The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-11-24

To know the history of the Louisiana
purchase We must know the prior history
of the territory purchased. Who discov-
cred and explored this vast domain?
Who settled and developed it? Who ex-
ercised sovereignty and established polit-
leal governments over it? are questions
to be considered and answered.
The first European commissioned TO
exercise any legitimate authority over
any part of this territory was the ill
fcrtuned Spanish officer, Narvaez. Pan
flo de Nayaez was fourteen when
Columbus discovered the West Indies.
He was born where the great navigator
died-at Valladolid. AS second in COM
mand to Velasquez, who had conquered
Cuba, he was sent to supersede the in
domitable 'Cortez who had conquered
Mexico. Cortez gave his would-be sue
cessor blind eye and incorporated the
invading army in his own. The partial
blindness of this representative of royal
authority seems to have characterized
all Spaniards since, until the climax Of
total blindness was reached in $780, by
the proftless transfer to France of an
empire larger than that of Charlemagne.
For his early exploits in Cuba, the one
eyed hero, NarvaeZ, was made second
governor of Florida, with authority ex-
tending definitely beyond the present
state of Louisiana and indefinitely over
all the forests, rivers, swamps and saw
ages he could conquer The Indians and
alligators came off victorious and
Narvaez persisted miserably at the
mouth of the Mississippi in vessels hiatt
were not seaworthy.
Dc Soto.
Four men survived of 400, and thereby
hangs tale of woe and glory. These sur
f11o,f TStT NH 70 to
the Mississippi and the American con-
tinent. Cabeza de Vaca, one of the four,
who reached Spain by way of New Mex
leo, became the historian of his own
Wanderings. De Vaca's glowing oral ac-
count Of the Rio del Orc and of wonder
ful regions and cities, fired the am
bition Of Hernandez de Soto, who had
gained wealth and distinction under the
renowned Pizarro, in the conquest of
Peru. Having won the hand of his
chieftain's daughter, De Soto sought and
obtained the governorship of Cuba. He
proposed to his sovereign, Charles v. to
conquer Florida at his own expense The
restless, the ambitious, the avaricious
and even the settled owners of vineyards
and olive groves, sold all to follow the
Peruvian hero. The nobility and ar1s>
tocracy Of Spain made a mad rush for
gold and became the discoveries of the
Mississippi. Having left his wife, the
daughter of Pizarro, to govern Cuba, De
Soto sailed away to his own destruction
and that of 500 of his followers, as if he
were gaily maneuvering in a holiday
naval parade.
Chains for captives, and bloodhounds
Tor fleeing aborigines were parts of the
unWise and imperfect equipment of the
third Spanish expedition into the interior
Of Florida Landing on the west coast,
these high-born Adventures turned
towards Appalachee bay; thence west
ward to Pensacola bay. After wandering
over what is now Georgia and Alabama,
De Soto returned to the present site of
Mobile, where he destroyed a large IN
dian town, slaughtering more than 1900
OF It's inhabitants. Pursuing the foolish
policy Of treating all Indian tribes as
enemies, the new governor was in an
unendlng conflict with his new subjects.
one he ordered burnt alive for bluntIy
declaring that he knew of no country
where gold abounded. Thence forward
compulsory guides manufactured the in
formation demanded. Then they were
thrown to the bloodhounds for mislead,
ing the gold hunters. Receiving supplies
from Cuba, the naughty De Soto, regard
less of failure, marched northwest to
and across the Yazoo river Near this
river of deaIn' their winter quarters
We're burned, their food, shelter and
clothing being wholly destroyed.
1t was while moving westward clothed
in skins and in mats made Of rJshes and
wild IVY, that these starving Dons first
beheld the majestic Mississippi Powells
painting of this beggarIy scene does
great credit to That artists wealth of in
vention. The point OF discovery was
near the 35th parallel, now known as the
lowest Chickasaw bluff: In May, l54l,
the exploring party crossed the River of
the Holy Ghost, as the Spaniards first
called it, and, ascending the west bank
and branching off northwest, reached the
upper waters of the White river, about
2Co miles from the Great river. From the
state line of Missouri, the extreme north
ern limit Of De Soto's explorations, the
party crossed the Arkansas to the salt
waters of the Washita, and, descending
along that stream, returned to the Mis-
sissippi at the junction of the Red river
Broken down by malarial fevers and dis,
heartened by his inability to penetrate
the forests and marshes OF ,ae lower
Mississippi, De Soto prepared for his de-
parture to another and still stranger
world. He called his chiefs around him
at the last hour and selected Moscoso as
his successor. He was first buried with
in the enclosure of the encampment but
later, his followers fearing that i'll con-
k0OWI-
edge of his mortality and death, his body
was heavily weighted and sunk at mid
night in the deep-water channel of what
seemed to be great flowing sea- A
fitting burial place truly for relentless
chieftain whose cruelties were revolving,
who was as pitiless and merciless as the
devastating torrents of a river that de-
stroys babes in treir cradles and drags
children from their mothers arms De
Soto died May q, 1912, and Moscoso re-
turned by the way of Texas and Mexico
to Spain with less than one-third of the
gay naval expedition that set out from
Havana
Joliet and Marquette.
More than a century and a quarter
had elapsed from the time when the half
starved Spaniards fled from the lower
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