Welcome to the History of the Americans Podcast, episode 18.  This episode is Hernando de Soto part 2. 

Last week we introduced the story of Hernando de Soto’s three year invasion of the American south, from 1539 to his death in 1542, ending the episode just as his 600 man expedition arrived on the gulf coast of Florida, probably Tampa Bay.  Ponce de Leon had gone ashore in roughly the same place in 1521, and Panfilo de Narvaez had disembarked his doomed expedition there in 1528.  Soto, like Ponce and Narvaez before him, would claim all of North America for Spain from roughly the same spot. He would survive longer than either Ponce or Narvaez, but not by much. Claiming North America for Spain was a dangerous business!

Credit: David Ewing Duncan

Selected references for this episode

David Ewing Duncan, Hernando De Soto: A Savage Quest in the Americas

Final Report of the United States: De Soto Expedition Commission