De Soto's North American expedition was a vast undertaking. It ranged throughout what is now thesoutheastern United States, searching both for gold, which had been reported by variousNative American tribes and earlier coastal explorers, and for a passage toChina or the Pacific coast. De Soto died in 1542 on the banks of the Mississippi River;[6] sources disagree on the exact location, whether it was what is nowLake Village, Arkansas, orFerriday, Louisiana.
Although the scribe (Garcilaso) and the translator (Hakluyt) took different approaches regarding the presentation of de Soto's voyage, both intellectuals took unofficial accounts and instilled them with authority for the benefit of their respective empires. Their writings created overlapping yet distinct portrayals of de Soto’s expedition, shaped by each author’s cultural and political context.[7]
Hernando de Soto was born around the late 1490s or early 1500s inExtremadura, Spain, to parents who were bothhidalgos, nobility of modest means. The region was poor and many people struggled to survive; young people looked for ways to seek their fortune elsewhere. He was born in the current province of Badajoz.[1] Three towns—Badajoz,Barcarrota andJerez de los Caballeros—each claim to be his birthplace. HistorianUrsula Lamb writes that the Barcarrota claim can be traced toInca Garcilaso de la Vega and is probably incorrect, having been written down 45 years after De Soto's death. According to Lamb, his birthplace is most likely Jerez de los Caballeros.[8] Although he spent time as a child at each place, De Soto stipulated in his will that his body be interred at Jerez de los Caballeros, where other members of his family were buried.[9] Jerez de los Caballeros, translated in English to City of the Knights Templar, served to de Soto as an early introduction to the Conquistador lifestyle, as the city was revered for its horse training and knight history.[10]
A few years before his birth, the Kingdoms of Castille and Aragonconquered the last Islamic kingdom of theIberian Peninsula. Spain andPortugal were filled with young men seeking a chance for military fame after the defeat of theMoors. WithChristopher Columbus's discovery of new lands (which he thought to beEast Asia) across the ocean to the west, young men were attracted to rumors of adventure, glory and wealth.
De Soto sailed to theNew World withPedro Arias Dávila, appointed as the first Governor ofPanama. Hernando de Soto landed in Central America as a teenager in 1514, becoming a skilled soldier.[11] In 1520 he participated inGaspar de Espinosa's expedition toVeragua, and in 1524, he participated in the conquest ofNicaragua underFrancisco Hernández de Córdoba. There he acquired anencomienda and a public office inLeón, Nicaragua.[1]: 135 Brave leadership, unwavering loyalty, and ruthless schemes for the extortion ofnative villages for their captured chiefs became de Soto's hallmarks during theconquest of Central America. He gained fame as an excellent horseman, fighter, and tactician. During that time, de Soto was influenced by the achievements of Iberian explorers:Juan Ponce de León, the first European to reachFlorida;Vasco Núñez de Balboa, the first European to reach thePacific Ocean coast of the Americas (he called it the "South Sea" on the south coast ofPanama); andFerdinand Magellan, who first sailed that ocean toEast Asia.In 1530, de Soto became aregidor ofLeón, Nicaragua. He led an expedition up the coast of theYucatán Peninsula searching for a passage between theAtlantic Ocean and thePacific Ocean to enable trade with the Orient, the richest market in the world. Failing that, and without means to explore further, de Soto, uponPedro Arias Dávila's death, left his estates in Nicaragua. Bringing his own men on ships which he hired, de Soto joinedFrancisco Pizarro at his first base ofTumbes shortly before departure for the interior of present-dayPeru.[12]: 143
When Pizarro and his men first encountered the army of IncaAtahualpa atCajamarca, Pizarro sent de Soto with fifteen men to invite Atahualpa to a meeting. When Pizarro's men attacked Atahualpa and his guard the next day (theBattle of Cajamarca), de Soto led one of the three groups of mounted soldiers. The Spanish captured Atahualpa. De Soto was sent to the camp of theInca army, where he and his men plundered Atahualpa's tents.[13]
During 1533, the Spanish held Atahualpa captive in Cajamarca for months while his subjects paid for his ransom by filling a room with gold and silver objects. During this captivity, de Soto became friendly with Atahualpa and taught him to playchess. By the time the ransom had been completed, the Spanish became alarmed by rumors of an Inca army advancing on Cajamarca. Pizarro sent de Soto with 200 soldiers to scout for the rumored army.[14]
