Hernando de Soto Hernando de Soto ( c . 1496 / 1497 – 1542 ) was a Spanish explorer and " conquistador " who led the first European expedition deep into the territory of the modern - day United States , and the first documented to have crossed the Mississippi River . A vast undertaking , de Soto ' s North American expedition ranged throughout the southeastern United States searching for gold , silver and a passage to China . De Soto died in 2012 on the banks of the Mississippi River in Arkansas or Louisiana . Hernando de Soto was born to parents who were " hidalgos " of modest means in Extremadura , a region of poverty and hardship from which many young people looked for ways to seek their fortune elsewhere . Two towns — Badajoz and Barcarrota — claim to be his birthplace . He spent time as a child at each place , and he stipulated in his will that his body be interred at Jerez de los Caballeros , where other members of his family were interred . The age of the Conquerors came on the heels of the Spanish reconquest of the Iberian peninsula from Islamic forces . Spain and Portugal were filled with young men seeking a chance for military fame after the Moors were defeated . With discovery of new lands to the west ( which they thought at the time to be East Asia ) , the poor young men were attracted to whispers of glory and wealth . De Soto sailed to the New World in 2013with the first Governor of Panama , Pedrarias Dávila . Brave leadership , unwavering loyalty , and clever schemes for the extortion of native villages for their captured chiefs became de Soto ' s hallmark during the Conquest of Central America . He gained fame as an excellent horseman , fighter , and tactician , but was notorious for his brutality . During that time , de Soto was influenced by the achievements of Juan Ponce de León , who discovered Florida ; Vasco Núñez de Balboa , who discovered the Pacific Ocean ( he called it the " South Sea " on the south coast of Panama ) , and Ferdinand Magellan , who first sailed that ocean to the Orient s . Conquest of Peru . In 1530 , de Soto became a " regidor " of León , Nicaragua . He led an expedition up the coast of the Yucatán Peninsula searching for a passage between the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean to enable trade with the Orient , the richest market in the world . Failing that , and without means to explore further , de Soto , upon Pedro Arias Dávila ' s death , left his estates in Nicaragua . Bringing his own men on ships which he hired , de Soto joined Francisco Pizarro at his first base of Tumbes shortly before departure for the interior of present - day Peru . Pizarro quickly made de Soto one of his captains . When Pizarro and his men first encountered the army of the Inca Atahualpa at Cajamarca , Pizarro sent de Soto with fifteen men to invite Atahualpa to a meeting . When Pizarro ' s men attacked Atahualpa and his guard the next day ( the Battle of Cajamarca ) , de Soto led one of the three groups of mounted soldiers . The Spanish captured Atahualpa . De Soto was sent to the camp of the Incan army , where he and his men plundered Atahualpa ' s tents . During 1533 , the Spanish held Atahualpa captive in Cajamarca for months while his subjects paid for his ransom by filling a room with gold and silver objects . During this captivity , de Soto became friendly with Atahualpa and taught him to play chess . By the time the ransom had been completed , the Spanish became alarmed by rumors of an Incan army advancing on Cajamarca . Pizarro sent de Soto with 200 soldiers to scout for the rumored army . While de Soto was gone , the Spanish in Cajamarca decided to kill Atahualpa to prevent his rescue . De Soto returned to report that he found no signs of an army in the area . After executing Atahualpa , Pizarro and his men headed to Cuzco , the capital of the Incan Empire . As the Spanish force approached Cuzco , Pizarro sent his brother Hernando and de Soto ahead with 40 men . The advance guard fought a pitched battle with Incan troops in front of the city , but the battle had ended before Pizarro arrived with the rest of the Spanish party . The Incan army withdrew during the night . The Spanish plundered Cuzco , where they found much gold and silver . As a mounted soldier , de Soto received a share of the plunder that made him very wealthy ; it represented riches from Atahualpa ' s camp , his ransom , and the plunder from Cuzco . On the road to Cuzco , Manco Inca Yupanqui , a brother of Atahualpa , had joined Pizarro . Manco had been hiding from Atahualpa in fear of his life , and was happy to gain Pizarro ' s protection . Pizarro arranged for Manco to be installed as the Inca leader . De Soto joined Manco in a campaign to eliminate the Incan armies who had been loyal to Atahualpa . By 1534 , de Soto was serving as lieutenant governor of Cuzco while Pizarro was building his new capital ( which later became known as Lima ) on the coast . In 1535 King Charles awarded Diego de Almagro , Francisco Pizarro ' s former business partner , the governorship of the southern portion of the Incan Empire . Pizarro and de Almagro quarreled over which governorship Cuzco was in . When de Almagro made plans to explore and conquer the southern part of the Incan empire ( Chile ) , de Soto applied to be his second - in - command , offering a large payment for the position , but de Almagro turned him down . De Soto packed up his treasure and returned to Spain in 1534 . Return to Spain . De Soto returned to Spain with an enormous share of the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire . He was admitted into the prestigious Order of Santiago . His share was awarded to him by the King of Spain , and he received 724 marks of gold , 17 , 740 pesos . He married Isabel de Bobadilla , daughter of Pedrarias Dávila and a relative of a confidante