And for several days, a Spanish army entered a Native world that had existed long before Europeans arrived.

WHAT WAS HERNANDO DE SOTO LOOKING FOR?

Hernando de Soto did not enter the southeastern part of North America as a peaceful traveler.

He came as a conquistador.

He had already participated in Spain’s campaigns in the Americas and had acquired wealth and status through the violent expansion of Spanish power.

Like other conquistadors of his generation, he understood exploration through a mixture of military conquest, political ambition, Christian expansion, and the search for precious resources.

After receiving authority to explore and colonize the region then called La Florida, de Soto sailed from Cuba in 1539.

His force was substantial.

Contemporary accounts describe hundreds of soldiers and a large number of horses.

The expedition also included enslaved and Indigenous people, servants, guides, camp followers, and others whose labor made the march possible.

This was not a small scouting party.

It was a moving military society.

Horses, armor, weapons, food, tools, livestock, and equipment had to move with it.

The expedition expected to encounter wealth.