While de Soto was gone, the Spanish in Cajamarca decided to kill Atahualpa to prevent his rescue. De Soto returned to report that he found no signs of an army in the area. After executing Atahualpa, Pizarro and his men headed toCuzco, the capital of the Incan Empire. As the Spanish force approached Cuzco, Pizarro sent his brotherHernando and de Soto ahead with 40 men. The advance guard fought a pitched battle with Inca troops in front of the city, but the battle had ended before Pizarro arrived with the rest of the Spanish party. The Inca army withdrew during the night. The Spanish plundered Cuzco, where they found much gold and silver. As a mounted soldier, de Soto received a share of the plunder, which made him very wealthy. It represented riches from Atahualpa's camp, his ransom, and the plunder from Cuzco.[15]
On the road to Cuzco,Manco Inca Yupanqui, a brother of Atahualpa, had joined Pizarro. Manco had been hiding from Atahualpa in fear of his life, and was happy to gain Pizarro's protection. Pizarro arranged for Manco to be installed as the Inca leader. De Soto joined Manco in a campaign to eliminate the Inca armies underQuizquiz, a general who had been loyal to Atahualpa.[16]: 66–67, 70–73
By 1534, de Soto was serving as lieutenant governor of Cuzco while Pizarro was building his new capital on the coast; it later became known asLima. In 1535 KingCharles awardedDiego de Almagro, Francisco Pizarro's partner, the governorship of the southern portion of the Inca Empire. When de Almagro made plans to explore and conquer the southern part of the Inca empire (nowChile), de Soto applied to be his second-in-command, but de Almagro turned him down. De Soto packed up his treasure and returned to Spain.[1]: 367, 370–372, 375, 380–381, 396
De Soto petitionedKing Charles to lead the government ofGuatemala, with "permission to create discovery in the South Sea." He was granted the governorship ofCuba instead. De Soto was expected to colonize the North American continent for Spain within 4 years, for which his family would be given a sizable piece of land.
Fascinated by the stories ofCabeza de Vaca, who had survived years in North America after becoming a castaway and had just returned to Spain, de Soto selected 620Spanish andPortuguese volunteers, including some of mixed-raceAfrican descent known as Atlantic Creoles, to accompany him to govern Cuba and colonize North America. Averaging 24 years of age, the men embarked fromHavana on seven of the King'sships and twocaravels of de Soto's. With tons of heavyarmor and equipment, they also carried more than 500 head of livestock, including 237 horses and 200 pigs, for their planned four-year continental expedition.
De Soto wrote a new will upon arriving in what is now the Tampa Bay area of Florida. On 10 May 1539, he wrote in his will:
That a chapel be erected within the Church of San Miguel in Jerez de Los Caballeros, Spain, where De Soto grew up, at a cost of 2,000 ducats, with an altarpiece featuring the Virgin Mary,Our Lady of the Conception, that his tomb be covered in a fine black broadcloth topped by a red cross of theOrder of the Knights of Santiago, and on special occasions a pall of black velvet with the De Soto coat of arms be placed on the altar; that a chaplain be hired at the salary of 12,000 maravedis to perform five masses every week for the souls of De Soto, his parents, and wife; that thirty masses be said for him the day his body was interred, and twenty for our Lady of the Conception, ten for theHoly Ghost, sixty for souls inpurgatory and masses for many others as well; that 150000maravedis be given annually to his wife Isabel for her needs and an equal amount used yearly to marry off three orphan damsels...the poorest that can be found," to assist his wife and also serve to burnish the memory of De Soto as a man of charity and substance.[18]
Historians have worked to trace the route of de Soto's expedition in North America, a controversial process over the years.[20] Local politicians vied to have their localities associated with the expedition. The most widely used version of "De Soto's Trail" comes from a study commissioned by theUnited States Congress. A committee chaired by theanthropologistJohn R. Swanton publishedThe Final Report of the United States De Soto Expedition Commission in 1939. Among other locations,Manatee County, Florida, claims an approximate landing site for de Soto and has a national memorial recognizing that event.[21] In the early 21st century, the first part of the expedition's course, up to de Soto's battle atMabila (a small fortress town in present-day centralAlabama[22]), is disputed only in minor details. His route beyond Mabila is contested. Swanton reported the de Soto trail ran from there throughMississippi,Arkansas, andTexas.
