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Encounters in the Americas
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Vocabulary
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Alabama
 Arkansas
desertions
Georgia
Hernando De Soto, 1539
Louisiana
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Key Concepts
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The King of Spain gave Hernando De
Soto a grant for an expedition to North America.
Like the other explorers, he was looking for gold and silver. In May,
1534, De Soto sailed with an army of 600 soldiers to the west coast
of Florida.
Then the conquistadors moved north. They arrived in Georgia
by winter. De Soto brought
along metal bells to trade with the Indians. His army also brought the
first horses to North America. Horses had been extinct since
the Ice Age. The conquistadors did not find gold in Georgia.
So, De Soto then traveled with his army through parts of South Carolina,
North Carolina,
the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee,
and finally south into Alabama.
Along the way, De Soto fought with many Indian
peoples. One of the worst battles took place in Alabama.
There De Soto came upon the Mobile people. They were descendants
of the Mississippian
Mound Builders. The number of Indians killed
range from 2,500 to 11,000. De Soto lost only 20 men, but most of his
supplies were destroyed. In May 1541, De Soto's army arrived at the the
banks of the Mississippi River.
De Soto and his men were the first Europeans to see the Mississippi
River. By then, his army was smaller. Some men had been killed
in battle. Others had died of disease. And many had deserted, or run
away. De Soto's army crossed the Mississippi River
with rafts. They continued on with their search for gold. In Arkansas
and Louisiana
they had more battles with the Native peoples. De Soto never found any
gold. In 1542, De Soto died of fever. His men buried his body in the
Mississippi River so that the Indians would not know he had died. De
Soto did not find any gold for Spain. But he did claim for Spain the
land today known as the southeastern United States. |
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De Soto Moves Ahead
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Mississippi River
North Carolina
Smoky Mountains
South Carolina
Tennessee
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Additional Information
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De Soto
- The Spaniards also brought along 13 hogs for breeding. After
one year, they had 500 hogs they could use for food. De Soto had been
with Pizarro in Peru Indian peoples
- The Spaniards first captured an Apalachee Indian village
and stole their corn, beans, and pumpkins. De Soto was a barbarian
from killed - All over the New World, the weapons of the Native Americans was no match to the metal weapons and armor of the Spaniards. Mississippi
River - The Mississippi
River Credits |
