Conquistador Hernando de Soto, rich from the 1536 Conquest of Peru, explored North America for a northern passage to trade Spain's New World Gold with China, the finest market in the world. He followed trails which became our highways. His people described native villages along those trails at places which are cities today. DeSoto's Trails through fourteen states are described here.
   
Cabeza de Vaca explored America's Gulf Coast just prior to DeSoto. While in Houston (circled above), visiting natives convinced Vaca that "wealthy" tribes and an ocean were located to the north. After contacting Coronado in Mexico and DeSoto in Spain, their trails would lead there. Finding only hostile Indians, both would reverse direction above Houston. Coronado went home, DeSoto would die here.
 DeSoto's huge army landed in Florida in 1539. They circled through Georgia, South and North Carolina, Tennessee, North Georgia and Alabama searching for gold along their way to supply ships at Mobile Bay. They lost their spoils in fires of battle just above Mobile. DeSoto led his demoralized army due north, away from the ships, beyond the Tennessee River to prevent their escape.
In 1541, DeSoto trekked north through Kentucky and Indiana; his scouts as far as Chicago. NOT finding the ocean, and thereby a passage to China as DeSoto had anticipated, but Lake Michigan instead, he marched southwest, through Illinois, still searching for gold and an ocean to westward.
 When DeSoto sighted the Mississippi River, which obviously drained a continent and NOT an island, as he had surmised, in disgust he trudged west through Missouri, searching for Vaca's legendary "wealthy" tribes.
Finding hostile natives in the Ozark Mountains, DeSoto turned south for escape. He died in Arkansas in 1542. His army fled toward Mexico City, Spain's nearest city on this continent at that time. They passed through Louisiana and Texas; scouts as far as San Antonio. Not finding enough food or water to proceed, they retreated back to Arkansas.
His army built boats then drifted down the Great River, skirting Mississippi. Attacked, the army paddled downstream through Louisiana, then along the Texas Coast to Mexico in 1543. Half of the men survived. Spanish armies were NEVER sent deep into America after DeSoto and Coronado. That is reason enough to suppose that they searched the better part of it. After all, Spain explored and/or colonized ALL of the New World elsewhere. England and France would continue searching for a seaway to China for the next century, allowing Spain to plunder most of the New World. Millions have been here!
NEW: CONQUEST TRAILS ON GOOGLE EARTH and CONQUEST CALENDARS
 Tracking DeSoto's army over such a long distance comes down to following them from one place to the next. Starting at Havana, which hasn't moved since they sailed from it, into a Florida port that behaves the same today, using their well-written directions, one can locate where they landed. Their camp was described in relation to their landing. When they left it they described their next camp in relation to geographic features and their last camp, and so on.
Those camps, for the most part, are cities again today, scattered across America at ten to fourteen mile interval - a day's walk for most, including DeSoto's army. The trails they followed between campsites are roads today, making tracking them simple on Google Earth... but only if you start each day's journey at the right place!    
THE COMPLETE REPORT
Fast Facts FOR KIDS GRADES: 1-4 5-8 FAIRY TALES BIOGRAPHY ENDORSEMENTS LINKS
IMAGES:OLD,NEW,COLOR FOREWARD TEACHERS SCHOLARS PLACE NAMES TEXT ONLY
     
   
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