Historians have more recently consideredarcheological reconstructions and theoral history of the variousNative American peoples who recount the expedition.[citation needed] Most historical places have been overbuilt and much evidence has been lost.[citation needed] More than 450 years have passed between the events and current history tellers, but some oral histories have been found to be accurate about historic events that have been otherwise documented.[citation needed]
The Governor Martin Site at the formerApalachee village ofAnhaica, located about a mile east of the present-day Florida state capitol inTallahassee, has been documented as definitively associated with de Soto's expedition. The Governor Martin Site was discovered by archaeologistB. Calvin Jones in March 1987. It has been preserved as theDeSoto Site Historic State Park.
The Hutto/Martin Site, 8MR3447, in southeasternMarion County, Florida, on theOcklawaha River, is the most likely site of the principal town ofAcuera referred to in the accounts of theentrada, as well as the site of the seventeenth-century mission of Santa Lucia de Acuera.[23][24]
As of 2016, the Richardson/UF Village site (8AL100) inAlachua County, west ofOrange Lake, appears to have been accepted by archaeologists as the site of the town of Potano visited by the de Soto expedition. The 17th-century mission ofSan Buenaventura de Potano is believed to have been founded here.[25]
Many archaeologists believe theParkin Archeological State Park in northeastArkansas was the main town for the indigenous province ofCasqui, which de Soto had recorded. They base this on similarities between descriptions from the journals of the de Soto expedition and artifacts of European origin discovered at the site in the 1960s.[26][27]
Theories of de Soto's route are based on the accounts of four chroniclers of the expedition.
The first account of the expedition to be published was by the Gentleman of Elvas, an otherwise unidentifiedPortuguese knight who was a member of the expedition. His chronicle was first published in 1557. An English translation byRichard Hakluyt was published in 1609.[28]
Luys Hernández de Biedma, the King's factor (the agent responsible for the royal property) with the expedition, wrote a report which still exists. The report was filed in the royal archives in Spain in 1544. The manuscript was translated into English by Buckingham Smith and published in 1851.[29]
De Soto's secretary, Rodrigo Ranjel, kept a diary, which has been lost. It was apparently used byGonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés in writing hisLa historia general y natural de las Indias. Oviedo died in 1557. The part of his work containing Ranjel's diary was not published until 1851. An English translation of Ranjel's report was first published in 1904.
The fourth chronicle is byGarcilaso de la Vega, known asEl Inca (the Inca). Garcilaso de la Vega did not participate in the expedition. He wrote his account,Historia de la Florida (often shortened toLa Florida), known in English asThe Florida of the Inca, decades after the expedition, based on interviews with some survivors of the expedition. The book was first published in 1605. Historians have identified problems with usingLa Florida as a historical account.Milanich andHudson warn against relying on Garcilaso, noting serious problems with the sequence and location of towns and events in his narrative. They say, "some historians regard Garcilaso'sLa Florida to be more a work of literature than a work of history."[30] Lankford characterizes Garcilaso'sLa Florida as a collection of "legend narratives", derived from a much-retold oral tradition of the survivors of the expedition.[31]
Milanich and Hudson warn that older translations of the chronicles are often "relatively free translations in which the translators took considerable liberty with the Spanish and Portuguese text."[32]
The chronicles describe de Soto's trail in relation toHavana, from which they sailed; theGulf of Mexico, which they skirted while traveling inland then turned back to later; theAtlantic Ocean, which they approached during their second year; high mountains, which they traversed immediately thereafter; and dozens of other geographic features along their way, such as large rivers and swamps, at recorded intervals. Given that the natural geography has not changed much since de Soto's time, scholars have analyzed those journals with moderntopographic intelligence, to develop a more precise account of the De Soto Trail.[19][33]
Library of Congress' engraving. The Spanish caption reads: "HERNANDO DE SOTO: Extremaduran, one of the discoverers and conquerors of Peru: he travelled across all of Florida and defeated its previously invincible natives, he died on his expedition in the year 1542 at the age of 42".
