Hernando de soto exploration
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Hernando de Soto
Spanish explorer and conquistador (c.1479–1542)
For the Peruvian economist, see Hernando de Soto (economist).
Hernando de Soto (;[2]Spanish:[eɾˈnandoðeˈsoto]; c. 1497 – 21 May 1542) was a Spanish explorer and conquistador who was involved in expeditions in Nicaragua and the Yucatan Peninsula. He played an important role in Francisco Pizarro's conquest of the Inca Empire in Peru, but is best known for leading the first European expedition deep into the territory of the modern-day United States (through Florida, Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Mississippi, and most likely Arkansas).[3][4] He is the first European documented as having crossed the Mississippi River.[5]
De Soto's North American expedition was a vast undertaking. It ranged throughout what is now the southeastern United States, searching both for gold, which had been reported by various Native American tribes and earlier coastal explorers, and for a passage to China or the Pacific coast. De Soto died in 1542 on the banks of the M
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Hernando de Soto
Explorer
Age of Discovery
Quick Facts:
Spanish explorer and conquistador who helped conquer parts of Central and South America, explored the southeastern region of the United States, and is credited as the first European to cross the Mississippi River
Hernando de Soto
Spanish explorer and conquistador, Hernando de Soto, who conquered Peru, part of Central America, and explored southeastern North America. The Mariners' Museum E125.S7 W7 Rare
Introduction
Hernando de Soto is more known for being a conquistador. He helped conquer many lands in parts of Central and South America, including those of the Inca Empire. But he was also an explorer. De Soto explored and mapped parts of nine states in the southeastern part of the United States. His explorations took him from present day Florida up to North Carolina, and west of the Mississippi River. History recognizes his great achievement of being first recorded European to discover and cross the Mississippi River.
Biography
Early Life
Hernando de Soto’s exact date of birth is unknown. He was born so
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Early Life and Career
Like many of the era’s explorers and conquistadors, Hernando de Soto was a native of the impoverished Extremadura region of southwestern Spain. He was born c. 1496 in Jerez de los Caballeros, Bajadoz province.
De Soto’s family was of minor nobility and modest means, and at a very young age he developed dreams of making his fortune in the New World. Around the age of 14, de Soto left for Seville, where he got himself included on an expedition to the West Indies led by Pedro Arias Dávila in 1514.
Did you know? Hernando de Soto and his fellow Spaniards initially referred to the Mississippi River as the Rio Grande for its immense size. That habit was gradually replaced with the use of the river's Indian name, Meaot Massipi (or "Father of the Waters").
De Soto earned a small fortune from Dávila’s conquest of Panama and Nicaragua, and by 1530 he was the leading slavery trader and one of the richest men in Nicaragua. In 1531, he joined Francisco Pizarro on an expedition in pursuit of rumors of gold located in the region that is now northwestern Colombia, on
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