Hernando de Soto (c.1496/1497 –May 21, 1542) was a Spanish explorer and conquistador. Born in the Extremadura region of Spain, he participated, in his late teens, in the conquest of Central America at the side of Governor Pedrarias Dávila. He joined Francisco Pizarro in the early 1530's conquest of South America, and he became enormously wealthy from his share of the Incan booty. In 1539, De Soto launched the largest of the early Spanish colonial expeditions. Wikipedia
He immediately despatched a small party under Hernando de Soto in that direction, to reconnoitre the ground, and bring him intelligence of the actual state of things, at Zaran, where he would halt until his officer's return. floridahistory.com/prescott1.html
In 1532 he joined the expedition of Francisco Pizzaro starting from Panama for the conquest of Peru . Recognizing his importance, Pizzaro made de Soto second in command, though this caused some opposition from Pizzaro's brothers. www.newadvent.org/cathen/04753a.htm
Indexed Map of Native American Exploration and Conquest by Hernando de Soto, Cabeza de Vaca and Coronado, 16th century. www.floridahistory.com/inset78m.html
The definitive Wikipedia entry for Hernando de Soto. Wikipedia is the biggest multilingual free-content encyclopedia on the Internet. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hernando_de_Soto_(explorer)
Unfortunately, this conjured depiction of Hernando de Soto at eleven is all we have, given the lack of records to tell us what he was really doing as a boy. Nor do we know much about his birth, upbringing, family life, dreams, fears, favorite foods, best www.floridahistory.com/spain-in-america.html
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