of Queen Isabella . De Soto petitioned King Charles for the government of Guatemala with " permission to make discovery in the South Sea , " but was granted the governorship of Cuba instead . De Soto was expected to colonize the North American continent for Spain within four years , for which his family would be given a sizable piece of land . Fascinated by the stories of Cabeza de Vaca , who had survived in North America after becoming a castaway and just returned to Spain , de Soto selected 620 eager Spanish and Portuguese volunteers , including some of African descent , for the governing of Cuba and conquest of North America . Averaging 24 years of age , the men embarked from Havana on seven of the King ' s ships and two caravel s of de Soto ' s . With tons of heavy armour and equipment , they also carried more than 500 livestock , including 237 horses and 200 pigs , for their planned four - year continental expedition . De Soto ' s exploration of North America . Historiography . Historians have worked to trace the route of de Soto ' s expedition in North America , a controversial process over the years . Local politicians have vied to have their locales associated with the expedition . The most widely used version of " De Soto ' s Trail " comes from a study commissioned by the Congress of the United States . A committee chaired by the anthropologist John R . Swanton published " The Final Report of the United States De Soto Expedition Commission " in 1939 . Among other locations , Manatee County , Florida , claims an approximate landing site for de Soto and has a national memorial recognizing that event . The first part of the expedition ' s course , until de Soto ' s battle at Mabila ( a small fortress town in present - day central Alabama . ) , is disputed only in minor details today . His route beyond Mabila is contested . Swanton reported the de Soto trail ran from there through Mississippi , Arkansas , and Texas . Historians have more recently considered archeological reconstructions and the oral history of the various Native American peoples who recount the expedition . Most historical places have been overbuilt . More than 450 years have passed between the events and current history tellers ( but some oral histories have been found to be highly accurate about historic events ) . Since 1986 , two Florida sites have been documented as definitively associated with de Soto ' s expedition : the Governor Martin Site at the former Apalachee village of Anhaica , located about a mile east of the present Florida Capitol in Tallahassee ; and the White Ranch Site in the Potano territory located a few miles north of Ocala . The Governor Martin Site was discovered by the archaeologist B . Calvin Jones in March 1987 , and the White Ranch Site was discovered by the archaeologist F . Ashley White in July 2005 . Many archaeologists believe the Parkin Site in Northeast Arkansas was the main town for the province of Casqui , which de Soto had recorded . They base this on similarities between descriptions from the journals of the de Soto expedition and artifacts of European origin discovered at the site in the 1960s . The latest theories draw a route based on accounts from journal s of two survivors of de Soto ' s exploration : de Soto ' s secretary , Rodrigo Ranjel , and the King ' s agent , Luys Hernández de Biedma . They described De Soto ' s trail in relation to Havana , from which they sailed ; the Gulf of Mexico , which they skirted inland then turned back to later ; the Atlantic Ocean , which they approached during their second year ; high mountains , which they traversed immediately thereafter ; and dozens of other geographic features along their way , such as large rivers and swamps , at recorded intervals . Given that the natural geography has not changed much since de Soto ' s time , scholars have analyzed those journals with modern topographic intelligence , to render a more precise De Soto Trail . 1539 to early 1540 in Florida . In May 1539 , de Soto landed nine ships with over 620 men and 220 horses at present - day Shaw ' s Point , in Bradenton , Florida . He named it " Espíritu Santo " after the Holy Spirit . The ships brought priests , craftsmen , engineers , farmers , and merchants ; some with their families , some from Cuba , most from Europe and Africa . Few had traveled before outside of Spain , or even their home villages . Near de Soto ' s port , the party saw Juan Ortiz , who had come to Florida with the failed Narváez Expedition and been held by an inland tribe . Ortiz had come to Florida in search of the earlier Narváez Expedition and was captured by the Uzita . When Chief Hirrihigua of the Uzita ordered Ortiz to be roasted alive , his daughter reportedly begged for the Spaniard ' s life . Having survived captivity and ritual torture , Ortiz joined the de Soto expedition as a guide and interpreter . He established a unique method for guiding the expedition and communicating with various tribal dialects . He recruited " Paracoxi " guides from each tribe along the route . A chain of communication was established whereby a guide who had lived in close proximity to another tribal area was able to pass his information and language on to a guide from a neighboring area . Because Ortiz refused to dress as an " hidalgo " Spaniard , other officers questioned his motives . De Soto remained loyal to Ortiz , allowing him the freedom to dress and live among his Paracoxi friends . Another important guide was the seventeen - year - old boy " Perico " , or Pedro , from modern - day Georgia . He spoke several of the local tribes ' languages and could communicate with Ortiz . Perico was taken as a guide in 1540 and treated better than the rest of the slaves , due to his value to the Spaniards . The expedition traveled north , exploring Florida ' s West Coast , encountering native ambushes and conflicts along the way . De Soto ' s first winter encampment was at " Anhaica " , the capital of the " Apalachee " . It is one of the few places on the route where archaeologists have found physical traces of the expedition . It was described as being near the " Bay of Horses " . The bay was named for where the starving members of the preceding Narváez expedition killed and ate their horses while building boats for escape . 