Americans. They were therefore diverted to the north and west and were forced to set up winter camp about 125 miles east of the Mississippi River. In March of the following year they were attacked by members of the Chickasaw tribe; 12 Spaniards were killed.
De Soto and his men left their winter camp at the end of April 1541 and reached the Mississippi in early May at a site that is south of modern Memphis, Tennessee. They built barges and crossed the river in June, again in search of treasure. De Soto had heard reports about the Ozark Mountains, so he headed in that direction with hopes of finding gold and silver. The party spent several months traveling through what is now the state of Arkansas, making a winter camp near Camden. They left camp on March 6, 1542, but by then they were in desperate straits. Juan Ortiz, an important member of the expedition, had died along with several other men and most of the horses. De Soto decided to turn back and sail down the Mississippi to the sea.
The party reached the river and pillaged a Native American village in order to have a secure place to build their boats. In the meantime, however, de Soto became ill with fever and died during the night of May 21, 1542. His men reportedly buried his body in the river so it would not be discovered by the Native Americans.
The survivors, led by Luis de Moscoso, built seven barges and embarked down the Brazos River in July. They reached the mouth of the Mississippi and then sailed along the Gulf coast to the settlement of Panuco in northwestern Mexico, where they would set sail for Spain. It was now September 10, 1543. Of the original 600 men in the de Soto expedition, only 311 had survived, and their leader had died without ever finding treasure in his new territory.
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