Hernando de Soto is the most contentious of the Spanish explorers and colonizers of La Florida. Nothing he did was without controversy, and it all began at Tampa Bay in 1539.
Fresh from participating in the brutal conquering of the Incas in Peru with Pizzaro, Soto became rich and was awarded the unknown land of La Florida. He spent that wealth on a 600-man army to explore, conquer, and find gold and silver, this time for himself. His trek through Spanish Florida took 4 years and 4,000 miles and it was an incredible journey that covered the province from Tampa to South Carolina to the Mississippi River.
Historians and archaeologists have tracked the path of Soto’s army across the Southeast, finding evidence of their interactions with the natives through a trail of trade goods such as glass beads and iron tools, and the debris they left behind like horseshoes, chain mail, armor, and livestock bones.
Soto’s story is a difficult one, but he was the first eyewitness of the native people — and landscape — of Spanish Florida and the land they called home.
Unearthing Florida is a project of WUWF Public Media, the Florida Public Archaeology Network(FPAN), and its founder, Dr. Judith Bense, since 1998. FPAN's Michael Thomin is a contributor to the program. WUWF's Sandra Averhart is the executive producer.
