But failure for the Spanish did not mean that the expedition had no impact.

The chronicles created some of the earliest European descriptions of the interior Southeast.

The journey exposed Native communities to new diseases and technologies.

It disrupted food systems.

It caused violence.

It demonstrated to later European powers that the Southeast contained complex Indigenous societies and valuable agricultural landscapes.

Later colonization unfolded in a different political environment, but the de Soto expedition was part of the early history of European intrusion into the region.

The expedition also created a long historical shadow.