One of the most famous people in Arkansas history also happens to be one of its most controversial and mysterious — Hernando de Soto. Perhaps you remember hearing the name from 8th grade Arkansas history or seeing his name and image on various monuments and markers across the Natural State.
Hernando de Soto was a Spanish explorer who led an expedition through the southern United States. De Soto and his band of soldiers were the first Europeans to visit the land that eventually became Arkansas.
It is believed de Soto was born in Spain around 1500, but his exact birthdate is unknown. Hernando was the second son of Francisco Méndez de Soto and Leonor Arias (Tinoco) de Soto. Although the de Soto family was reportedly of noble heritage, Hernando himself was poor and forced to borrow money to travel to the new world in 1514.
Once de Soto made it to central America, he became a soldier and fought in raids and battles in Nicaragua, Panama and Peru. In just a few years, de Soto had developed a reputation as mean but cunning. And during his time in military service, de Soto became wealthy from his involvement in the Indian slave trade.
In November 1536, de Soto returned to Spain to marry Isabel de Bobadilla. He also petitioned Spain’s King Charles V for a governorship in central America. The Spanish king considered de Soto’s request and offered him the opportunity to explore and conquer the area known as Florida. As part of the deal, King Charles V made de Soto governor of Cuba, which served as a base for de Soto’s planned conquest of Florida. In 1537, de Soto began gathering supplies and hired an army to participate in his expedition to the new world.
After a couple of years of preparation, de Soto and 600 men — along with horses, pigs and equipment— set out from Cuba in May 1539. His agreement with Charles V required de Soto to explore the region and establish settlements and forts in the name of Spain. After landing on the southwest coast of Florida, de Soto and crew traveled through the southeastern area of the eventual United States before crossing the Mississippi River into what is now Arkansas on June 28, 1541.
It is accepted by most Arkansas historians that Hernando de Soto and his men were the first Europeans to set foot in Arkansas. There are four known accounts of the expedition through the lands of Arkansas that describe the Indians the Spanish group encountered in the next two years. Historians and scholars have long been unsure of de Soto’s actual route, but throughout the years, archaeologists have discovered Spanish artifacts at a few archaeological sites named in the accounts — solid evidence of the de Soto expedition.
Hernando de Soto and his group’s relations with most of the native Americans of Arkansas were for the most part friendly, but de Soto and his soldiers also had no qualms of torturing and savagely killing those who refused to cooperate.
After traveling around the area for almost a year (reportedly through modern-day cities such as Benton, Helena and Hot Springs), de Soto led his party back to the Mississippi River, somewhere in southeast Arkansas. By that time, he and most of his entourage were disillusioned and tired of the difficult journey and the battles with Indians over the past three years. De Soto eventually fell ill with fever and died at Guachoya, which many experts believe is now the city of Lake Village (Chicot County) in May 1542.
Fearing the vandalism of his body and the consequences if the natives confirmed de Soto’s death, his men dug up the body at night, weighted it down and dumped it into the Mississippi River.
De Soto’s expedition in Arkansas was largely considered a failure, as fame and fortune escaped him. When he arrived in Arkansas, he was a proud, resilient conqueror. But in the end, the future land of opportunity offered none to de Soto and his party.
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