In May 1539, de Soto landed nine ships with over 620 men and 220 horses in an area ofLa Florida generally identified as the current location of southTampa Bay. Historian Robert S. Weddle has suggested that he landed at eitherCharlotte Harbor orSan Carlos Bay.[34] He named the land asEspíritu Santo, after theHoly Spirit. The ships carried priests, craftsmen, engineers, farmers, and merchants; some with their families, some from Cuba, most from Europe and Africa. Few of the men had traveled before outside of Spain, or even away from their home villages.
Near de Soto's port, the party foundJuan Ortiz, aSpaniard living with the Mocoso people. Ortiz had been captured by theUzita while searching for the lostNarváez expedition; he later escaped toMocoso. When Ortiz was found, he was naked and in his hand he had a bow and arrows, accompanied by nine Indians who scattered once they were spotted by the party. He was saved from being killed due to yelling "the Virgin Mary" and made signs that he was a Christian, since he had almost forgot the Spanish language.[35] Ortiz had learned theTimucua language and served as an interpreter to de Soto as he traversed the Timucuan-speaking areas on his way toApalachee.[36]
Ortiz developed a method for guiding the expedition and communicating with the various tribes, who spoke many dialects and languages. He recruited guides from each tribe along the route. A chain of communication was established whereby a guide who had lived in close proximity to another tribal area was able to pass his information and language on to a guide from a neighboring area. Because Ortiz refused to dress as ahidalgo Spaniard, other officers questioned his motives. De Soto remained loyal to Ortiz, allowing him the freedom to dress and live among his native friends. Another important guide was the seventeen-year-old boyPerico, or Pedro, from what is nowGeorgia. He spoke several of the local tribes' languages and could communicate with Ortiz. Perico was taken as a guide in 1540.[37] The Spanish had also captured other Indians, whom they used asslave labor.[clarification needed] Perico was treated better due to his value to the Spaniards.
The expedition traveled north, exploring Florida's West Coast, and encountering native ambushes and conflicts along the way. Hernando de Soto's army seized the food stored in the villages, captured women to be used as slaves for the soldiers' sexual gratification, and forced men and boys to serve as guides and bearers. The army fought two battles with Timucua groups, resulting in heavy Timucua casualties. After defeating the resistingTimucuan warriors, Hernando de Soto had 200 executed, in what was to be called the Napituca Massacre, the first large-scale massacre by Europeans in the current United States.[38] One of Soto's most important battles with the natives, along his conquest of Florida, was a 1539 battle with Chief Vitachuco. Unlike other native chiefs who entered into peace with the Spanish, Vitachuco did not trust them and had secretly plotted to kill Soto and his army, but he was betrayed by interpreters who told Soto the plan. So, Soto struck first and, in the process, killed thousands of natives. Those that survived were surrounded and cornered by woods and water. Thousands were killed during the 3 hours battle and 900 survivors took refuge in the pond, specifically Two-mile Pond in Melrose, where they continued to fight, while swimming.[39][40] Due to De Narvaez mutilating an Indian chief, when Hernando de Soto was then met by that same chief, he was forced to fight with them despite attempts to not pursue a fight. This came to be common with many other Indian tribes who had previously encountered Narvaez.[41] Most eventually surrendered, but after 30 hours in the water, 7 men remained and had to be dragged out of the water by the Spanish. De Soto's first winter encampment was atAnhaica, the capital of theApalachee people. It is one of the few places on the route where archaeologists have found physical traces of the expedition. The chroniclers described this settlement as being near the"Bay of Horses". The bay was named for events of the 1527Narváez expedition, the members of which, dying of starvation, killed and ate their horses while building boats for escape by the Gulf of Mexico.
From their winter location in the western panhandle of Florida, having heard of gold being mined "toward the sun's rising", the expedition turned northeast through what is now the modern state ofGeorgia towardOcute territory.[42][43] Based on archaeological finds made in 2009 at a remote, privately owned site near theOcmulgee River, researchers believe that de Soto's expedition stopped inTelfair County. Artifacts found here include nine glasstrade beads, some of which bear achevron pattern made inVenice for a limited period of time and believed to be indicative of the de Soto expedition. Six metal objects were also found, including a silver pendant and some iron tools. The rarest items were found within what researchers believe was a large council house of the indigenous people whom de Soto was visiting.[44][45]
The expedition continued to present-daySouth Carolina. There the expedition recorded being received by thefemale chief ofCofitachequi, who gave her tribe's pearls, food and other goods to the Spanish soldiers. The expedition found no gold, however, other than pieces from an earlier coastal expedition (presumably that ofLucas Vázquez de Ayllón).