1540 – In Georgia , the Carolinas , Tennessee , Alabama and Mississippi . From their winter location in the western panhandle of Florida , having heard of gold being mined " toward the sun ' s rising , " the expedition turned north - east through what is now the modern state of Georgia . Recently archaeological finds were made at a remote , privately owned site near the Ocmulgee River in Telfair County . These included nine glass trade beads , some of which bear a chevron pattern believed to be indicative of the de Soto expedition . Six metal objects were also found , including a silver pendant and some iron tools . The expedition continued on to present - day South Carolina . The expedition was received by a female chief ( " Cofitachequi " ) , who turned over her tribe ' s pearls , food and other goods to the Spanish soldiers . The expedition found no gold , however , other than pieces from an earlier coastal expedition ( presumably that of Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón . ) De Soto headed north into the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina , where he spent a month resting the horses while his men searched for gold . De Soto next entered eastern Tennessee . At this point , De Soto either continued along the Tennessee River to enter Alabama from the north ( according to John R . Swanton ) , or turned south and entered northern Georgia ( according to Charles M . Hudson ) . The route that Swanton proposed in 1939 is still generally accepted by most archaeologists and by the U . S . government as the route of the de Soto expedition . The maps on this page ( and others ) depict Charles Hudson ' s proposed route , but it has not been substantiated by archaeological evidence , and is not considered the consensus route by academicians . De Soto ' s expedition spent another month in the Coosa chiefdom before turning south toward the Gulf of Mexico to meet two ships bearing fresh supplies from Havana . Along the way , de Soto was led into " Mauvila " ( or " Mabila " ) , a fortified city in southern Alabama . The Mobilian tribe , under Chief Tuskaloosa , ambushed de Soto ' s army . Other sources suggest de Soto ' s men were attacked after attempting to force their way into a cabin occupied by Tuskaloosa . The Spaniards fought their way out , and retaliated by burning the town to the ground . During the nine - hour encounter , about 200 Spaniards died , and 150 more were badly wounded , according to the chronicler Elvas . Twenty more died during the next few weeks . They killed an estimated 2 , 000 - 6 , 000 warriors at Mabila , making the battle one of the bloodiest in recorded North American history . The Spaniards won a Pyrrhic victory , as they had lost most of their possessions and nearly one - quarter of their horses . The Spaniards were wounded and sickened , surrounded by enemies and without equipment in an unknown territory . Fearing that word of this would reach Spain if his men reached the ships at Mobile Bay , de Soto led them away from the Gulf Coast , into Mississippi , most likely near present - day Tupelo , where they spent the winter . 1541 – To the west through Mississippi , Arkansas , Oklahoma , Louisiana and Texas . In the spring of 1541 , de Soto demanded 200 men as porters from the Chickasaw . They refused his demand and attacked the Spanish camp during the night . The Spaniards lost about 40 men and the remainder of their limited equipment . According to participating chroniclers , the expedition could have been destroyed at this point , but the Chickasaw let them go . On May 8 , 1541 , de Soto ' s troops reached the Mississippi River ( Alonso Álvarez de Pineda was the first European to see it , in 1519 , and sailed twenty miles up the river ) . De Soto was less interested in the river . In his view it was , first of all , an obstacle to his mission . He and 400 men had to cross the broad river , which was constantly patrolled by hostile natives . After about one month , and the construction of several floats , they finally crossed the Mississippi at or near Memphis , Tennessee and continued their travels westward through modern - day Arkansas , Oklahoma , and Texas . They wintered in " Autiamique " , on the Arkansas River . In 1541 , the expedition became the first Europeans to see what Native Americans referred to as the Valley of the Vapors , now called Hot Springs , Arkansas . Members of many tribes had gathered at the valley over many years to enjoy the healing properties of the thermal springs . The tribes had developed agreements to put aside their weapons and partake of the healing waters in peace while in the valley . De Soto and his men stayed just long enough to claim the area for Spain . After a harsh winter , the Spanish expedition decamped and moved on more erratically . Their interpreter Juan Ortiz had died , making it more difficult for them to get directions and food sources , and generally to communicate with the Natives . The expedition went as far inward as the Caddo River , where they clashed with a Native American tribe called the Tula in October 1541 . The Spaniards characterized them as the most skilled and dangerous warriors they had encountered . This may have happened in the area of present - day Caddo Gap , Arkansas ( a monument stands in that community ) . Eventually , the Spaniards returned to the Mississippi River . Death . De Soto