Hernando+De+Soto

= Hernando De Soto =



By: Macol & Julian

Hernando de Soto was a brave Spanish explorer and fighter. Hernando de Soto was the first European to explore deep into the territories of the United States including Florida. He was the first European documented to cross the Mississippi River. He was born in 1496 or 1497, in Barcarrota Badajoz Extremadura Spain, and died in May 21, 1542, in the banks of the Mississippi River. He explored the Southeast region of the United States of America. He was the first governor of Panama. Juan Ponce De Leon, De Balboa, and Ferdinand Magellan, were the ones who influenced Soto’s ambitions. Soto was trying to find gold, silver, and a shorter route to China.

De Soto brought thirty ships with him when he sailed to Cuba when he was trying to find a shorter route to China. He brought 200 horses on his voyage. Then he sailed on to what is now Florida. Next he explored what is now Georgia and South Carolina. Then he explored the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. He was the first explorer to document the Mississippi River.

On his second trip he went back to the Mississippi and when he was camping he died in his tent of a fever. After his death, his aid threw his body into the Mississippi River. His crew did not know about his death until his body washed up on shore.

Hernando De Soto will be remembered because he was the first one to explore the Mississippi River and the gulf of Mexico.

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