De Soto headed north into theAppalachian Mountains of present-day westernNorth Carolina, where he spent a month resting the horses while his men searched for gold. De Soto next entered easternTennessee. At this point, de Soto either continued along theTennessee River to enterAlabama from the north (according toJohn R. Swanton), or turned south and entered northernGeorgia (according toCharles M. Hudson). Swanton's final report, published by the Smithsonian, remains an important resource[46] but Hudson's reconstruction of the route was conducted 40 years later and benefited from considerable advances in archaeological methods.[47]
De Soto's expedition spent another month in theCoosa chiefdom a vassal toTuskaloosa, who was theparamount chief,[48] believed to have been connected to the large and complexMississippian culture, which extended throughout the Mississippi Valley and its tributaries. De Soto turned south toward theGulf of Mexico to meet two ships bearing fresh supplies fromHavana. De Soto demanded women and servants, and when Tuskaloosa refused, the European explorers took him hostage.[49] The expedition began making plans to leave the next day, and Tuskaloosa gave in to de Soto's demands, providing bearers for the Spaniards. He informed de Soto that they would have to go to his town ofMabila (orMauvila), a fortified city in southern Alabama,[50] to receive the women. De Soto gave the chief a pair of boots and a red cloak to reward him for his cooperation.[51] TheMobilian tribe, under chief Tuskaloosa, ambushed de Soto's army.[50] Other sources suggest de Soto's men were attacked after attempting to force their way into a cabin occupied by Tuskaloosa.[52] The Spaniards fought their way out, and retaliated by burning the town to the ground. During the nine-hour encounter, about 200 Spaniards died, and 150 more were badly wounded, according to the chronicler Elvas.[53] Twenty more died during the next few weeks. They killed an estimated 2,000–6,000 Native Americans at Mabila, making the battle one of the bloodiest in recorded North American history.[54]
The Spaniards won aPyrrhic victory, as they had lost most of their possessions and nearly one-quarter of their horses. The Spaniards were wounded and sickened, surrounded by enemies and without equipment in an unknown territory.[52] Fearing that word of this would reach Spain if his men reached the ships atMobile Bay, de Soto led them away from the Gulf Coast. He moved into inlandMississippi, most likely near present-dayTupelo, where they spent the winter.
In the spring of 1541, de Soto demanded 200 men as porters from theChickasaw.[55] They refused his demand and attacked the Spanish camp during the night.
De Soto had little interest in the river, which in his view was an obstacle to his mission. There has been considerable research into the exact location where de Soto crossed the Mississippi River. A commission appointed byFranklin D. Roosevelt in 1935 determined thatSunflower Landing, Mississippi, was the "most likely" crossing place. De Soto possibly traveled downCharley's Trace, which had been used as a trail through the swamps of theMississippi Delta, to reach the Mississippi River.[56] De Soto and his men spent a month building flatboats, and crossed the river at night to avoid the Native Americans who were patrolling the river. De Soto had hostile relations with the native people in this area.[57][58]
Illustration of an indigenous man at the banks of the river with de Soto and others
In the late 20th century, research suggests other locations may have been the site of de Soto's crossing, including three locations in Mississippi:Commerce,Friars Point, andWalls, as well asMemphis, Tennessee.[59] Once across the river, the expedition continued traveling westward through modern-day Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. They wintered inAutiamique, on theArkansas River.[60]
After a harsh winter, the Spanish expedition decamped and moved on more erratically. Their interpreter Juan Ortiz had died, making it more difficult for them to get directions and food sources, and generally to communicate with the Natives. The expedition went as far inland as theCaddo River, where they clashed with a Native American tribe called theTula in October 1541.[61] The Spaniards characterized them as the most skilled and dangerous warriors they had encountered.[62] This may have happened in the area of present-dayCaddo Gap, Arkansas (a monument to the de Soto expedition was erected in that community). Eventually, the Spaniards returned to the Mississippi River.
