Title: Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto reaches the Mississippi - HISTORY
Headings: Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto reaches the Mississippi
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Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto reaches the Mississippi
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Content: In late May 1539, de Soto landed on the west coast of Florida with 600 troops, servants, and staff, 200 horses, and a pack of bloodhounds. From there, the army set about subduing the natives, seizing any valuables they stumbled upon, and preparing the region for eventual Spanish colonization. Traveling through Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, across the Appalachians, and back to Alabama, de Soto failed to find the gold and silver he desired, but he did seize a valuable collection of pearls at Cofitachequi, in present-day Georgia. Decisive conquest eluded the Spaniards, as what would become the United States lacked the large, centralized civilizations of Mexico and Peru. As was the method of Spanish conquest elsewhere in the Americas, de Soto ill-treated and enslaved the natives he encountered. For the most part, the Native warriors they met were intimidated by the Spanish horsemen and kept their distance. In October 1540, however, the tables were turned when a confederation of Native Americans attacked the Spaniards at the fortified town of Mabila, near present-day Mobile, Alabama. All the Native Americans were killed along with 20 of de Soto’s men. Several hundred Spaniards were wounded. In addition, the conscripts they had come to depend on to bear their supplies fled with the baggage.