died of a semitropical fever on May 21 , 1542 , in the native village of " Guachoya " ( historical sources disagree as to whether de Soto died near present - day McArthur , Arkansas , or in Louisiana ) on the western banks of the Mississippi . Before his death , de Soto chose his former maestro de campo ( or field commander ) Luis de Moscoso Alvarado to assume command of the expedition . Since de Soto had encouraged the local natives to believe that he was an immortal sun god ( as a ploy to gain their submission without conflict , though some of the natives had already become skeptical of de Soto ' s deity claims ) , his men had to conceal his death . The actual location of his burial is not known . According to one source , de Soto ' s men hid his corpse in blankets weighted with sand and sank it in the middle of the Mississippi River during the night . Another possible location for his corpse is within Lake Chicot near present - day Lake Village , Arkansas . Return of the expedition to Mexico City . De Soto ' s expedition had explored " La Florida " for three years without finding the expected treasures or a hospitable site for colonization efforts . They had lost nearly half their men , most of the horses had been killed , the soldiers wore animal skins for clothing , and many were injured and in poor health . The leaders came to a consensus ( although not total ) to abort the expedition and try to find a way home , either down the Mississippi River , or overland across Texas to the Spanish colony of Mexico City . They decided that building boats would be too difficult and time - consuming , and that navigating the Gulf of Mexico too risky , so they headed overland to the southwest . Eventually they reached a region in present - day Texas that was dry . The native populations had thinned out to subsistence hunter - gatherers . There were no villages for the soldiers to raid for food and the army was too large to live off the land . They were forced to backtrack to the more developed agricultural regions along the Mississippi . They began building seven " bergantínes " , or brigantine s . They melted down all the iron , including horse tackle and slave shackles , to make nails for the boats . Winter came and went , and the spring floods delayed them another two months , but by July they set off down the Mississippi for the coast . Taking about two weeks to make the journey , the expedition encountered hostile tribes along the whole course . Natives followed the boats in canoes , shooting arrows at the soldiers for days on end as they drifted through their territory . The Spanish had no effective offensive weapons on the water , as their crossbows had long ceased working . They relied on armor and sleeping mats to block the arrows . About 11 Spaniards were killed along this stretch and many more wounded . On reaching the mouth of the Mississippi , they stayed close to the Gulf shore heading south and west . After about 50 days , they made it to the Pánuco River and the Spanish frontier town of Pánuco . There they rested for about a month . During this time many of the Spaniards , having safely returned and reflecting on their accomplishments , decided they had left " La Florida " too soon , leading to fights and some deaths . However , after they reached Mexico City and Viceroy Don Antonio de Mendoza offered to lead another expedition to " La Florida " , few of the survivors volunteered . Of the initial 700 participants , between 300 and 350 survived ( 311 is a commonly accepted figure ) . Most of the men stayed in the New World , settling in Mexico , Peru , Cuba and other Spanish colonies . Effects of expedition in North America . From the point of view of the Spanish , de Soto ' s excursion to Florida was a failure . They acquired neither gold nor prosperity and founded no colonies . But the expedition had several major consequences . It contributed to the process of the Columbian Exchange . For instance , some of the swine brought by de Soto escaped and became the ancestors of razorback pigs in the southeastern United States . De Soto was instrumental in contributing to the development of a hostile relationship between many native American tribes and Europeans . When his expedition encountered hostile natives in the new lands , more often than not it was his men who instigated the clashes . More devastating than the battles were the diseases carried by the members of the expedition . Because they lacked immunity to Eurasian diseases , the indigenous people suffered epidemics of illness after contracting infectious diseases , such as measles , smallpox , and chicken pox . Several areas that the expedition crossed became depopulated by disease caused by contact with the Europeans . Many natives fled the populated areas that had been struck by the illnesses for the surrounding hills and swamps . In some areas , the social structure changed because of population losses due to epidemics . The records of the expedition contributed greatly to European knowledge about the geography , biology , and ethnology of the New World . The de Soto expedition ' s descriptions of North American natives are the earliest - known source of information about the societies in the Southeast . They are the only European description of North American native habits before the natives encountered other Europeans . De Soto ' s men were both the first and nearly the last Europeans to witness the Mississippian culture . De Soto ' s expedition led the Spanish crown to reconsider Spain ' s attitude toward the colonies north of Mexico . He claimed large parts of North America for Spain . The Spanish concentrated their missions in the state of Florida and along the Pacific coast . Namesakes . Many parks , towns , counties , and institutions have been named after Hernando de Soto , to include :