1. Hernando de Soto
1500?-1542

2. Early Life. Born c1500? in Jerez de los Caballeros, Spain.
He grew up in a poor family who wanted him to be a lawyer, but he wished to be an explore.
He mostly wanted to grow up and explore the West Indies.

3. Early Life
Hernando invited to join Da`vila, governor of Darien, on his 1514 expedition to West Indies.
West Indies

4. Exploration
On 1524 Hernando set sail for an expedition to Nicaragua, South America with Francisco de Cordoba.
While in Nicaragua, de Soto engaged in the slave trade.
Cordoba enlisted de Soto in an expedition to Peru ( ).

5. Peru
While exploring Peru’s highlands in 1533, Hernando came upon a rode leading to the capitol of Peru’s Incan Empire.
He also engaged a battle to capture Cuzco that was a success.

6. The Return To Spain
In 1536 Hernando returned to Spain a very wealthy man.
His share of the fortune was no less than 18,000 ounce of gold.
When De Soto settled into Spain he married the daughter of an old patron Da`vila a year after retuning to Spain.

7. Exploring North America
Hernando grew antsy when he heard the stories about Cabdza de Vaca’s exploration of Florida and other Gulf coast states.
De Soto sold all of his items and used the money to prepare for an expedition to North America.
He had a fleet of 10 ships that had a crew of 700 men.

8. Exploring North America Exploring North America
On April 6th ,1538 de soto and his fleet set sail from Sanlu`car.
On the way to the U.S. Hernando and his crew stopped at Cuba.
On May 18th ,1539, Hernando and his crew set sail for Florida. By May 25th they landed in Tampa Bay.
Once in America, He stopped in Florida, Georgia, and then Alabama.

9. Exploring North America
(continued)
While in Alabama, Hernando met his worst battle yet in Tuscaloosa and left the battle victorious.
Afterwards, de Soto and his crew headed westward and discovered the MISSISSIPPI RIVER!!!

10. Death
After crossing the Mississippi, Hernando struck a fever and died on May 21st, 1542, in Ferriday, Louisiana.
His crew sunk his body in the river he discovered.(the Mississippi River)
In his final will, Hernando named Luis de Moscoso Alvarado the new leader of the expedition.

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