Francisco Vasquez de Coronado was born at Salamanca, in Spain, about 1500, and died in Mexico some time after 1542. He is believed to have gone to Mexico in 1535 with Mendoza, the viceroy, who, in 1539, made him governor of a province.
[ [2] ] Marcos is here referred to.
THE DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI BY DE SOTO
[ [1] ] From Parkman's "Pioneers of France in the New World." By permission of the publishers, Little, Brown & Co. Hernando de Soto was born in Badaios, Spain, in 1500, and died near the Mississippi River, probably on May 21, 1542. Before discovering the Mississippi, he had been in Panama and Nicaragua; had been active with Pizarro in the conquest of Peru, from which he returned very rich to Spain, and in 1587 had been appointed Governor of Cuba and Florida, with orders to explore and settle the country. It was while engaged in the latter work that he discovered the Mississippi.
De Soto's route has been determined only approximately. He is believed first to have made a circuit northward from Tampa, through Florida into Georgia and perhaps into Carolina, thence going westward to Alabama and Mobile Bay. From the latter he turned northward again, thence going westward to the Mississippi, which he is believed to have crossed at Chickasaw Bluffs, in May, 1541. From this point he went northward and almost reached the Missouri. He then turned southward, and reached the junction of the Red River and Mississippi, where he died of malaria fever. Of his men 250 perished from disease or in combat with the Indians.
[ [2] ] The bison, or buffalo, is here referred to.
THE DEATH OF DE SOTO
[ [1] ] From the "Narrative of the Gentleman of Elvas," the author's name being unknown, but written by one of De Soto's companions, a Spaniard, and first printed in 1557. The author has been supposed to be Alvaro Fernandez, but this is only a matter of conjecture. The translation here used is that made by Hakluyt, printed in London in 1809, and included in the "Old South Leaflets."
DRAKE'S VISIT TO CALIFORNIA
[ [1] ] From "The World Encompassed by Sir Francis Drake," the author's name unknown. This work was prepared from notes made by Francis Fletcher, the chaplain of Drake's ship and by "divers others of his followers in the same," under the direction of Drake's heir and nephew, and was published in London in 1628 "both for the honor of the actor, but especially for the starting up of heroic spirits to benefit their country and eternize their own names by like noble attempts."