Hernando de Soto, a Spanish explorer, embarked on an expedition in 1538 from Seville, Spain, to La Habana Cuba. The expedition consisted of 650 men, including knights, foot soldiers, artisans, priests, boatwrights, and scribes, as well as 200 horses and a large herd of pigs. De Soto landed in Florida on May 30, 1539, with five large vessels and four smaller ones.
De Soto sent guides to locate and chart a course for his army, setting sail for Florida on May 18. The expedition traveled through portions of the states of Florida, Georgia, and the Gulf of Mexico. The De Soto Trail, an approximate route taken by de Soto in 1539, extending through portions of Florida, Georgia, and other parts of the United States.
The expedition explored and conquered parts of Central and South America, becoming credited as the first European to cross the Mississippi River. A map of their reconstruction was produced and included in the 1939 report. The Arkansas section depicted the expedition exploring along the Mississippi River.
There are four complete accounts of the de Soto expedition and a fragment of a fifth. A proposed route for the De Soto Expedition, based on the 1997 Charles M. Hudson map, shows the journey of de Soto and his men through the region that would become the southeastern United States from 1539 to 1543.
📹 De Soto’s Expedition into the American Southeast, Part 1
Nearly seven decades before the settlement at Jamestown was founded, Hernando de Soto led an expedition through the …
📹 The Death March Of de Soto | Archeology (Explorer Documentary) | Timeline
Romantic visions of the Explorer Hernando de Soto continue to celebrate the conquistador’s arrival in North America 450 years …
From 1400ad to 1650 the climate radically changed. How fast can a Stone age people adapt? Columbus probable brought syphilis back from America. It would be interesting to know what effects syphilis was having on the population. My final thought is about the Muslims where finally driven out of Spain in 1492. The Spanish were in-between the Christian world and the Muslim world fighting for centuries. It is important to remember the brutal would they lived in.
I am a descendant of the Tribe which is historically responsible for his death and burial. We killed him, and buried him, as a warrior who challenged us. The first Spaniard to be buried in North America. Killed and buried by our own flesh and blood. I have respect for him in the afterlife, because his legacy tells the story of our Tribe.
The 1500s is recognized by many scientists as being the harshest century for mankind with massive storms, and out of season weather patterns disrupting crops. I could readily imagine that the cold weather of the period would have made the diseases more difficult to fight, along with the massive disruption to their lives at the hands of the Spaniards.
If our people buried him after defeating him in combat, it means we must have considered him to be worthy of a warrior’s death. His written records are what the White world uses to define the origin of our Tribe, and for that, despite his crimes, he must be preserved. He’s done much for our people in his afterlife, because his journals tell who we are.
Er, wait – how did archaeology differ from the expedition accounts? It sounds like they just confirmed what the Spaniards had said, plus indications of pestilence the Spaniards hadn’t known about or fully appreciated. And every Alabama school kid knows that de Soto was no saint – was the click bait title really necessary?
An interesting Historical Fact about the Mound “City” in Moundville, Alabama…. the primary Archaeologist & Geologist, co-investor of Moundville Park and Director of the Alabama Museum of Natural History was Dr. Walter B. JONES. And Yes, during field research from 1929-early 1930’s, he dressed and looked Very Much like the character “Indiana Jones” from the movie franchise 50 years later !! Then to see John-Rhys Davies (from those same movies) hosting this show, brings a smile to my face. ** ROLL TIDE !!
Europe was decimated by disease as well. It takes a while for auto immune systems build immunity. The ” indigenous ” people had to do the same thing. No one knew about spread of disease. There was a distinct purpose for Ellis Island. Now, we have resurgence of disease because we don’t think Ellis Island had an important, distinct purpose
Desoto, and his Peers made horrific visits to our Americas. Yet they name Counties and Rivers after them, as if they made Benefic acts. Like the Europeans and British hail rhe Roman Emperors and modeled their culture after Rome … It confounds me. “No man whom slaughtered others should be held aa a Great Achiever.” Beth Bartlett Sociologist/Behavioralist and Historian.