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Beach area at De Soto National Memorial
Photograph from NPS Destinations Magazine
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De Soto National Memorial in Bradenton, Florida, commemorates the
landing and legacy of the 1539 expedition of Hernando de Soto. Hernando
de Soto, icon of the age of the conquistador, was only about 14
years old when he first set sail from Spain, in about 1514. His
time spent fighting off both Spanish poachers and native inhabitants
of Panama and Nicaragua left the young warrior with ample resources
and a thirst for gold. This was soon quenched when he joined Francisco
Pizarro in his famous conquest of the Inca Empire in Peru. In the
late 1530s, now rich, but growing bored, de Soto lobbied to lead
his own expedition into the heart of what is now the Southeastern
United States. In exchange for de Soto personally financing the
trip, King Charles V granted him both the Governor-ship of Cuba,
as well dominion over the lands and peoples of La Florida (Spanish
term for “all of North America”).
Natural trail at De Soto National Memorial
Photograph from NPS Destinations Magazine
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In May 1539, de Soto landed on the Florida mainland in Tampa Bay,
bringing with him around 600 conquistadors, 200 or so horses, a
herd of pigs and packs of vicious war dogs. What followed was four
years of violent encounters with American Indians while searching
fruitlessly for a civilization possessing riches like the Aztecs
of Mexico or the Incas of Peru. By 1543, with de Soto dead and half
his men gone, the expedition abandoned its quest and traveled by
river and sea to Spanish settlements in Mexico. Unknowingly, the
descriptions of new peoples and abundant lands provided by participants
would prove to be the true legacy of the quest, contributing to
inspire later Europeans to colonize North America. Today De Soto
National Memorial helps unravel the complex cultural interactions
between the native population and the Spanish explorers. Inside
the museum, detailed maps focus in on significant incidents that
peppered de Soto's four-year journey into the country, while exhibits
on the north porch feature information discovered in archeological
sites along de Soto's trail. The center features a short film and
numerous 16th-century artifacts including Spanish armor and weapons,
as well as examples of American Indian pottery and projectile points.
Cap off your visit with a self-guided walk through de Soto's half-mile
nature trail, which winds through the same type of impenetrable
mangrove swamp and coastal environment first encountered by the
Spanish. For more information, visit the official De
Soto National Memorial NPS website.
(text from National Park Service Destinations
Magazine, Winter 2001)
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