De Soto died of a fever on 21 May 1542, in the native village ofGuachoya. Historical sources disagree as to whether de Soto died near present-dayLake Village, Arkansas[63]McArthur, Arkansas, orFerriday, Louisiana.[64] Louisiana erected a historical marker at the conjectured site[65] on the western bank of the Mississippi River.[66]
Before his death, de Soto choseLuis de Moscoso Alvarado, his formermaestro de campo (or field commander), to assume command of the expedition.[67] At the time of death, de Soto owned four Indian slaves, three horses, and 700 hogs.[68]
De Soto had deceived the local natives into believing that he was a deity, specifically an "immortalSon of the Sun",[63] to gain their submission without conflict. Some of the natives had already become skeptical of de Soto's deity claims, so his men were anxious to conceal his death. The actual site of his burial is not known. According to one source, de Soto's men hid his corpse in blankets weighted with sand and sank it in the middle of the Mississippi River during the night.[64]
De Soto's expedition had exploredLa Florida for three years without finding the expected treasures or a hospitable site for colonization. They had lost nearly half their men, and most of the horses. By this time, the soldiers were wearing animal skins for clothing. Many were injured and in poor health. The leaders came to a consensus (although not total) to end the expedition and try to find a way home, either down the Mississippi River, or overland acrossTexas to the Spanish colony ofMexico City.
They decided that building boats would be too difficult and time-consuming and that navigating the Gulf of Mexico was too risky, so they headed overland to the southwest. Eventually, they reached a region in present-day Texas that was dry. The native populations were made up mostly of subsistence hunter-gatherers. The soldiers found no villages to raid for food, and the army was still too large to live off the land. They were forced to backtrack to the more developed agricultural regions along the Mississippi, where they began building sevenbergantines, orpinnaces.[67] They melted down all the iron, including horse tackle and slave shackles, to make nails for the boats. They survived through the winter, and the spring floods delayed them another two months. By July they set off on their makeshift boats down the Mississippi for the coast.
Taking about two weeks to make the journey, the expedition encountered hostile fleets of war canoes along the whole course. The first was led by the powerful paramount chiefQuigualtam, whose fleet followed the boats, shooting arrows at the soldiers for days as they drifted through their territory. The Spanish had no effective offensive weapons on the water, as theircrossbows had long since ceased working. They relied on armor and sleeping mats to block the arrows. About 11 Spaniards were killed along this stretch and many more wounded.[citation needed]
On reaching the mouth of the Mississippi, they stayed close to the Gulf shore heading south and west. After about 50 days, they made it to thePánuco River and the Spanish frontier town ofPánuco. There they rested for about a month. During this time many of the Spaniards, having safely returned and reflecting on their accomplishments, decided they had leftLa Florida too soon. There were some fights within the company, leading to some deaths. But, after they reached Mexico City and the ViceroyDon Antonio de Mendoza offered to lead another expedition toLa Florida, few of the survivors volunteered. Of the recorded 700 participants at the start, between 300 and 350 survived (311 is a commonly accepted figure).[69] Most of the men stayed in the New World, settling in Mexico, Peru, Cuba, and other Spanish colonies.[citation needed]
The Spanish believed that de Soto's excursion to Florida was a failure. They acquired neither gold nor prosperity and founded no colonies. But the expedition had several major consequences.
