Nearly seven decades before the settlement at Jamestown was founded, Hernando de Soto led an expedition through the American southeast, visiting locations that comprise of almost every modern American southeast state. De Soto's expedition was told best by an unnamed Portuguese sailor who wrote about the expedition. The treatment of the natives by de Soto was consistent, but the conditions and culture of each village he visited varied greatly. What, if anything, did de Soto leave behind as a legacy?
Image of Hernando de Soto courtesy of: John Sartain
Read Expedition by an unnamed Portuguese man attending the expedition: https://www.americanjourneys.org/pdf/AJ-021.pdf
Read Relation of the Conquest of Florida Presented to the King of Spain in 1544: https://www.americanjourneys.org/pdf/AJ-022.pdf
Read A Narrative of the Expedition by De Soto’s personal secretary: https://www.americanjourneys.org/pdf/AJ-023.pdf
Read A Letter Written by De Soto to the Justice and Board of Magistrates in Santiago, Cuba: https://www.americanjourneys.org/pdf/AJ-024.pdf
