He chose men for the voyage from Cuba to the interior of North America. The expedition then traveled north through the peninsula of Florida where they endured native ambushes along the way. By , de Soto had reached Georgia and South Carolina in pursuit of gold mines rumored to exist in the region. Unsuccessful in his attempts to find gold, de Soto continued north into the Appalachians of North Carolina.
Once again, there was no gold to be found, but de Soto spent a month in the mountains resting his horses before traveling to Tennessee and then south again toward the Gulf of Mexico to meet supply ships. While traveling south, de Soto and his men were ambushed by the Choctaw people near their fortified city of Mabila. Despite the victory, de Soto and his men lost most of their possessions and many had become sick. Consequently, de Soto directed his expedition back north into Tennessee where they spent the winter.
On May 8, , Hernando de Soto discovered the Mississippi River, although de Soto was not exactly thrilled with the finding. He and his men traveled nearly 4, miles throughout the region that would become the southeastern United States in search of riches, fighting off Native American attacks along the way. In , de Soto and his men became the first Europeans to encounter the great Mississippi River and cross it; de Soto died early the next year. He was born in in Jerez de los Caballeros, Bajadoz province.
In , he joined Francisco Pizarro on an expedition in pursuit of rumors of gold located in the region that is now northwestern Colombia, on the Pacific coast. Before Spanish forces defeated the Incas at Cajamarca that November, de Soto became the first European to make contact with the Inca emperor Atahualpa.
In , de Soto returned to Spain as one of the wealthiest conquistadors of the era. He also received the governorship of Cuba.
De Soto set out from Spain in April , set with 10 ships and men. After a stop in Cuba, the expedition landed at Tampa Bay in May They moved inland and eventually set up camp for the winter at a small Indian village near present-day Tallahassee.
In the spring, De Soto led his men north, through Georgia , and west, through the Carolinas and Tennessee , guided by Indians whom they took captive along the way. The largest battle fought between the Spaniards and Indians was the Battle of Mabila, where the nine hour fight claimed over Spanish lives and approximately 2, of the Mabila Indians' lives. In his continued quest for gold, Soto moved through Mississippi and Arkansas.
However, he did not make it out of North America alive. The governor died on May 21, , of fever. In order to perpetuate the deception of having the Indians believe he was a god, expedition members shrouded his body with blankets filled with sand and sank it in the Mississippi River.
Explore This Park. Hernando De Soto Library of Congress. He was raised at the family manor. De Soto's family hoped he would become a lawyer, but he told his father he would rather explore the West Indies. An excellent horseman, de Soto was appointed captain of a cavalry exploration troop. Setting out from Panama to Nicaragua and later Honduras, de Soto quickly proved his worth as an explorer and trader, reaping large profits through his bold and commanding exchanges with the natives.
De Soto played a fundamental role in organizing the conquest of Peru and engaged in a successful battle to capture Cuzco. In de Soto returned to Spain a wealthy man. His share of the Incan Empire's fortune amounted to no less than 18, ounces of gold. Despite having a new wife and home in Spain, de Soto grew restless when he heard stories about Cabeza de Vaca's exploration of Florida and the other Gulf Coast states.
Enticed by the riches and fertile land de Vaca had allegedly encountered there, de Soto sold all his belongings and used the money to prepare for an expedition to North America.
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