Hernando+de+Soto

__Hernando de Soto__
Hernando de Soto was born in either 1496 or 1497 in Spain and died on May 21, 1542. He was influenced by 3 explorers. Ponce de Leon who discovered North America. Balboa who discovered the Pacific Ocean at Panama and Magellan who sailed to the Orient. When he was older he became a skilled hunter. As he grew, the family's money went to his brother so he decided for a career in exploring.

He became a Spanish explorer who became the first European to reach the Mississippi River in 1541. He heard there were many riches to be found. He got support from the king and queen who supplied him with a crew. The crew liked the job because they thought they would get rich from the journey. In 1540 he went with about 700 other people,24 priests and 220 horses and went to search for Cofitachiqui, a rich American Indian city they heard about. Once they were there he met a woman they called "the lady of Cofitachiqui". De Soto asked about the freshwater pearls she had. She took them to the place containing many more, but De Soto also wanted more than pearls he wanted gold. He told the woman to help him search but she got away. De Soto never found what he was looking for. It wound up being a story told of the riches in America for the Spanish.

De Soto landed in Peru in 1531. De Soto fought in the Battle of Cajamarca on November 26 1532. In 1534, He was made governor of Cuzco. De Soto's ships left in 1538 and landed landed in current day Tampa Bay Florida in 1539. He found different resources such as gold and fruits. On May 21, 1542 he died when he was around 42 years old. He died on the banks of the Mississippi River because of sickness. He was buried in a log and was sent down the river.His expedition lasted over 4 years and covered over 4,000 miles. He now has a library, waterfall,car,bridge and forest which is near the Mississippi River named after him



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