De Soto was instrumental in contributing to the development of a hostile relationship between many Native American tribes and Europeans. When his expedition encountered hostile natives in the new lands, more often than not it was his men who instigated the clashes.[75]
More devastating than the battles were the diseases which may have been carried by the members of the expedition. Because the indigenous people lacked the immunity which the Europeans had acquired through generations of exposure to theseEurasian diseases,the Native Americans may have suffered epidemics of illness after exposure to such diseases asmeasles,smallpox, andchicken pox. Several areas traversed by the expedition became depopulated, potentially by disease caused by contact with the Europeans. Seeing the high fatalities and devastation caused, many natives would have fled the populated areas for the surrounding hills and swamps. In some areas, the social structure would have changed because of high population losses due to epidemics.[76] However, recent scholars have begun to question whether the expedition brought novel disease at all. The arrival of many diseases, aside frommalaria, is disputed and they may not have entered the region until much later.[77] The first documented smallpox epidemic in the southeast arrived in 1696, and Mississippian social structures persisted in some parts of the region until the 18th century.[78]
The records of the expedition contributed greatly to European knowledge about the geography, biology, andethnology of the New World. The de Soto expedition's descriptions of North American natives are the earliest-known source of information about the societies in the Southeast. They are the only European description of the culture and habits of North American native tribes before these peoples encountered other Europeans. De Soto's men were both the first and nearly the last Europeans to witness the villages and civilization of theMississippian culture.[79]
De Soto's expedition led the Spanish crown to reconsider Spain's attitude toward the colonies north ofMexico.[citation needed] He claimed large parts of North America for Spain. Many accounts of de Soto's expeditions evolved the Spanish perception of "northern Mexican" territories, from plundering efforts to colonization efforts.[80]
Efforts to reconstruct de Soto's route was met with resistance from public denunciation questioning the credibility of the "official route”.[81] earning more details on the de Soto used matters because with a precise reconstruction of the de Soto route in hand, the information and incidents of the expedition can then be linked to archaeological information, and in this way we can build a picture of the social geography of a significant portion of the sixteenth-century southeastern United States.[82]
Seth Eastman's map of DeSoto's route fromHistorical and statistical information respecting the history, condition, and prospects of the Indian tribes of the United States (published 1850s)
^Von Hagen, Victor W., 1955, "De Soto and the Golden Road",American Heritage, August 1955,Vol. VI, No. 5, American Heritage Publishing, New York, pp. 102–103.
^Davidson, James West.After the Fact: The Art of Historical Detection Volume 1.McGraw Hill, New York (2010), Chapter 1, pp. 1, 3.
^Milanich, Jerald T.; Hudson, Charles (1993).Hernando de Soto and the Indians of Florida. Gainesville: University Press of Florida. pp. 6–8.ISBN0-8130-1170-1.
^Lankford, George E. (1993)."Legends of the Adelantado". In Young, Gloria A; Michael P. Hoffman (eds.).The Expedition of Hernando de Soto West of the Mississippi 1541–1543. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press. p. 175.ISBN1-55728-580-2. Retrieved16 November 2013.
^Milanich, Jerald T.; Hudson, Charles (1993).Hernando de Soto and the Indians of Florida. Gainesville: University Press of Florida. pp. 8–9.ISBN0-8130-1170-1.
^Charles, Hudson; Chaves, Tesser Carmen, eds. (1994).The Forgotten Centuries-Indians and Europeans in the American South 1521 to 1704. University of Georgia Press.
^Robert S. Weddle (2006)."Soto's Problems of Orientation". In Galloway, Patricia Kay (ed.).The Hernando de Soto Expedition: History, Historiography, and "Discovery" in the Southeast (New ed.). University of Nebraska Press. p. 223.ISBN978-0-8032-7122-7. Retrieved17 February 2017.
^Hann, John H. (2003).Indians of Central and South Florida: 1513–1763. Gainesville: University Press of Florida. p. 6.ISBN0-8130-2645-8. Milanich, Jerald T. (2004). "Early Groups of Central and South Florida". In R. D. Fogelson (ed.).Handbook of North American Indians: Southeast Vol. 14. Smithsonian Institution. p. 213. DeSoto's Florida Trails – retrieved 5 September 2008
^Final Report of the United States De Soto Expedition Commission. John R. Swanton with an Introduction by Jeffrey P. Brain. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C., 1985.
^Blanton, DB (2020).Conquistador's wake : tracking the legacy of Hernando de Soto in the indigenous Southeast. University of Georgia Press. pp. 107–108.ISBN978-0-8203-5635-8.
^Beyond Germs : Native Depopulation in North America. Catherine M. Cameron, Paul Kelton, Alan C. Swedlund. Tucson. 2015.ISBN978-0-8165-0024-6.OCLC907132534.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)
^Kelton, Paul (2007).Epidemics and Enslavement: Biological Catastrophe in the Native Southeast, 1492–1715. University of Nebraska Press.ISBN978-0-8032-1557-3.
^Young, G. A., & Hoffman, M. P. (Eds.). (1999).The expedition of Hernando de Soto west of the Mississippi, 1541–1543. University of Arkansas Press.
^C. Andrango-Walker (2024) Recovering the Written Traces of Hernando de Soto’s Voyage to La Florida. Jems. 13: pp. 237-255
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Wesson, Cameron B. "de Soto (Probably) Never Slept Here: Archaeology, Memory, Myth, and Social Identity."International Journal of Historical Archaeology 16.2 (2012): 418–435.
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