TRAVEL WITH THE GREAT EXPLORERS Tlxplore with Hernando de Soto Rachel Stuckey Crabtree Publishing Company www crabtreebooks com
Did you know De Soto was not the first Spanish explorer in Florida In 1527 Pánfilo de Narváez led an expedition there and disappeared Eight years later just four survivors of the expedition reached Mexico Meet the Boss In the early 1500s the Spaniard Hernando de Soto led the first European expedition into the southeastern United States De Soto and his men were the first Europeans to cross the Mississippi River POOR LIFE IN SPAIN Noble but poor Young man seeks fortune abroad Hernando de Soto was born around 1500 in Extremadura Spain He came from a noble but poor family Another noble Pedro Arias Dávila paid for de Soto to go to university but opportunities were still limited for the young man in Spain He wanted to seek fame and fortune in Spain’s empire in the Americas In 1514 when Dávila was named the first governor of Spain’s new colony in Panama de Soto sailed with him to America IN THE NAME OF SPAIN Exploring Central America In Panama de Soto became captain of a cavalry troop that explored the rain forest above In the following years he served with the Spanish conquerors in Nicaragua and explored Honduras He became one of the most experienced and powerful conquistadors Just 10 years after arriving in the New World he had earned his own encomienda or estate and a position in the government 4 TRAVEL WITH THE GREAT EXPLORERS
INTO PERU Overthrowing the Inca Conquering new lands In 1532 de Soto served as a captain on the expedition of Francisco Pizarro to the Inca Empire of Peru The Inca were fighting a civil war so the Spanish took advantage of their distraction to capture and overthrow the new emperor Atahualpa Pizarro and his men shared the gold and silver from the Inca treasury Pizarro and his captains became very wealthy Atahualpa Atahualpa during his De Soto became friendly with captivity and taught him to play chess The Inca paid a huge ransom in gold for their emperor above but the Spaniards killed him anyway ORDERED TO FLORIDA De Soto strikes it rich Takes control of Cuba After the conquest of Peru de Soto left returned to Spain The king made him the governor of Cuba in return for his service He also ordered de Soto to explore and colonize La Florida the name for Spain’s territory in North America which was a far larger area than what Florida is today The king and de Soto hoped that La Florida would prove as wealthy as the Inca Empire EXPLORE WITH HERNANDO DE SOTO 5
