Title: Hernando de Soto | Spanish explorer | Britannica
Headings: Hernando de Soto
Hernando de Soto
Spanish explorer
Early years
Exploration of southern North America
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Content: Instead, he was commissioned by the Spanish crown to conquer what is now Florida. In addition, he was made governor of Cuba. Exploration of southern North America
In April 1538 de Soto embarked from the port of Sanlúcar de Barrameda in command of 10 ships and 700 men. After a brief stop in Cuba, the expedition landed in May 1539 on the coast of Florida, at a point somewhere between present-day Tampa Bay and Charlotte Harbor. After spending the winter at the small Indian village of Apalache (near Tallahassee, Florida), de Soto moved northward and through Georgia and then westward through the Carolinas and Tennessee, led by native guides whom he abducted along the way. Though he did not find the gold he was looking for, he did collect a valuable assortment of pearls at a place called Cofitachequi, in present-day Georgia or South Carolina (sources differ on its location). Near Lookout Mountain in southeastern Tennessee, de Soto and his men turned southward into Alabama and headed toward Mobile Bay, where they expected to rendezvous with their ships. But at the fortified Indian town of Mauvila (near Mobile), a confederation of Indians attacked the Spaniards in October 1540. The natives were decimated, but the Spanish were also severely crippled, losing most of their equipment and all their pearls. After a month’s rest, de Soto decided to turn north once again and head inland in search of treasure.