Hernando de Soto

Hello. My name is Hernando de Soto, and I was an explorer who dreamed of adventure. I was born around the year 1500 in a region of Spain called Extremadura. When I was a boy, I would listen to incredible stories about explorers like Christopher Columbus who sailed across the great ocean to find new lands. Those tales filled my head with wonder. I dreamed that one day I would have my own adventures, see places no European had ever seen, and maybe even find amazing treasures.

My dreams started to come true when I was still a teenager. Around the year 1514, I joined an expedition sailing to the Americas, a place many called the New World. There, in the lands of Central America, I learned how to be a soldier and an explorer. It was a very hard life, but I was a skilled horseman and a brave leader. During our explorations of Panama and Nicaragua, I quickly became known for my courage and leadership.

My greatest adventure came in 1532, when I joined another famous Spanish explorer, Francisco Pizarro, on a journey to Peru. In that land, we met the powerful and incredible Inca Empire. I was one of the very first Europeans to meet the Inca emperor, a man named Atahualpa. The conquest of the Inca lands made me a very wealthy and famous man back in Spain, but I found that my desire for exploration was stronger than ever.

Using the great fortune I had gained, I decided to lead the biggest expedition of my life. In 1537, the King of Spain gave me his permission to explore a huge, mysterious land that the Spanish called La Florida. Today, you know this area as the southeastern United States. I gathered hundreds of soldiers, many horses, and tons of supplies for the long journey. We set sail from Spain in 1538 and finally landed on the coast of Florida on May 30th, 1539, ready to march into the unknown.

For almost four years, my men and I traveled through a wild and beautiful land. We marched through thick forests, crossed swampy marshes, and climbed over rolling hills. Our journey took us through areas that would one day become the states of Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, and others. We met many different Native American tribes along our path. Some were friendly and curious, but we often had conflicts with others because we were strangers entering their homelands. In 1541, we came to a mighty, flowing river that was wider than any I had ever seen before. I became the first European to lead an expedition across this great river: the Mississippi.

Our long journey through the wilderness was very difficult. While we were still exploring near the Mississippi River, I fell ill with a terrible fever. I did not get better, and I passed away in May of 1542. I lived to be about 42 years old. Although I never found the great cities of gold I had been searching for, my expedition was not a failure. We created the first detailed maps of the interior of North America for Spain. People remember me as the explorer who led the first major European journey deep into the heart of the continent and revealed the mighty Mississippi River to the world.