permission of the publishers, Little, Brown & Co. Hernando de Soto
was born in Badaios, Spain, in 1500, and died near the Mississippi
River, probably on May 21, 1542. Before discovering the Mississippi,
he had been in Panama and Nicaragua; had been active with Pizarro
in the conquest of Peru, from which he returned very rich to
Spain, and in 1587 had been appointed Governor of Cuba and
Florida, with orders to explore and settle the country. It was
while engaged in the latter work that he discovered the
Mississippi.

De Soto's route has been determined only approximately. He is
believed first to have made a circuit northward from Tampa,
through Florida into Georgia and perhaps into Carolina, thence
going westward to Alabama and Mobile Bay. From the latter he
turned northward again, thence going westward to the Mississippi,
which he is believed to have crossed at Chickasaw Bluffs, in May,
1541. From this point he went northward and almost reached the
Missouri. He then turned southward, and reached the junction of
the Red River and Mississippi, where he died of malaria fever. Of
his men 250 perished from disease or in combat with the Indians.

[2] The bison, or buffalo, is here referred to.




THE DEATH OF DE SOTO

(1542)